[1] During the reign of a male sovereign, appointees are called King's Counsel, and this applied from 1907 to 1952 during the reign of Edward VII (1907–1910),[2] George V (1910–1936),[3] Edward VIII (1936),[4] and George VI (1936–1952).
Appointments in New Zealand can be made annually by the Governor-General acting on behalf of the sovereign.
[1] When the first ten appointments were made in June 1907 by Chief Justice Sir Robert Stout, two were from Auckland, four were from Wellington, two were from Christchurch, and two were from Dunedin.
[11][12] The first women appointed to the office were Sian Elias and Lowell Goddard in 1988.
[10] Another person who is missing from the official list is Justice Warwick Gendall, who took silk in June 1996[14] and was appointed to the High Court later that year.