James Edward Hiram Houghton (13 September 1911 – 21 January 1985) was a member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

Biography

Houghton was born in Sydney,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, the son of James Houghton and his wife Emily (née Corscadden) and the family moved to Queensland when he was still young. He was educated at Humpybong State School in Redcliffe before attending the Brisbane Technical College. He then embarked on a banking career with the

Commercial Bank of Australia The Commercial Bank of Australia Limited (CBA) was an Australian and New Zealand retail bank which operated from 1866 until being amalgamated with the Bank of New South Wales, that was established in 1817, to form the Westpac Banking Corporati ...

being posted to

Woolloongabba Woolloongabba is a suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Woolloongabba had a population of 5,631 people. Geography Woolloongabba is located south of the CBD. It contains the Brisbane Cricket Ground ('the Gabba') and t ...

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, and

Proston Proston is a rural town and locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. Geography The town is located north-west of the state capital, Brisbane northwest of the South Burnett regions commercial centre, Kingaroy and south ...

.Motion of Condolence
—

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official prin ...

. Retrieved 11 June 2016. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he joined the Australian Army, serving with the 5th Light Horse and 5th Motor Regiment and later rose to the rank of major with the 2/12 Battalion (7th Division) where he fought in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

.HOUGHTON, JAMES EDWARD HIRAM
— World War II Nominal Roll. Retrieved 11 June 2016. He was discharged in 1945 and established a real estate business at

, later moving to Redcliffe. On 24 February 1938 Houghton married Mary Auld Shinnie (died 1989)Deceased search
—

Moreton Bay Regional Council The Moreton Bay Region is a local government area in the north of the Brisbane metropolitan city in South East Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it replaced three established local government areas, the City of Redcliffe and the Shir ...

. Retrieved 11 June 2016. and together had two sons and two daughters. He died in January 1985 and was buried in the Redcliffe Cemetery.

Public career

From 1955 to 1964, Houghton was the mayor of the

Redcliffe Town Council The City of Redcliffe is a former local government area in South East Queensland, Australia. In 2008 it was amalgamated with the Shires of Pine Rivers and Caboolture to create Moreton Bay Region. It is in the northern part of the County of S ...

which became the

Redcliffe City Council The City of Redcliffe is a former local government area in South East Queensland, Australia. In 2008 it was amalgamated with the Shires of Pine Rivers and Caboolture to create Moreton Bay Region. It is in the northern part of the County of St ...

in 1959. He missed out on pre-selection for the Country Party and instead stood as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

for the new state seat of Redcliffe at the

1960 Queensland state election Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 28 May 1960 to elect the 78 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The election followed the enactment of the ''Electoral Districts Act 1958'' which increased the Assembly from ...

, easily winning the seat. He joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

in 1961 but was only a member of the party for a few months before again becoming an Independent and in 1962 he re-joined the Country Party whom he represented for the rest of his political career. He went on to represent the electorate until his resignation from politics in August 1979. He was the

Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland is elected by the members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly to preside over sittings of the Assembly and to maintain orderly proceedings. The Speaker must be a member of the Legislative ...

from 1974 until 1979. He had only been speaker for 55 minutes before ejecting the Labor member for Mourilyan Peter Moore for continual interjections.Question time
—

. Retrieved 11 June 2016. As Speaker, Houghton particularly rejected members who used parliamentary privilege to make unfounded allegations. In his maiden speech, Mr Houghton gave notice of his interest in keeping debate within the bounds of parliamentary dignity. In the speech he castigated members who used the Chamber as a place where, under parliamentary privilege, they could denigrate a person or organisation. He was particularly critical of members who, having made allegations, refused to make information available outside the House to assist police investigations. Houghton worked hard to have the toll on the Hornibrook Highway removed and have the road links with Redcliffe upgraded. In his honour, the new bridge replacing the Hornibrook Highway was named the

Houghton Highway The Houghton Highway is a reinforced concrete viaduct, the second bridge to be built across Hays Inlet at Bramble Bay connecting the cities of Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland, Australia (the first bridge was the Hornibrook Bridge). T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, James Edward Hiram Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 1911 births 1985 deaths National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland Speakers of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 20th-century Australian politicians Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland