Justin Foxton

Justin Fox Greenlaw Foxton was an Australian barrister and politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1883 to 1904 and held ministerial office in several liberal governments. He later represented the seat of Brisbane in federal parliament and was a minister without portfolio under Alfred Deakin. He was a long-serving member of Queensland's colonial militia and gained the rank of colonel.

Early life

Foxton was born in Melbourne on 24 September 1849. He was the son of Isabel Elizabeth and John Greenlaw Foxton. His father was a sea captain who arrived in the Port Phillip District in 1841.
Foxton was educated at Melbourne Grammar School from 1859 to 1862. He moved to Queensland in 1864 and briefly worked as a jackeroo, then read law with John Malbon Thompson in Ipswich. He was called to the Queensland Bar in 1871 and the following year established a practice at the Stanthorpe tinfields. In 1878 he formed a partnership with Thompson in Brisbane.

Politics

Foxton held the Legislative Assembly seat of Carnarvon from 1883 until 1904.
Foxton worked as an aide-de-camp to the Governor General of Australia. He also implemented the 1901 Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act. This Act, the first effective such measure in Queensland, implemented a system of policed missions and reserves and stopped some female exploitation.

Personal life

Foxton married Emily Panton in 1874.
Foxton died at Brisbane of cerebro-vascular disease on 23 June 1916. His funeral proceeded from his former residence, Bulimba House to the Toowong Cemetery in Brisbane.