The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Birnie, Richard
Birnie, Richard, second son of the late Sir Richard Birnie, Chief Metropolitan Police Magistrate at Bow Street, was born in London in 1808. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1830, and M.A. in 1837. He entered at the Inner Temple on Jan. 9th, 1828, and was called to the bar on May 7th, 1833. After practising in the Central Criminal Court Mr. Birnie was appointed by the Duke of Newcastle Advocate-General of Western Australia, in which colony he arrived in Jan. 1854. After holding this post for nearly six years he acted as judge for about a year. Arriving in 1859 in Melbourne, he was called to the Victorian bar on Oct. 13th in the same year. He was on several occasions employed as crown prosecutor in Victoria, but has been mainly known as a contributor of essays to the Australasian. His father, Sir Richard Birnie, was originally a saddler, but is chiefly known by his success in detecting and hunting down the "Cato Street" conspirators.
Birnie, Richard (p. 41). He died in Melbourne on Sept. 16th, 1888.