Irish born William Hearn arrived in Melbourne in early 1855 as the first Professor of Modern History and Literature, Political Economy and Logic at the fledgling University of Melbourne.

In addition to teaching and writing, Hearn was admitted to the Victorian bar in 1860 and worked occasionally as a barrister. He had a keen interest in politics, but his first attempt to enter parliament prompted the University to bar professors from doing so in future.

Hearn taught Constitutional Law, Roman Law and Jurisprudence, among other subjects. Lecturing in a faded gown and a 'most palpable wig', he was a favourite teacher. One student described his classes as 'green oases in the arid wilderness of law lectures'.

In accepting the position of inaugural dean of Law in 1873, Hearn resigned as professor and side-stepped the rule that kept professors out of parliament. After another unsuccessful attempt, he became a member of the Legislative Council in 1878.

Hearn's books made his name known far beyond the small colony of Victoria. They included The Government of England, an influential textbook of constitutional law and history, and Plutology, which cemented his place in the history of Australian economics.  

The great project of his last years was the codification of Victorian law, trying to bring case-law and legislation together in a single authoritative code. But his health began to fail before this was achieved, and he died in April 1888.