Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Bray, James Samuel

Amateur naturalist, author and erratic entrepreneur in late colonial Sydney.

Milestone
Born
Bent Street, Sydney
09 Jan 1849
Died
01 Apr 1918
Buried
02 Apr 1918
Occupation
Position
1872 - 1876
Property
Owner of
1884 - 1892
Relationship
Child of
Child of
Parent of
Parent of
Parent of
Parent of
Parent of
Parent of
Parent of
Spouse
11 Jul 1870 - 1878
Spouse
1883 - 1918

Bray, James Samuel

CC BY-SA 2.5 AU
,
2017

A local character for nearly 50 years, James Samuel Bray was an amateur naturalist, prolific author and erratic entrepreneur in late-colonial Sydney. Despite representing the colony at exhibitions as far afield as Melbourne and Calcutta, Bray perennially skirted the edges of scientific and social respectability. Often ostracised in life, and soon forgotten after his death, he nevertheless embodied the 'antiquarian imagination' that took root in the Australian colonies from the 1870s until World War I.