James Arthur Johns (3 August 1893 – 17 August 1959) was a New Zealand-born Australian politician. He was born at

Millers Flat Millers Flat is a small town in inland Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located on the Clutha River, 17 kilometres south of Roxburgh. Fruit growing is the main industry in the area. Most of the town lies on the north bank of the ...

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, to storekeeper Ezekiel Johns and Annie Cousins. He attended Otago High School and qualified as a pharmacist in 1912. In 1914 he migrated to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, and served with the Australian Imperial Force. After a year working as a pharmacist in Britain, he returned to Australia, and on 7 April 1920 married Gladys May Fort, with whom he had a daughter. He worked as a pharmacist and in 1929 moved to

Maffra Maffra is a town in Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne. It is in the Shire of Wellington local government area and it is the second most populous city of the Shire. It relies mainly on dairy farming and other agriculture, and is the sit ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. From 1942 to 1954 he served on Maffra Shire Council. Although initially a member of the Country Party, in 1945 he joined the Labor Party and was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

for Gippsland North. He was defeated in 1947. Johns retired from work in 1957 and died in Maffra in 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, James 1893 births 1959 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly New Zealand emigrants to Australia 20th-century Australian politicians