John James Liston (21 September 1872 – 12 April 1944) was an Australian businessman, civic leader, and sporting administrator. He served as Mayor of Williamstown and on the

Melbourne City Council The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...

, and was also a long-serving president of the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

Early life and business career

Liston was born in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

of Granny, near

Boyle, County Roscommon Boyle (; ) is a town in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located at the foot of the Curlew Mountains near Lough Key in the north of the county. Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery, the Drumanone Dolmen and the lakes of Lough Arrow and Lough Gara a ...

, Ireland, the son of Mary Ann (née McNamany) and John Haire Liston, a member of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

. John Liston was dismissed from the police in 1873, and the family moved to Australia in 1882, settling in

Williamstown, Victoria Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Williamstown recorded a population of 14,407 at the 2021 census. H ...

. After leaving school, Liston trained as a barber and eventually started his own shop. He later became the licensee of a local hotel, and served as secretary of the Liquor Trades' Defence Union (LTDU), an organisation devoted to countering the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

. Victoria held referendums on prohibition in 1930 and 1938; Liston and the LTDU played a key part in their defeat.David Dunstan, 'Liston, John James (1872–1944)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/liston-john-james-7204/text12465, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed online 14 August 2017.

Local government

Liston was elected to the Williamstown City Council in 1898, and became mayor for the first time in 1901 (reputedly the youngest in the state). He was re-elected to another six mayoral terms over the following three decades, serving from 1901 to 1902, 1913 to 1914, and 1922 to 1927. Liston represented the city on the

Melbourne Harbor Trust The Melbourne Harbor Trust was established in 1877 to improve and operate port facilities for the growing city of Melbourne. It was superseded by the Port of Melbourne Authority in 1978 and later by the Port of Melbourne Corporation. Creation ...

, and oversaw the construction of the

Williamstown Town Hall Williamstown Town Hall is a civic building located in Williamstown, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The hall was built in two stages, the first being the front municipal offices, designed in the Greek revival style to the design of then young ...

(opened 1927). He eventually resigned from the council in 1930, due to allegations of misconduct. In 1923, Liston had also been elected to the

, where he was chairman of the traffic and building regulations committee for six years. He ran for

Lord Mayor of Melbourne This is a list of the mayors and lord mayors of the City of Melbourne, a local government area of Victoria, Australia. Mayors (1842–1902) Lord mayors (1902–1980) The title of "Lord Mayor" was conferred on the position of mayor by Kin ...

in 1931, but lost to

Harold Gengoult Smith Sir Harold Gengoult Smith (25 July 1890 – 14 April 1983) was an Australian medical practitioner who served as Lord Mayor of Melbourne from 1931 to 1934. Smith was born in Melbourne to Marion Jane (née Higgins) and Louis Lawrence Smith, both ...

by a single vote.

Sports

Liston was a longtime member of the

Williamstown Football Club The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne. The club currently competes in the men's and women's Victorian Football League and VFLW competitions. History The Williamstown Fo ...

, and was the club president from 1923 to 1933. He was also a trustee of the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...

and a prominent racehorse owner, serving as president of the Williamstown Racing Club from 1939 to 1944. The Liston Stakes were named in his honour. In 1929, Liston was elected president of the

(VFA), in succession to

John Aikman John George Aikman (24 June 1858 – 29 July 1928) was an Australian politician. He was born in Prahran to surveyor Robert Aikman and Ann Davis Woodman. He attended a private school in Brunswick, leaving at the age of twelve to work as a print ...

. He was already a VFA life member at the time of his election. Liston supported amalgamation with the larger and wealthier

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL), and when that did not eventuate controversially suggested that the VFA might merge with soccer or rugby. In 1935, he was also elected president of the Victorian Soccer Association. A VFA meeting passed a resolution "congratulating him on his broad-mindedness", although the

Northcote Football Club Northcote Football Club (/ˈnoːθ.kət/), nicknamed The Dragons, was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1908 until 1987. The club's colours for most of its time in the VFA were green and yellow and it was based in ...

's delegate attempted to move a censure motion. After Liston's death in 1944,

Hector de Lacy Hector Alexander de Lacy (6 May 1900 – 1 November 1956) was a leading Melbourne-based Australian rules football writer, covering the Victorian Football League for over 20 years from the 1920s. Family The son of Alexander George de Lacy (187 ...

of ''

The Sporting Globe ''The Sporting Globe'' was a newspaper published in Melbourne from 1922 until 1996. The first issue was published on 22 July 1922, and for the first four weeks it was published only on Saturday evenings; from 16 August 1922 it introduced a Wednesd ...

'' wrote: "In the death of J. J. Liston football has lost a leader. He loved a thrilling sporting bout and football held the highest place in his affections. He took a leading part in the politics of the Australian game. I can vouch for his sincere desire to do the greatest good for the game itself, irrespective of pre-established ideas and constitutions. He was prepared to kick his way through any conservatism that the greater good of the game could be served."Football Has Lost Leader
''The Sporting Globe'', 15 April 1944. In 1945, the J. J. Liston Trophy was established in his honour, to be awarded to the league's best player at the each of season.

Personal life

Liston married Eva Emily Roberts in 1910, with whom he had two sons. He was widowed in 1928, but remarried in 1930 to May Ward.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liston, J 1872 births 1944 deaths People from County Roscommon Australian hoteliers Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Victoria (Australia) local councillors Mayors of places in Victoria (Australia) VFA/VFL administrators Association football executives People from Williamstown, Victoria Politicians from Melbourne Businesspeople from Melbourne

Early life and business career

Local government

Sports

Personal life

See also

References