Ernest Alfred James (1 November 1893 – December 1963) was an accountant, newspaper proprietor and politician in the Territory of Papua New Guinea. He served as a member of the Legislative Council between 1951 and 1959.

Biography

James was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he studied to become an accountant. After earning his certification, he joined the Treasury of the

Territory of Papua The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the a ...

in 1915,Good-Citizen James Of Port Moresby Dies At 70
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', February 1964, pp71–72 also becoming a special constable. He married Vera Bussell in 1919, with whom he had a daughter. In 1924 he left the civil service to set up his own accountancy practice. In the same year he took over ''The Papua Courier'' newspaper, becoming its editor.Amirah Inglis (1974)
'Not a White Woman Safe': Sexual Anxiety and Politics in Port Moresby 1920–1934
', Australian National University Press In 1925 he was amongst the founders of the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce, serving as its Honorary Secretary. The European population of the territory was evacuated in December 1941 and January 1942. When they returned in 1945, the printing press had been destroyed and the newspaper was discontinued. After returning, he served for two years as the Deputy Controller of the War Damage Commission. Having agitated for elected representation in the ''Courier'' since the 1920s, James contested the first elections to the Legislative Council in 1951, winning the Papua seat. The following year he became Chairman of

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

Town Advisory Council. He was returned unopposed in the 1954 elections. Following the death of his first wife, in 1955 he married May Ross. James went on to defeat Craig Kirke in the 1957 elections.New Faces in P-NG Legco
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', September 1957, p19 However, in June 1959, he and the two other elected members resigned from the council in protest at the introduction of income tax in the territory.The Showdown Comes! New Guinea Tax Issue Leads to A Constitutional Challenge
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', July 1959, pp13–15 He later retired to the

Yeronga Yeronga is a southern riverside suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Yeronga had a population of 6,535 people. Geography The suburb is bounded to the west and north by the Brisbane River and to the south-east by ...

area of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

in Australia, where he died at home in December 1963 at the age of 70.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Ernest 1893 births English accountants Papua New Guinean accountants Territory of Papua people Members of the Legislative Council of Papua and New Guinea 1963 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople British emigrants to Papua New Guinea