James Cole

James William Cole (ca.1808 – 23 June 1861) was an architect and politician in the colony of South Australia.

Personal life Cole was born in 1808 in Westminster, London, England. His father was William Cole (c.1796-1843), and Cole had three sisters. Cole sailed to the colony Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania, Australia) on the barque Vibilia to settle in Hobart. Fellow traveller Mary Best (ca.1798 – 16 February 1882) came from a family of cabinet makers and upholsterers; they married in December 1833. They lived for a time in Hobart before moving to Launceston, where they had three children:

After joining the Independent Order of Rechabites and the Total Abstinence Society, he gained opportunities such as trusteeships and surveyorships of building societies and housing developments.

In 1858 he became City Surveyor of the Adelaide Council. In June 1859 he was a founding member of the South Australian Association of Architects, Engineers, and Surveyors.

By the 1860s his buildings included "villa residences" for minor gentry.