James Styles was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

-born Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n politician.

Born in Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, Styles migrated to Australia in 1849 with his family, where he was educated at private schools in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. He became a civil engineer and railway contractor, and sat on Williamstown Council

Williamstown, Victoria

Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Williamstown had a population of 12,733....

. Styles applied unsuccessfully for the position of chairman of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works

Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works

The Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works was a public utility board in Melbourne, Australia set up to provide water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment functions for the city...

 in 1891. Styles frequently clashed with the Board's chairman, Edmond Gerald FitzGibbon

Edmond Gerald FitzGibbon

Edmund Gerald Fitz Gibbon, CMG, was a barrister and Town clerk of Melbourne.Fitz Gibbon was born in Cork, Ireland, son of Gibbon Carew Fitz Gibbon and his wife Catherine, née Hurley....

.
In 1894, Styles was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

 as the member for Williamstown

Electoral district of Williamstown

Williamstown is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It is a 33 km² urban electorate in the inner south-western suburbs of Melbourne, encompassing the suburbs of Brooklyn, Newport, Spotswood, Williamstown and Yarraville...

, a position he held until 1900. In 1901, he was elected to the Australian Senate

Australian Senate

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...

 as a Protectionist

Protectionist Party

The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...

 Senator from Victoria. He held the seat until his defeat in 1906. Styles died in 1913.