James Henry Young

Who was James Henry Young?

James Henry Young was an Australian colonial businessman and politician and Speaker of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Young was a Minister for Works and a Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, in which he sat for Hastings and Manning. He was Minister of Public Instruction in the Robertson Ministry from Dec. 1885 to Feb. 1886. In March 1887 he was elected Speaker of the Assembly, and was re-elected in Feb. 1889. In Oct. 1890 he resigned. Mr. Young, who has represented his present constituency since 1880, is the son of James Young by his marriage with Maria Druce, and was born at Moor Court, Hampshire, on May 15, 1834. Mr. Young, who commenced life in the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company's service, finally gave up seafaring for commercial pursuits in 1853, arriving in Sydney in July 1859. He was appointed Minister for Public Works in the Parkes Ministry in August 1890, and held the post, in which he succeeded Mr. Bruce Smith, until the retirement of the Cabinet in Oct. 1891. He married in July 1859 at Port Macquarie, N.S.W., Ellen, daughter of Major Kemp.