James Montgomery Speed was a politician who was a member of the

Western Australian Legislative Council The Western Australian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Western Australia, a state of Australia. It is regarded as a house of review for legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, the lower house. The two Houses ...

(

upper house An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...

) for the

Metropolitan-Suburban Province The Metropolitan-Suburban Province was a three-member electoral province of the Western Australian Legislative Council, located in the metropolitan region of Perth. It was created by the ''Constitution Acts Amendment Act 1899'', and became effect ...

from 29 August 1900 to 21 May 1902. He was not elected as a member of any political party, but was a delegate from the Parliamentary Labor Party to the August 1901 Labor Congress. He was also a cricketer, and played in four first-class matches for

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

from 1877 to 1880.

Life in New Zealand

Speed was born on 10 August 1856 in

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

Wellington Province Wellington Province, governed by the Wellington Provincial Council, was one of the provinces of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. It covered much of the southern half of the North Island until November 18 ...

, New Zealand. His parents were James, a licensed publican, and Janet Montgomery. He was educated at

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it runs a private preparatory school for year 7 and 8 boys. The school also has ...

and the

University of New Zealand The University of New Zealand was New Zealand's sole degree-granting university from 1874 to 1961. It was a collegiate university embracing several constituent institutions at various locations around New Zealand. After it was dissolved in 196 ...

. Following that, he worked as a lawyer in

and

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. Speed played in four first-class matches for

from 1877 to 1880.

Life in Perth

In 1892, Speed moved to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. He married Louisa Katherine Carey (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Hester, born ) on 25 March 1894 at St John's Church, Perth. She died on 15 November 1894. On 14 February 1895, Speed married Georgina Henrietta Spencer (born ) at a private residence at Wilberforce, near

York, Western Australia York is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated on the Avon River, east of Perth in the Wheatbelt, on Ballardong Nyoongar land,King, A and Parker, E: York, Western Australia's first inland town, Parker Print, 2003 p.3. and is ...

. No children resulted from either marriage. From June 1897 to November 1900, Speed was on the

Perth City Council Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. At the September 1900 Western Australian Legislative Council election, Speed was elected as one of three inaugural members of the

, alongside William Brookman and

Adam Jameson Adam Jameson (5 May 1860 – 12 March 1907) was a Scottish-born physician who was a member of parliament and government minister in both the Australian state of Western Australia and the Transvaal Colony (in present-day South Africa). Early life ...

. His term started on 29 August 1900. Upon election, he was not a member of any political party, but was a delegate from the Parliamentary Labor Party to the August 1901 Labor Congress. As it is not known when he joined the Labor Party, he is possibly the first Labor Party member of the

Parliament of Western Australia The Parliament of Western Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Western Australia, forming the legislative branch of the Government of Western Australia. The parliament consists of a lower house, the Legislative Ass ...

. He did not win re-election at the 1902 Western Australian Legislative Council election, with his term running out on 21 May 1902. He unsuccessfully stood for the

electoral district of West Perth The Electoral district of West Perth was a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. The district was named for its location immediately to the west of the central business district of Perth. West Perth was created as ...

in the

Western Australian Legislative Assembly The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth. The Legisla ...

at the 1905 Western Australian state election on 27 October 1905.

Later life

In around 1910, shortly after he received a sizeable inheritance from New Zealand, Speed left his wife Georgina and took up residence with Barbara Bridget Hayes. This resulted in Georgina divorcing him in 1913. He and Hayes moved to New Zealand in the wake of the divorce and he married her there in 1914. He died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, on 9 July 1925 as the result of a car accident. His body was embalmed and returned to Perth, where it was buried at

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

Life in New Zealand

Life in Perth

Later life

References

Further reading