James Walker Bain

James Walker Bain (1841 – 29 September 1899) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. He was a significant businessman in Invercargill and Southland.

Bain was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1841. He received his education at the Free Church Normal School and then at a private academy. He started with the printing company Oliver and Boyd and learned the trade of a compositor.

He arrived in Port Chalmers in New Zealand, Otago's harbour, on 23 September 1858 on the Jura from Glasgow. His parents, five sisters and one brother arrived in Otago on the Gloucester three months later; one of his sisters was Wilhelmina Sherriff Bain. Bain founded the Mataura Paper Mill in 1875. He was Mayor of Invercargill in 1891–1892.

Bain died unexpectedly on the morning of 29 September 1899 after falling ill on 26 September. He was buried at St. John's Cemetery in Invercargill.