Little information has been able to be obtained on James life, either on his early life in England, or his time in Australia. Shipping records reveal that James, with his father John, sailed from Adelaide to Melbourne on the Brig "Dale" on 28th February 1852. On 24th March, John wrote back to his wife Anna Maria in Adelaide, telling her of the trek that they had made. It seems as though John, Anna and James arrived in Adelaide in late 1851, and John and James then travelled to the goldfields in Victoria to seek their fortune.  Details of the ship that brought the three to Australia has not yet been found, and the author of this website would appreciate any knowledge that might be contributed on this matter. It is certain that James was with his father, John, in the Bendigo gold fields in Victoria during the 1852, however during the period 1869 to 1875, both James and his father were shown in the Post Office directories as being farmers at Franklinford. During this period, James also worked at the "Yarrowalla" farm, which was owned by the Roberts family. It was during this time that James met Elizabeth Anne Roberts, whom he married in 1871. Elizabeth Anne Roberts, picture taken around 1893, when Elizabeth was 41 years old. Other than their first child, Elizabeth Anne, who was born at Jarklan, all their children were born at Franklinford. James, in his later life, worked collecting money for the share mine group in the Franklinford/Yandoit area of Victoria (the share mine group being a number of local business people and farmers who put some spare cash into the running of a gold mine on a regular basis for investment purposes, for a share in the profits).  Young James had the ability to become rich. He became a mining engineer whose background was practical, rather than academic. He bought and sold shares by the thousand. In the end his spirit of adventure outran his discretion, and after his death his sons were left with his debts. His gifts were outstanding and in legal disputes he was often employed to represent defendants. In the gold mining area he was called "The Bush Lawyer".   James was also the Sexton at the Franklinford cemetery for a period of thirty years. James died in 1905, just short of his sixtieth birthday.  Elizabeth, who was some 17 years younger than James, lived to 1937, reaching 85 years of age. Elizabeth Anne Roberts, taken in 1912, probably on the occasion of her sixtieth birthday.