James Oatley (16 April 1817 – 31 December 1878) was an Australian politician.

Early life

He was born in Sydney, the second son of Staffordshire watchmaker and ex-convict James Oatley and his wife Mary. His father had arrived in Sydney with a life sentence on the ''Marquis of Wellington'' in January 1815. His mother and newborn older brother arrived free on the ''Northampton'' in June 1815. On 1 January 1839 he married Eleanor Johnson at Sydney and they later had nine children. He was apprenticed to John Urquhart, a coachbuilder of George Street. After his father's death in 1839, Oatley inherited substantial property including a Cooks River grant his father received in 1833, the location of the family estate, Snugborough Park. From 1844 he was the licensee of the Sportsman Hotel on the corner of Pitt and Goulburn streets. He retired in 1852 to devote himself to public affairs. He was a horse owner and a subscriber to the Homebush races. Oatley was commissioned as a Justice of the Peace. He was appointed to the Cooks River Road Trust in 1849, and was a member of the Australian Patriotic Association, and Officer of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Mayor and parliamentarian

He was elected as a Councillor for the

City of Sydney 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 ...

as alderman for Phillip Ward from 1 November 1852 until 31 December 1853 when the council was replaced by City Commissioners. He was re-elected unopposed for Phillip Ward, 11 April 1857 to 1 December 1867, and for Fitzroy Ward, 1 December 1868 to 1 December 1878. Oatley became a magistrate in 1859 and was elected

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

in 1862. In 1864 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

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, serving until his retirement in 1869. Following the death of his first wife Eleanor, Oatley married Margaret Curtis on 29 September 1870 at St Peter's church, Cooks River, and they had one daughter. He was an alderman on Paddington Council and

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

in 1876 and 1877. He was a Royal Commissioner on the Inquiry into Berrima Gaol in 1878. Oatley died at his Bourke Street home in

Woolloomooloo Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a lo ...

on and was buried at Camperdown Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oatley, James 1817 births 1878 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Mayors and Lord Mayors of Sydney 19th-century Australian politicians Mayors of Paddington (New South Wales)