James Mirams

An 1888 illustration of Mirams

James Mirams (2 January 1839 – 21 June 1916) was an Australian politician who was jailed for fraud.

Life

Born in Lambeth, London, the son of Rev. James Mirams who was a missionary to Berbice.^[1] His father was in England in 1840 when he attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. Mirams jr. attended a school in Chishill, Essex. This Mirams became an ironmonger and had a business in Essex before he migrated to Melbourne in 1857, becoming a dairy farmer at Braybrook. He was later a schoolteacher at Fitzroy and a bookseller at Collingwood before becoming involved in building societies. In 1876 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the member for Collingwood, serving until 1886; he was subsequently the member for Williamstown from 1887 to 1889. In 1890 he was declared insolvent and convicted of issuing a false balance sheet with intent to defraud, resulting in his imprisonment. Mirams died at Moonee Ponds in 1916.^[2]

References