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Member Details

Mr James Henry YOUNG (1834 - 1908)

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Date of Birth: 15/05/1834
Place of Birth: Moorcourt, near Romsey, Hampshire, England
Date of Death: 09/05/1908
Place of Death: Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Parliamentary Service
Position Start End Period Notes
Standing Orders Committee No.4 09 Jul 1907 12 Jul 1907 4 days
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.2 04 Jul 1907 12 Jul 1907 9 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 10 Jul 1906 18 Dec 1906 5 months 9 days
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.6 05 Jul 1906 18 Dec 1906 5 months 14 days
Claim of Mr F.E Stowe; Electric Tram, Darling Street, Balmain Committee No.18 03 Oct 1905 22 Nov 1905 1 month 20 days
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.2 14 Jun 1905 09 Dec 1905 5 months 26 days
Elections and Qualifications Committee No.2 24 Aug 1904 01 Dec 1904 3 months 8 days
Member for Gloucester 06 Aug 1904 19 Aug 1907 3 years 14 days
The Lieutenant Governor’s Opening Speech Committee No.1 24 Jul 1901 24 Jul 1901 1 day
Terrace Street Closing Bill Committee No.8 09 Aug 1899 15 Aug 1899 7 days
Library Committee No.5 02 Aug 1899 10 Oct 1889 0 days
Refreshment Committee No.6 02 Aug 1899 10 Oct 1899 2 months 9 days
Secretary for Lands 03 Jul 1899 13 Sep 1899 2 months 11 days
Claims of Mr. W. Birthrey, Road Contracts, Gloucester Committee No. 19 22 Nov 1898 23 Dec 1898 1 month 2 days
North Shore Bridge Bill Committee No. 15 26 Oct 1898 23 Dec 1898 1 month 28 days
Sydney and North Sydney Bridge and Tramway Bill Committee No. 16 26 Oct 1898 23 Dec 1898 1 month 28 days
Claim of John Brennan against Roads Department Committee No 14 11 Oct 1898 23 Dec 1898 2 months 13 days
City and North Sydney Connection Bill Committee No. 11 20 Sep 1898 23 Dec 1898 3 months 4 days
Saywell’s Tramway and Electric Lighting Bill Committee No. 12 20 Sep 1898 23 Dec 1898 3 months 4 days
Case of Thomas Buckley, Public Works Department Committee No. 7 30 Aug 1898 23 Dec 1898 3 months 24 days
Claim of John Sullivan, Harbours and Rivers Department Committee No. 8 30 Aug 1898 23 Dec 1898 3 months 24 days
Claim of Samuel and Mary Lemon Committee No. 10 30 Aug 1898 23 Dec 1898 3 months 24 days
Member for Manning 27 Jul 1898 11 Jun 1901 2 years 10 months 16 days
Standing Orders Committee No. 2 28 Jun 1898 08 Jul 1898 11 days
Library Committee No.3 28 Apr 1897 10 Dec 1897 7 months 13 days
Standing Orders Committee No.2 28 Apr 1897 18 Aug 1897 3 months 22 days Chairman
Case of Thomas Buckley – Public Works Department Committee No.33 20 Oct 1896 16 Nov 1896 28 days
Claim of John Brennan against Roads Department Committee No.27 22 Sep 1896 16 Nov 1896 1 month 26 days
City and North Sydney Railway Bill; Sydney and North Sydney Bridge and Tramway Bill. North Shore Bridge Bill Committee No.17 21 Jul 1896 21 Oct 1896 3 months 1 day North Shore Bridge Bill Committee appointed 13 August 1896
North Shore Bridge Bill Committee No.13 01 Jul 1896 28 Jul 1896 28 days
Standing Orders Committee No.2 14 May 1896 16 Nov 1896 6 months 3 days
Standing Orders. Committee No. 2 20 Aug 1895 08 Jul 1898 2 years 10 months 19 days
Member for Manning 24 Jul 1895 05 Jul 1895 0 days
Appropriation Bill. Committee No. 15 21 Dec 1894 05 Jul 1895 6 months 15 days
Hunter District Water Supply and Sewerage Works. Committee No. 14 11 Dec 1894 05 Jul 1895 6 months 25 days
Shoaling at the mouth of North Creek, near Ballina. Committee No. 11 27 Nov 1894 05 Jul 1895 7 months 9 days
Standing Orders Committee No. 2 29 Aug 1894 05 Jul 1895 10 months 7 days
Member for Manning 11 Aug 1894 22 Jul 1895 11 months 12 days
