Howard Spensley (1834 – 8 August 1902) was an Australian lawyer and politician and a British

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician. Spensley was the son of William Spensley of Edmonton,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

. He was educated at a mercantile academy and emigrated to Australia in 1859. He worked as a journalist in

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 ...

for several years. In 1864, he was called to the bar of the Supreme Court of

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 ...

and in 1871 was elected a member of 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 presidin ...

representing

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. He was

Solicitor-General of Victoria The Solicitor-General of Victoria, known informally as the Solicitor-General, is the state's Second Law Officer and the deputy of the Attorney-General. The Solicitor-General acts alongside the Crown Advocate and Crown Solicitor, and serves as one ...

from 1871 to 1873, and Commissioner for Victoria to the London Exhibition of 1873. He married Martha Staughton from

Exford, Victoria Exford is a town in Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melton local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government ...

in 1868. He returned to England, where he was called to the bar at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1876 and was representative of the colony of Victoria at the Geographical Congress held at Venice in 1881 and Commissioner for Victoria at the Amsterdam Exhibition of 1883. He was made a Privy Councillor of the Colony of Victoria and was one of the Advising Council of the Agent General for Victoria in London.Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
/ref> In the 1885 general election, Spensley was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for Finsbury Central but lost the seat in the 1886 general election. He died at his residence

Earl's Court Square Earl's Court Square is a garden square in Earl's Court, London, England. It was developed from 1872 or 1873 on agricultural land belonging to the Edwardes family. It is primarily made up of stuccoed terraced houses with Italianate dressings b ...

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

in 1902, aged 69.

References

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* 1834 births 1902 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1885–1886 People from South Kensington Members of the Middle Temple Politicians from Melbourne Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Solicitors-General of Victoria British expatriates in Australia {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub