James William Sawyer

James was born in Osborne, in 1882, to Jesse and Mary Ann (Coxhell) Sawyer. The Sawyers were an early pioneer family of the area.

Old homestead on Sawyer property, Dunns Rd, Osborne

James’ grandparents, Isaac and Sarah Sawyer, arrived from England in 1852. Isaac was a butcher, and he bought land at Frankston in the first Victorian land sales of 1854, but after Isaac’s death, Sarah moved the family to Mornington.

James’ father, Jesse, took out a slaughtering licence in 1887, and was a butcher in Mornington for 22 years. He was also a local Shire Councillor for many years.

The family lived at "Summerlands", in Tyabb Road, Moorooduc prior to selling it to John Jones in 1921.

James William Sawyer married Annie Parry in 1912, and for the next seven years he worked for his brother-in-law, William Murray, as a butcher. In 1920, James purchased a dairy run from Henry Dunn, of Park Hill, and became a milk retailer through to 1942. He also farmed for many years, in Bentons Rd.

James died suddenly in 1948, aged 65 years, and is buried in the Mornington cemetery. He was survived by his wife and three children.