After thirty-four years as a Queensland QC, Cedric Hampson has seen a thing or two. Now-retired barrister and former Rhodes scholar Cedric Hampson has turned his efforts to capturing shady characters and the situations they get themselves into with a new career as a novelist.

Born in 1933, the son of an Ashgrove civil servant, Mr Hampson studied at St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace and Queensland University before being elected Queensland Rhodes Scholar for 1955. Despite graduating with a bachelor in civil law, he says, “I spent much less time on my studies than I did getting to know Europe.”

In Amsterdam, he married Catharina Brans, today a renowned sculptor. Together they have four children and ten grandchildren.

The family settled in Brisbane, and Mr Hampson took silk in 1972. During his time as a Queen’s Counsel, he had the opportunity to witness all shades of humanity, and to fertilise his budding passion for writing.

Although he “started scribbling” 20 years ago, Hampson only began writing seriously around a decade ago. Now a prolific author with more than six titles under his belt, he is currently completing his lucky seventh. .

“The greatest challenge is shifting from the fact-driven, unambiguous language of law to a more open literary style that permits the reader to imagine and guess.
Hampson and his wife still live in Brisbane surrounded by their extended family.