James Pearce (1825 – 5 November 1904) was a South Australian businessman and politician based in

Kapunda Kapunda is a town on the Light River and near the Barossa Valley in South Australia. It was established after a discovery in 1842 of significant copper deposits. The population was 2,917 at the 2016 Australian census. The southern entrance t ...

History

Pearce was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, in 1825. He arrived in South Australia in August 1849 and went to work with his brother William Pearce (c. 1815 – 19 November 1878), who had a business at the

Beehive Corner The Beehive Corner is a landmark in the Adelaide city centre, on the north-eastern corner of King William Street and Rundle Street, centrally placed between the railway station and the city's shopping precinct. History The name gained curren ...

, then went to Burra. He later ran a timber and hardware business, Pearce Wincey, & Co., in Kapunda for 36 years, was involved with administration of Kapunda Hospital, Dutton Park, and the town council, serving 1867–1868 as its second mayor. He retired to Kenilworth Avenue, Norwood around 1887.

Politics

He represented

Light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

in the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

from April 1870 to February 1875. In 1875, he was elected at the top of the list for Wooroora. He was elected to the

South Australian Legislative Council The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the South Australian House of Assembly, ...

in April 1877 and retired in April 1885.

Family

James Pearce married Harrietta Edmonds (ca.1825 – 10 July 1909) on 7 September 1843 at Saint Mary, Aylesbury He lived at Kapunda and later Kenilworth Avenue, Norwood. Their children included: * Samuel William Pearce (31 March 1848 – 1 January 1932 ) married Mary Williams on 8 July 1867 *Henry Edmonds "Harry" Pearce (1 January 1858 – 18 May 1881), a policeman, died of stab wounds inflicted while arresting a grog runner. *James Smith Pearce (22 August 1859 – 20 September 1929 ) married Bessie Sheogh Fotheringham (died 1893) on 10 February 1880. He married again, to Lizzie Moyle on 18 May 1896 *Emma Jane Pearce (15 September 1855 – 10 October 1935 ) married John Bradford Scott on 7 December 1876 *Agnes Harriet Pearce (16 December 1863 – 1958) married H. B. Kiddell on 13 July 1889 *Ada Caroline Pearce (24 April 1869 – 3 December 1901) married John Gould Kelly on 20 September 1887

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, James Members of the South Australian House of Assembly Members of the South Australian Legislative Council 19th-century Australian businesspeople 1825 births 1904 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians