Watch List notes:

QR (Queensland Railways), Member of Parliament pass in the form of a handcrafted tie bar style badge in voided gold (18ct; 8.56g; 43x21.5mm), no maker, pin-back; obverse inscribed, 'Member Of Parliament', reverse inscribed, 'Port Curtis Electorate/J.H.Kessell'. Extremely fine.

J. H. Kessell was the Liberal member for Port Curtis 1912-1915 in the Queensland Parliament. John Henry Kessell was born at Kadina, South Australia in 1870. He was educated in Bathurst, NSW and later was a proprietor of the Gladstone Observer newspaper and chairman and director of the Mt Morgan Co. He was president of the Australian Provincial Press Association and also president of the Queensland Country Press Association. He died at Lewisham Hospital, Sydney, NSW and was buried at the Field of Mars Cemetery in Ryde. In 1912 he contested the seat of Port Curtis in the state election but lost by two votes although the election was later declared null and void and he won the subsequent by-election. He served for nearly 3 years before losing his seat in the 1915 election.