Secretary for Public Works 03 Aug 1894 03 Jul 1899 4 years 11 months 1 day
Member for Manning 17 Jul 1894 02 Aug 1894 17 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 23 Jan 1894 05 Jun 1894 4 months 14 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 27 Sep 1893 08 Dec 1893 2 months 12 days
Agricultural Holdings Bill Committee No.24 18 Apr 1893 30 May 1893 1 month 13 days
Menindie Irrigation Bill Committee No.21 23 Feb 1893 22 Mar 1893 1 month
Standing Orders Committee No.5 05 Oct 1892 18 Oct 1892 14 days
Application for a Free Pass made by Mr Black, MP Committee No.27 17 Dec 1891 21 Mar 1891 0 days
Simpson’s Railway Bill Committee No.19 08 Sep 1891 24 Nov 1891 2 months 17 days
Member for Hastings and Manning 26 Aug 1891 25 Jun 1894 2 years 10 months
Secretary for Public Works 14 Aug 1891 22 Oct 1891 2 months 9 days
Standing Orders Committee No.2 28 Jul 1891 01 Apr 1892 8 months 5 days
Member for Hastings and Manning 20 Jun 1891 18 Aug 1891 1 month 30 days
Library Committee No.3 26 May 1891 02 Jun 1891 8 days
Standing Orders Committee No.2 26 May 1891 02 Jun 1891 8 days
Library Committee No.4 30 Apr 1890 20 Dec 1890 7 months 21 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 30 Apr 1890 03 Dec 1890 7 months 4 days Chairman
Library Committee No.4 27 Nov 1889 21 Dec 1889 25 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 27 Nov 1889 21 Dec 1889 25 days
Library Committee No.5 03 Apr 1889 10 Oct 1889 6 months 8 days
Standing Orders Committee No.4 03 Apr 1889 16 May 1889 1 month 14 days Chairman
Member for Hastings and Manning 09 Feb 1889 06 Jun 1891 2 years 3 months 29 days
Library Committee No.3 24 Oct 1888 27 Jan 1889 3 months 4 days
Standing Orders Committee No.2 24 Oct 1888 27 Jan 1888 0 days Chairman
Library Committee No.3 21 Sep 1887 24 Jul 1888 10 months 4 days
Standing Orders Committee No.2 21 Sep 1887 29 May 1888 8 months 9 days
Library Committee No.4 15 Mar 1887 13 Jul 1887 3 months 29 days
Standing Orders Committee No.3 15 Mar 1887 06 Apr 1887 23 days Chairman
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly 08 Mar 1887 21 Oct 1890 3 years 7 months 14 days
Member for Hastings and Manning 09 Feb 1887 19 Jan 1989 101 years 11 months 11 days
Penrith Water and Gas Supply Committee No.61 13 Aug 1886 18 Aug 1886 6 days
Privilege-Mr Barbour, MP Committee No.53 22 Jun 1886 22 Jul 1886 1 month 1 day
Ashfield Church of England School Bill Committee No.21 24 Mar 1886 14 Apr 1886 22 days
Member for Hastings and Manning 06 Jan 1886 26 Jan 1887 1 year 21 days
Minister of Public Instruction 22 Dec 1885 25 Feb 1886 2 months 4 days
Member for Hastings and Manning 20 Oct 1885 22 Dec 1885 2 months 3 days
Ashfield Church of England School Bill Committee No.20 29 Sep 1885 30 Sep 1885 2 days
Board’s Settlement Bill Committee No.14 29 Sep 1885 02 Oct 1885 4 days
Balmain Tramway Bill Committee No.13 25 Sep 1885 01 Oct 1885 7 days
Randwick Cemetery Unused Land Sale Bill Committee No.8 25 Sep 1885 02 Oct 1885 8 days
Victorian Coal-mining Company’s Bill (No2) Committee No.45 30 Apr 1884 10 Jun 1884 1 month 12 days
Victorian Coal Mining Company’s Bill Committee No.38 26 Feb 1884 25 Apr 1884 2 months
Armidale Gas Company’s Incorporation Bill Committee No.29 24 Jan 1884 19 Feb 1884 27 days
Mort Bay Improvement Bill Committee No.17 21 Nov 1883 05 Feb 1884 2 months 16 days
Wollongong Gas-light Company’s Bill Committee No.19 04 Apr 1883 18 Apr 1883 15 days
Mort’s Bay Improvement Bill Committee No.16 08 Mar 1883 06 Apr 1883 30 days
Working of the Fisheries Act of 1881 Committee No.7 30 Jan 1883 21 Apr 1883 2 months 23 days
Member for Hastings and Manning 12 Dec 1882 07 Oct 1885 2 years 9 months 26 days
