James Hunter Ross (10 February 1788 – 18 September 1865) was a lawyer and politician in colonial

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

. Ross was born at

Prestonpans Prestonpans ( , Scots: ''The Pans'') is a mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the council area of East Lothian. The population as of is . It is near the site of the 1745 Battle of Prestonpans (first ...

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

, Scotland, the son of Major John Ross and Jean Buchan. He practised as a lawyer at the Supreme Court in Scotland. He arrived in the

Port Phillip District The Port Phillip District was an administrative division of the Colony of New South Wales from 9 September 1836 until 1 July 1851, when it was separated from New South Wales and became the Colony of Victoria. In September 1836, NSW Colonial Sec ...

in August 1841, founding later that same year the law firm Blake & Riggall, the forerunner of

Ashurst Australia Ashurst Australia is the Australian branch of Ashurst LLP, an international commercial law firm. The Australian headquarters of Ashurst are in Sydney. Prior to its acquisition by Ashurst, the Australian firm was named Blake Dawson, one of the ...

. On 31 October 1851, Ross was nominated, being sworn-in the following month, to the

Victorian Legislative Council The Victorian Legislative Council is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Victorian Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House, Melbourne, Parliament ...

, a position he held until resigning July 1852. He was replaced in the council by

Thomas Turner à Beckett Thomas Turner à Beckett (13 September 1808 – 1 July 1892) was a lawyer and politician in colonial Victoria (Australia), member of the Victorian Legislative Council. Early life à Beckett was born in London, England, son of William à Becket ...

References

Links

PROFILE
parliament.vic.gov.au. Accessed 6 March 2024. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, James Hunter 1788 births 1865 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Council Scottish emigrants to Australia 19th-century Australian politicians Australian company founders Law firm founders