James Ashton

Who was James Ashton?

James Ashton was an Australian politician.

Born at Ashby near Geelong to coffee-roaster James Ashton and Mary Ann Kinsman Brittan, he attended Sandhurst Grammar School until he left at the age of ten to work in a printing office. He moved to Echuca at the age of thirteen and then to Hay. He spent the next period working as a station agent and then as a journalist and part-owner of the Riverine Grazier. He qualified for the bar but was not admitted. On 6 March 1899 he married Helen, with whom he had four sons. A Free Trader, he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Hay in 1894, transferring to Goulburn in 1898 and serving until 1907, when he was appointed to the Legislative Council, serving until 1934. He was Secretary for Lands from 1904 to 1907 and an honorary minister from 1907 to 1909. Ashton died at Double Bay in 1939.