James Crotty (c. 1845–1898) was an Irish-born Australian mining prospector who formed a mining company, the North Mount Lyell mining company, in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

region of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, just before the turn of the twentieth century. His mining company was in fierce competition with

Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as ''Mount Lyell''. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in ...

that operated on the western side of Mount Lyell and he was in London seeking further investment funds for his mine when he died. After he died, and the failure of the North Mount Lyell smelters at Crotty his company was amalgamated with the

in 1903. His estate, being left to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, enabled the completion of St Patrick's Catherdral in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria.Rimon, Wendy (2004
Bicentenary of Tasmania website
His legacy currently is in the name of a now drowned townsite, Crotty, and

Crotty Dam The Crotty Dam, also known during construction as the King Dam, or the King River Dam on initial approval, is a rockfill embankment dam with a controlled and uncontrolled spillway across the King River, between Mount Jukes and Mount Huxley ...

References

Further reading