James Wilshire
Personal details
Born	James Robert Wilshire (1809-07-29)29 July 1809 Sydney, Australia
Died	30 August 1860(1860-08-30) (aged 51) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

James Robert Wilshire (29 July 1809 – 30 August 1860)^[1] was an Australian politician. He was a member of theNew South Wales Legislative Council between 1855 and 1856 and again from 1858 until his death. He was also a member of theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly for one term between 1856 and 1857.^[2]

Wilshire was the second son of James Wilshire (1771-1840)^[3] and his wife Esther,née Pitt.^[1] The Wilshires were one of the oldest colonial families inNew South Wales, James's father having arrived in the colony in 1800 to take up a post in the Commissary Department.^[4]

Wilshire was educated privately and worked in his father's tannery which he inherited in 1840. He married twice, first to Elizabeth Thompson (in 1836) and, following her death in 1846, married her younger sister, Sarah in 1847.^[1] He had twelve children in all, five with Elizabeth, and then seven with Sarah. His oldest,James Thompson Wilshire, became a politician,^[5] and his youngest (born a week after his death),Henry Austin Wilshire, became a well-known architect.

InNovember 1842, he waselected as an alderman to theSydney City Council,^[6] and served as the thirdMayor of Sydney from 25 September 1843 until November 1844.^[7] Wilshire was a political supporter ofJohn Dunmore Lang and a strident opponent of the reintroduction oftransportation. He was a generous supporter of theBenevolent Society. In January 1855, prior to the establishment of responsible self-government, Wilshire was returned to the semi-elected Legislative Council forCity of Sydney.^[2] He represented the electorate of Sydney City in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 13 March 1856 to 19 December 1857.^[2] Subsequently, at thefirst election under the new constitution he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as one of the four members forthe same seat. Wilshire was defeated at thenext election, in 1858. He did not hold a ministerial or parliamentary position. Following his defeat he accepted a five-year appointment to the Legislative Council which he retained until his death.^[2]

• 1809 births
• 1860 deaths
• Mayors and lord mayors of Sydney
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
• Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
• 19th-century Australian politicians
• 19th-century mayors of places in Australia
• Burials at Gore Hill Cemetery

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Australian English from October 2014
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Use dmy dates from September 2014