James Rodd (1830 – 31 March 1900) was an English-born Australian politician.

Early life

He was born at Rayleigh in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

to James Rodd and Ann Alabaster. He migrated to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1857 and went to the goldfields at Braidwood, where he opened a store. On 11 June 1861 he married Jane Gregson, with whom he had a son; both mother and son died soon after birth. He remarried Ellen Alicia Madden on 23 September 1871. In 1866 he was appointed a magistrate.

Politics

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 Goldfields South in 1865. In 1867 a Royal Commission was appointed to enquire into crime in the Braidwood district, in reference to the crimes of the bushrangers the Clarke brothers, and whether police and magistrates had been diligent in seeking to apprehend them. Rodd's electorate included the Braidwood goldfields and he gave evidence before the commission which was critical of magistrate Rowland Hassall. The commissioners reported that Hassall "has refrained from taking any open or active part against the bushrangers or their associates, to preserve himself and his property from outrage and depredation. He has throughout evaded his duty as a Magistrate, by systematically abstaining from adjudicating, or in any way taking part in cases against such offenders or their connections". Hassall subsequently sued Rodd for slander in relation to his evidence before the royal commission. The case was prosecuted by the current and 2 former Attorneys General, Sir William Manning ,

John Darvall Sir John Bayley Darvall (19 November 1809 – 28 December 1883) was an Australian barrister, politician and beneficiary of slavery. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1844 and 1856 and again between 1861 and 1863 ...

and Sir James Martin . Rodd was represented by Henry Stephen and Edward Butler, instructed by Joseph Leary, in successfully defending the case in a trial lasting 15 days. Rodd incurred costs of £1,947 9s 3d, recovering £1,171 0s 5d from Hassall. In 1871 he sought that the government pay the balance of £755 6s, which was initially refused, however the parliament authorised the expenditure in January 1873. He did not contest the 1869 election. In 1872 he unsuccessfully stood for The Nepean, before being elected for Goldfields North. He was bankrupted in 1874 and forced to resign. By 1880 he was working in Sydney as an auctioneer. Rodd died in .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodd, James 1830 births 1900 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 19th-century Australian politicians People from Rayleigh, Essex