1128 Howard Spensley

Constituency : Finsbury  Central 1885-6

Howard  took  the  new  seat  of  Finsbury  Central.

Howard  was  a  merchant's  son  from  Middlesex. He  was  educated  at  a  mercantile  academy  and  emigrated  to  Australia  in  1859.  He  worked  as  a journalist  in  Melbourne  for  a  number  of  years  then  practised  as  a   barrister. In  1871  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Victorian  Legislative  Assembly. He  was  Solicitor-General of  Victoria  from  1871  to  1873.  He  returned  to  England  in  1876  but  still  represented  Victoria  at  the  Geographical  Congress  at  Venice  in  1881  and  the  Amsterdam  Exhibition  of  1883.

Howard  was  an  advanced  Liberal  and  in  March  1886  announced  his  intention  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  the  payment  of  MPs.

Howard  was  defeated  in  1886  by  five  votes. He  stood  unsuccessfully  for  Dudley  in  1892.

He  died  in  1902  aged  69.