David Smith (judge)

Sir David Stanley Smith (11 February 1888 – 29 December 1982) was a New Zealand lawyer, judge and educationalist.

Smith was born in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand in 1888. He worked for Charles Morison as an assistant from 1912. He [1] Smith was appointed as a judge to the Supreme Court in 1928, a relatively early appointment based on his performance as counsel for Maori land claims.[1] Smith received a knighthood in the 1948 New Year Honours.[2] A few months later, he resigned as a judge and concentrated on public affairs.[1]

Smith was a member of the Victoria University College Council (1939–1945) and in 1945 became chancellor of the University of New Zealand.[1] For his services to tertiary education, he received honorary doctorates from the University of Oxford (1948) and the University of New Zealand (1961).[3][1]

He died in Wellington on 29 December 1982[1] and his ashes were buried at Karori Cemetery.[4][5] His daughter, Shirley Smith, became a lawyer.[6]