Hill’s Estate Bill Committee No.22 19 Oct 1881 02 Dec 1881 1 month 14 days
Member for Hastings and Manning 27 Nov 1880 23 Nov 1882 1 year 11 months 28 days
Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly 27 Nov 1880 19 Aug 1907 26 years 8 months 24 days
Political Party Activity
Freetrade
Community Activity
Commissioned as a Justice of the Peace in 1870.
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Commission agent. Produce merchant and commercial agent. Educated at Winchester and London. Went to sea with Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Arrived in Sydney on 3 August 1852. Spent two years on the goldfields unsuccessfully returned to sea in 1854. Went to Port Macquarie in late 1850s and became a harbour pilot; opened a store at nearby Hursley. became a postmaster and developed coastal shipping interests retaining business interests at Port Macquarie Director of Australian Prudential and Medical Assurance Society Limited in 1880s. Encountered financial difficulties in 1890, prompting his resignation from the Speakership; recovered fortunes rapidly. Commissioner for International Exhibitions in 1887 and 1888. Supported federation. Became a deputy sheriff 1973-1874; director of Australian Prudential and Medical Assurance Society Limited; Freetrade and supported Federation.
Military Service
Honours Received
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Personal
Son of James Young, farmer, and his wife Martha Druce. Married Ellen Kemp on 21 July 1859 at Port Macquarie and had issue, 6 daughters and 2 sons. Church of England. Funeral in Church of England cemetery at Gore Hill.
Additional Information
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6 SEE ALSO PRS 376.LA - Legislative Assembly, Mr Speaker Young's Decisions, 1887 Text from the book: 'The Presiding Officers of the Parliament of New South Wales', Sydney, 1995 James Young was born on 15 May 1834 in Hampshire in England. Arriving in Sydney in 1852, he spent two unsuccessful years prospecting for gold before joining the Sydney and Melbourne Steam Packet Company. Settling in Port Macquarie, his extensive business interests consisted of a general store at Hursley, an agent for the Clarence and Richmond River Steam Navigation Company, wholesale produce merchant, commercial agent and various shipping concerns in the Port Macquarie region. He married Ellen Kemp in 1859 and they had two sons and six daughters. Young entered the Legislative Assembly in 1880 as the Member for The Hastings and The Manning, remaining the local member (The Manning 1894-1901; Gloucester 1904-1907) until six months before his death in 1908. Young held several portfolios including Public Instruction between 1885 and 1886 and Lands in 1899, but it was as Secretary for Public Works in 1891 and again between 1894 and 1899 that Young developed a reputation for promoting growth through construction projects. He was responsible for building ventures such as the development of a deep-water port at Port Kembla and a rail link between Taree and Maitland. He was the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly between 1887 and 1890, and although he presided over a very disruptive and difficult House (he had difficulties in dealing with the many disruptive and rowdy members of the day), his resignation from office was the result of financial difficulties. He died on 9 May 1908 in Chatswood, New South Wales.

The Parliament of New South Wales acknowledges and respects the traditional lands of all Aboriginal people, and pays respects to all Elders past and present. We acknowledge the Gadigal people as the traditional custodians of the land on which the Parliament of New South Wales stands.