verdict given by Powles. The furore had already forced Powles out, since Blake found him lacking in discretion. Taking action against local corruption, and resisting pressure to dispense justice for inducements, Austin found himself in a weak position when Blake was replaced as governor in 1887 by Ambrose Shea. Wiener describes Shea as "venal". When assaulted in court by a black defendant, Austin ordered a flogging for contempt of court; which was not carried out. It allowed his opponents to damage his reputation as acting ultra vires, and attract attention in London to the incident. Henry Fowler asked a question in parliament, backed up by Edward Pickersgill, about the legality of the flogging sentence, on 1 March 1889. A further question, on 15 March, was put by Pickersgill, and a follow-up by J. G. Swift MacNeill had the reply from Sir Richard Webster, Attorney-General, re-iterating that "the Chief Justice was removable by the Governor and Council of the Colony, subject to an appeal to the Home Authorities". Shea was supporting Malcolm over a reprimand in court by Austin for the manipulation of a murder case, to the advantage of the white killer of a black victim. The Colonial Office was unimpressed with those involved, but suggested an inquiry to resolve the clash. The Colonial Office's view of an inquiry put the onus on the conduct of Malcolm. Shea headed that off with an ad hoc court of his own, which Austin regarded as incompetent to judge the legal point. When Shea then travelled to London to deal directly with the Colonial Office, a settlement was proposed under which Austin would retire by reason of infirmity—deafness—with a pension from the Bahamas Assembly. Austin accepted it in November 1889. Family Austin married Marie Louise, eldest daughter of Hippolyte Guy, a judge and son of Louis Guy. They had two sons, Barry and Gloucester, and a daughter Charlotte. Charlotte married in 1904, as his second wife, Sir Archibald Lennox Milliken Napier, 10th Baronet; he had married first Mary Allison Dorothy Fairbairn, the marriage ending in divorce in 1903. References Chief justices of the Bahamas Lawyers in Quebec 1825 births 1893 deaths