Richard Wild (judge)

Sir Herbert Richard Churton Wild GBE KCMG QC (20 September 1912 – 22 May 1978) was the ninth Chief Justice of New Zealand.

The Right Honourable Sir Richard Wild GBE KCMG QC
9th Chief Justice of New Zealand
In office 18 January 1966 – 20 January 1978
Nominated by	Keith Holyoake
Appointed by	Sir Bernard Fergusson
Preceded by	Harold Barrowclough
Succeeded by	Ronald Davison
Personal details
Born	Herbert Richard Churton Wild (1912-09-20)20 September 1912 Blenheim, New Zealand
Died	22 May 1978(1978-05-22) (aged 65) Wellington, New Zealand
Relatives	Leonard Wild (father) John Wild (son) John White (brother-in-law) Douglas White (nephew)

Family

Wild was born in Blenheim in 1912.^[1] His father, Leonard Wild, was at that time science teacher at Marlborough High School.^[2] He attended Feilding Agricultural High School. His sister Dora later married the jurist John White.^[3] His son, John Wild, was a judge at the High Court and then the Court of Appeal.^[4]

Chief justice

He famously decided the case of Fitzgerald v Muldoon in 1976.^{[citation needed]}

Wild was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 1977. He resigned as Chief Justice in early 1978 and died shortly after.^[1]