John James Liston

John James Liston (21 September 1872 – 12 April 1944) was an Australian businessman, civic leader, and sporting administrator. He served as Mayor of Williamstown and on the Melbourne City Council, and was also a long-serving president of the Victorian Football Association.

Liston was born in the townland of Granny, near Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, the son of Mary Ann (née McNamany) and John Haire Liston, a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. John Liston was dismissed from the police in 1873, and the family moved to Australia in 1882, settling in Williamstown, Victoria. After leaving school, Liston trained as a barber and eventually started his own shop. He later became the licensee of a local hotel, and served as secretary of the Liquor Trades' Defence Union (LTDU), an organisation devoted to countering the temperance movement. Victoria held referendums on prohibition in 1930 and 1938; Liston and the LTDU played a key part in their defeat.

Liston was elected to the Williamstown City Council in 1898, and became mayor for the first time in 1901 (reputedly the youngest in the state). He was re-elected to another six mayoral terms over the following three decades, serving from 1901 to 1902, 1913 to 1914, and 1922 to 1927. Liston represented the city on the Melbourne Harbour Trust, and oversaw the construction of the Williamstown Town Hall (opened 1927). He eventually resigned from the council in 1930, due to allegations of misconduct. In 1923, Liston had also been elected to the Melbourne City Council, where he was chairman of the traffic and building regulations committee for six years. He ran for Lord Mayor of Melbourne in 1931, but lost to Harold Gengoult Smith by a single vote.

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