John Charles Horsey James

Who was John Charles Horsey James?

John Charles Horsey James was a magistrate in Western Australia and the inaugural president of the Western Australian Cricket Association from 1885.

He was the son of Rev. John H. James of Highfield, rector of Avington, Berkshire and his second wife Theodosia Mary Tennant, of 'Romansleigh' in North Devon. He was educated at Rugby School, Warwickshire between 1854 and 1860, and later at Oxford University where he was awarded his law degree in 1864. At Rugby he sat under Dr Frederick Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury and at Oxford played cricket in the first eleven of Exeter College.

Choosing law as his profession, he enrolled at the Inner Temple and was called to the bar in November 1866 where he practised on the Oxford circuit. In 1875 the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Earl Carnarvon offered James the position of Commissioner of Titles for Western Australia, with the task of implementing the Torrens title transfer of lands system at that colony. He accepted the offer becoming one of the last imperial appointments to colonial administrative positions made direct from the home government.