Howard James

The son of a missionary and schoolteacher, Howard James was born in South Africa, but came to England when just eight months old. He was educated at Eltham College, but the students were moved to Taunton School in Somerset at the outbreak of World War II, where he was an accomplished rugby player. James went on to obtain a BSc in engineering. Having served with the Royal Navy during the War, James emigrated to Australia with his family in 1953, and was the chief engineer on the construction of the new Gladesville Bridge, 5.5 km to the west of Sydney Harbour Bridge. When it was completed in 1964, the Gladesville was the longest single-span concrete arch bridge ever constructed.

Little is known about the rowing career of James, other than his participation at the 1948 Olympics as bow in the coxed pairs event, along with stroke Mark Scott, and the 16-year-old cox David Walker.