George JAMES (1813-1877) was evidently well established as a merchant in the Port Phillip District when he married Elizabeth Maria BEALE there on 22 Aug 1840.
That was only five years after John Batman arrived from Launceston, Tasmania to establish white settlement and made a treaty (later declared invalid) with the local Aborigines to acquire 242,800 hectares of land.
In 1837 the name Melbourne was officially given to the settlement at Port Phillip and Melbourne was incorporated as a town on 12 Aug 1842 - its first municipal council being elected on 1 Dec 1842.
George JAMES was one of the original councillors.
The area was first known as the Port Phillip District of the British Colony of New South Wales until it was separated and became officially known as the Colony of Victoria in 1851.
I have no information yet about how, when or from where George JAMES arrived in the Port Phillip District and I have no definite proof about the date and place of his birth or about the identity of his parents and siblings.
However, it seems to me that the circumstantial evidence is strong enough for me to believe that he was born in the East End of London on 2 Jan 1813 to Thomas JAMES and Ann HALL, Vintners of Mile End Old Town and baptised at St Dunstan, Stepney, County of Middlesex, UK on 27 Jun 1813.
Thomas and Ann had other sons and one of them was named John Hall JAMES (born 18 Apr 1809, died Dec 1831). To add to the circumstantial evidence, it is known for certainty that "my" George James, as well as probably having that brother named John Hall JAMES brother, also definitely had a son named John Hall JAMES (born 18 Apr 1848, died 20 Jan 1923).
Many of George's descendants either remained in, or returned to, Australia after George's death and I have a good deal of information about them but am finding it difficult to be certain about things such as his parents or siblings and about his early life in England and also in Australia prior to his marriage in Melbourne in 1840.
George James (who had a son named George and a grandson named George DeCourcey) went from Melbourne to UK in 1852 and subsequently bought an old castellated mansion, overlooking the Ichen River near Southampton, which he demolished and replaced with a substantial new family home he named "Ridgeway". He died there on 18th January 1877.
Children from the marriage of George JAMES and Elizabeth Maria BEALE were :-
Catherine Ann JAMES b. 30 Aug 1841 Melbourne, d. 18 Jun 1881 St Agnes, Bishopstoke UK, m. 27 Oct 1864 to Oliver William Simpson HOARE, had seven children and remained in UK after her marriage.
Isabella JAMES b. 14 Dec 1842 Melbourne, d. 8 Aug 1911 "Eaglehurst", Paynesville.
George JAMES b. 20 Jun 1844 Melbourne, occupation Officer, 34th Regiment, d. 9 May 1902, bd. Paynesville, m. Emma Louisa ? b. 22 Jan 1850, d. 1 Nov 1895.
Charles JAMES b. 6 May 1846 Melbourne, occupation Civil Engineer, d. 8 Nov 1918, bd. Paynesville, m. Catherine YOUNG b. 5 Mar 1852, d. 4 Oct 1910 "Ridgeway", Lake Victoria near Paynesville, bd. Paynesville. (see "Charles James" page) .
John Hall JAMES b. 18 Apr 1848 Richmond, Melbourne, d. 20 Jan 1923, bd. St Katherines churchyard, St Helena.
Henry JAMES b. 21 Mar 1850, occupation Physician & Surgeon, d. 25 Jun 1892 Heidelberg, Melbourne, m.Elizabeth Galbraith JAMIESON.
Edward JAMES b. 1852 Richmond, d. young.
Elizabeth Maria JAMES b.27 May 1854, bp. 14 Aug 1854 Weld Chapel, Southgate UK, d.7 Oct 1888 (drowned with her son Walter Rawson WILSON as result of a boat capsize in Lake Victoria near Paynesville), bd. Bairnsdale, m. 1878 Arnold Samuel WILSON b. c1846 Bombay, India, d. 1883 Bairnsdale, bd. Bairnsdale.
Edwin JAMES bp. 21 Sep 1856 Jesus Chapel, Parish of St Mary Extra, UK, d. 26 Sep 1938, bd. Paynesville.
Walter JAMES b. 18 Aug 1857, bp. 29 Sep 1857 Jesus Chapel, Parish of St Mary Extra, UK, d. 6 Sep 1871.
Robert Young JAMES bp. 27 May 1859 Jesus Chapel, Parish of St Mary Extra UK, d. 2 Apr 1943 Bairnsdale, bd Paynesville, m. 4 Jan 1891 Melbourne to Rose Helena MAPLESTONE, daughter of Charles Maplestone and Isabella Margaret Maplestone (formerly Nodin, nee Beale), b. 16 Jul 1859 "Ivanhoe", Melbourne, d. 22 Jul 1942 Bairnsdale, bd. Paynesville. (see "Robert Young James" page) .
Click here to go back to the top of this page