(James) Peter Howe (3 November 18541 July 1917 ) was an Australian politician and convict.

Early life

He was born in Redfern to mechanical engineer William Bryant and Mary Lambert. He was educated at Chippendale and worked as a leather dresser with Anderson & sons from the age of fifteen, becoming the branch manager by 1890. On 27 November 1878 he married Annie Emma Burchmore, with whom he had nine children, 5 daughters and 4 sons.

Political career

He was an alderman for the Borough of Waterloo from 1886, and mayor from 1888 to 1889. He was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

as one of the members for Redfern at a by-election in 1888 as a

Protectionist Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

. He was defeated at the election for Redfern on 17 June 1891, but was returned to the assembly as one of the members for Bourke at the election on 3 July 1891. He did not hold ministerial or other office.

Criminal conviction

Howe was a director of the Australian Mercantile Loan and Guarantee Company, which was placed into liquidation on 11 September 1891. On 8 October 1891 he was charged, along with James Miller, with

conspiracy to defraud Conspiracy to defraud is an offence under the common law of England and Wales and Northern Ireland. England and Wales The standard definition of a conspiracy to defraud was provided by Lord Dilhorne in '' Scott v Metropolitan Police Commissioner'' ...

the Australian Mercantile Loan and Guarantee Company. On 21 October 1891 Howe gave his resignation to William Willis to be given to the

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is a title commonly held by Speaker (politics), presiding officers of parliamentary bodies styled Legislative Assembly, legislative assemblies. The office is most widely used in state and territorial legislatures ...

. He was convicted of one of the three charges of conspiracy to defraud on 31 October and sentenced to imprisonment for 7 years. His resignation was not given to the Speaker until after his conviction, however accounts differ as to why. The Sydney Morning Herald stated that the resignation was to be given to the Speaker only if convicted which pointed "to a hope that the prosecution might fail, and that the resignation of the seat might be avoided", while the

Australian Town and Country Journal Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

stated that it was Willis' decision not to immediately give the resignation to the Speaker, for fear that it might prejudice Howe's trial. Frank Smith, another former member of the Legislative Assembly, was the managing director of the Australian Mercantile Loan and Guarantee Company from September 1889 until September 1890, and was convicted in February 1892 with conspiracy to fraudulently misrepresent the financial affairs of the company, and was also sentenced to imprisonment for 7 years. Howe was released from prison in June 1895 after serving 3 years and 7 months.

Later life

He later moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, where he established a leather business and also served on Preston Council. Howe died at

East Melbourne East Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government areas of ...

in 1917 (aged 62).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howe, James 1854 births 1917 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Protectionist Party politicians Mayors of Waterloo Australian politicians convicted of fraud