Benjamin Howe (21 March 1892 – 14 February 1950) was an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of 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 House ...

from 1930 until 1932, representing the electorate of

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

. Howe was born in

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...

, and undertook an apprenticeship as an engineer at Mort's Dock. He became a fitter and turner in the tramway workshops at

Randwick Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

from 1921 until his election to parliament in 1930. He was an active trade unionist, serving as a shop delegate, organiser and representative of the tramway section of the

Amalgamated Engineering Union The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major United Kingdom, British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992. History ...

. He also ran a soup kitchen with his wife in North Sydney during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Howe was the Labor candidate for North Sydney at the 1927 state election, losing to Ernest Marks, and for the corresponding federal seat at the 1928 federal election, losing to former Prime Minister

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...

. He was elected on his third attempt when he defeated Marks at the 1930 state election as part of Labor's landslide victory that year. His political career was to be short-lived, however; he was easily defeated amidst the Labor defeat of 1932 by North Sydney mayor and United Australia Party candidate Hubert Primrose. He again contested North Sydney against Primrose in 1935, but was easily defeated. Howe returned to his prior role at the tramway workshops after his defeat, and worked there from 1938 until his death in 1950. A long-term resident of

Cammeray Cammeray is a residential suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Northern Sydney and is part of the North Sydney Council local government area. History Aboriginal culture Cammeray takes its name from the Cammeraygal people, an Aboriginal ...

, Howe died at age 57 at the

Mater Hospital, North Sydney The Mater Hospital is a 233-bed private hospital located in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Originally founded in 1906 as a cottage hospital, and operated both as a public hospital and maternity hospital on an adjacent site in Wollstonec ...

. He was cremated at

Northern Suburbs Crematorium The Northern Suburbs Crematorium, officially Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens and Crematorium, is a crematorium in North Ryde, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It was officially opened on 28 October 1933, and the first cremation t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howe, Ben 1892 births 1950 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales 20th-century Australian politicians