James OATLEY [18452]

  General Notes:

James Oatley was a clock and watchmaker in England when at the age of 44 he was sentenced to transportation for stealing two feather beds.

He arrived in Australia in January 1815 and was fortunate, despite being a convict, to be allowed, under Governor Macquarie's administration, to establish himself as a watch and clockmaker in George Street. Oatley was soon receiving commissions from Governor Macquarie including making the turret clock in Hyde Park Barracks and soon became the Keeper of the Town Clocks. His other work included making long case or "grandfather" clocks which were purchased by the colony's leading citizens

James received a Conditional Pardon on 25 October 1821.

In 1831 James settled on 175 acres of land in the Hurstville district and later received further grants bringing his total acreage in the St. George area to 785 acres. He named his largest grant "Needwood Forest" after a forest in his home county in Staffordshire, England, and became the largest landowner in the southern part of the St George area after the Townson brothers.

James died at his residence at Snugborough Park on 8 October 1839 and was buried in a vault on his farm. His second son, Frederick (1819-1890) inherited the "Needwood Forest" grant and followed his father's footsteps becoming a watchmaker. Another son, James, was Mayor of Sydney in 1862 and Member for Canterbury in the Legislative Assembly 1864-1869.

James married Mary Ann COWLE [18450] [MRIN: 6642], daughter of COWLE [26523] and Unknown, in 1833. (Mary Ann COWLE [18450] was born about 1806 and died in 1842 in Sydney NSW Australia.)