James Merriman (23 October 1816 – 13 May 1883) was an Australian cooper, whaler, publican, shipowner, alderman, mayor of Sydney and member of the New South Wales Parliament.

Biography

Early years

He was born at

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

to George and Mary Merriman. His parents died while he was very young and he and his sister Mary were raised by guardians. By 1828 they were lodging with Sydney merchant Joseph Raphael and his wife. He was indentured as a cooper, and later served on whaling vessels for four years. In 1843 he married Anne Thompson, with whom he had five children, one of whom,

George Merriman George Merriman (1845 – 17 November 1893) was an Australian politician. He was born in Sydney to shipowner James Merriman, later also a politician, and Anne Thompson. He attended Fort Street Public School and Sydney Grammar School before ...

(1845–1893), would later serve as a politician, representing West Sydney in the Legislative Assembly from 1882 to 1889. He was trading to the Pacific Islands by 1844.

Publican

In July 1847 he applied for the license of the Whalers' Arms public house, Windmill Street, Miller's Point; one of three pubs with that name in Sydney at the time. He remained the licensee till September 1855. In 1856 he applied for the licence to the Grafton Hotel, 26 Kent Street, Sydney. He had left that hotel by 1862 and moved on to another pub in Millers Point, the Gladstone Hotel. That one he left in January 1863. As the 1850s went his commercial interests began to shift to maritime activities and shipping.

Shipowner

From about 1850 he was a shipping agent for vessels trading between Sydney, the Pacific Islands and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He was also the owner of a number of ships. In 1872 his vessel the barque ''James Merriman'' was lost at sea while engaged in the pearl shell fishery in

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

Landlord

He seems to have been a considerable property owner in Sydney. In December 1862 he advertised for tradesmen to repair seven houses in Argyle St, Millers Point.

Politician

From 1867 to 1883 he served on

Sydney City Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

, including periods as mayor in 1873 and from 1877 to 1878. In 1877 he was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

for West Sydney, but he did not re-contest in 1880. He was made a trustee of the Wentworth Park Trust in July 1878. In December of that year he was appointed as a member of the Sydney International Exhibition Commission. Merriman died in Sydney on 12 May 1883.

Legacy

Crown Road in Miller's Point was renamed Merriman Street in 1875. After his death in 1883 '' The Bulletin'' offered this evaluation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merriman, James 1816 births 1883 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney 19th-century Australian politicians 19th-century Australian businesspeople Australian ship owners Australian people in whaling