James Tyson
Australian pastoralist (1819-1898)

James Tyson (8 April 1819 – 4 December 1898) was an Australian pastoralist. He is regarded as Australia's first self-made millionaire. His name became a byword for reticence, wealth and astute dealing.
Early life
James Tyson was born about 1820 in the Camden district (then called Cowpastures) of New South Wales, the son of William Tyson and Isabella Marie (née Coulsen). There is disagreement over the date of his birth. Some sources say 11 April 1823 while others say 8 April 1819. At his death in 1898, he was described as being either 75 years of age or 81 years of age, suggesting an even wider range of possible birth dates.
His mother, Isabella, was a convict, sentenced to transportation for theft. His father, William, and his eldest brother, also William, came with her. Receiving a grant from Governor Lachlan Macquarie in the Narellan area, the Tysons set themselves up as small farmers, later moving with their growing family to East Bargo.
The public source identifies “James Tyson” as australian pastoralist (1819-1898). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Tyson and Australian.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15492751. VIAF identifies the subject as 29041856. The Library of Congress control number is nb2003018980. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1819, 1898, 1820 and 1823.
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This entry incorporates text from “James Tyson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.