James Harding

Captain James Harding (181123 June 1867) was the third harbourmaster at the port of Fremantle (18511867).

Harding had arrived at King George Sound in 1846 on Dromo with his first wife, Elizabeth, and four young children. The family went back to England for two years between 1848 and 1850 for the children's schooling.

In 1851, Harding's youngest daughter, Emily Louisa died, followed in December 1852 by his wife. One son, Edward Horne, went on to be a prominent Australian politician; another, Francis Frederick Burdett, became a prominent pastoralist and explorer. Later the same year Harding's second daughter, Mary Rose, died in an accident whilst traveling to visit her older sister in Gwambygine.

Jane died in December 1862 and in March the following year, Harding married Sarah Wickliffe, an Irish immigrant girl.

Harding acquired a number of properties in Norfolk, Suffolk and Adelaide Streets in Fremantle, and in 1866 purchased a land parcel north of Butler's Swamp for £20. Harding's body, identified only by his clothing, was not discovered until eight weeks later on Garden Island.

Harding left all of his estate to his wife Sarah; however she was unable to cope with the grief of losing her husband and was committed to the Fremantle Lunatic Asylum. In 1891, Harding's land at Butler's Swamp was sold off and subdivided, becoming the suburb of Graylands.