James Nation became one of Victoria’s most well-known nineteenth century builders and contractors, establishing the company Nation and Co in which he was joined by son Alfred. Later they branched out into the distilling and brewing business when they bought Aitken’s Northumberland Distillery and the Victoria Parade Brewery. This venture turned out to be a disaster, with headlines such as ‘Speculator loses £150,000’, but Nation’s bricks and mortar legacy can still be seen in many Victorian buildings. Among his noteworthy local buildings which remain to this day are the Fitzroy Town Hall (1873), Floraston at 39 Victoria Parade and the Children’s Church, Harmsworth Street, Collingwood.

James was born in Somerset, then lived in Kent before moving to Camden Town (London) with wife Jane and son Alfred. Here he worked as a pianoforte maker, and baby Emily was born. In 1854 they left for Australia, landing in Portland on New Year’s Day in 1855. By 1858 he was in business with a Mr Dunn as cabinetmakers with city premises at 40 Flinders Lane East and in 1860 was listed on the Collingwood voters roll at Thompson Street Abbotsford, living in a substantial though not palatial brick house. Alfred attended Scotch College in East Melbourne from 1857 to 1861. In July 1865 James was elected to Collingwood Council, his relatively short term ending with his resignation in January 1867.

As well as premises in Flinders Lane, Nation and Co had an extensive workshop and builders yard on the corner of Church Street and Kent Street in Richmond, very conveniently located close to James’ home in Abbotsford.

Another five children had been added to the family, two died in infancy, and the eldest were reaching adulthood. In 1871 his son Alfred married Mary Aitken, the daughter of his friend Thomas Aitken, a brewer, and in 1875 his eldest daughter Emily was married at St Philip’s Church in Hoddle Street. By 1878, when youngest son Walter married Henry Walker's daughter Lilly, James and Jane had moved to Hodgson Street, Kew, off Studley Park Road, while Alfred and Mary had taken up residence in the Thompson Street house.

The gamut of James’ building endeavours was extensive, ranging from banks and public buildings to mercantile premises and houses. His reputation as a builder was indicated when houses, sold at a later date, were proudly described in the advertisements as ‘well and faithfully built by James Nation and Co.’ In 1868 he was responsible for the furniture and fittings of the General Post Office and built a number of places for the Public Works Department, such as the Beechworth Post Office (1870), Penshurst Courthouse, and Coleraine Post Office (1874) and the State Bank in Coleraine.

In 1879 - 1880 his company built the Eastern Markets (later demolished and replaced by the Southern Cross Hotel) and in the 1880s he was responsible for the University of Melbourne’s original Wilson Hall, working with architects Reed and Barnes. In November 1881 an article in The Herald described a long list of buildings currently under construction by the firm and mentioned the numbers employed on Nation’s projects: an extraordinary total of 428 men and boys. About 78 workmen were employed at the Church Street yard alone. In 1882 there was a disastrous fire at the workshop, damaging among other items a quantity of work which was ready to be installed at Wilson Hall.

Two more daughters married at St Philip’s: Fanny in 1889 and Jane in 1890. When Alfred with his five Collingwood-born sons (who had followed their father as pupils at Scotch College) relocated to East Melbourne, Jane and her husband moved into the Thompson Street house where their only child was born. Despite moving to nearby but more salubrious suburbs, James and Alfred and their spouses maintained strong Collingwood connections.

Given the success and reputation of Nation and Co, what possessed James and Alfred to switch to another area of endeavour entirely? Thomas Aitken died in 1884 and the Victoria Brewery and associated concerns passed to his son Archibald Aitken.  Certainly the Nation and Aitken families had been intertwined for decades and James and Alfred would have been familiar with the nature of the Aitken business. Nation and Co bought the Victoria Brewery from Archibald in 1885. The firm of Nation, Gamlin and Nation was dissolved in July 1887; Robert Gamlin took over the plant and stock of the firm and continued in business as  builder, contractor and cabinetmaker. In some complicated arrangements, the brewery and the distillery, along with the associated leasehold and freehold of various hotels associated with the brewery, were in 1888 put into a limited liability company named the Victorian Brewing, Malting and Distilling Company, Limited. 

The Nations’ timing was poor; they were not to know that the economic crash which devastated Victoria in the early 1890s was looming over the horizon. They were heavily in debt and the 1892 depression led to pressure from the London Chartered Bank. In 1894 the estate was sequestrated, and multiple hearings ensued through the following years. By 1897 James was in the insolvency court. To add to his misery, his wife Jane had died in 1894 and his son Walter, who had partnered with his father-in-law in the Abbotsford soap and candle making enterprise Walker and Nation, died suddenly in 1895. While Judge Molesworth ultimately considered James, as a man whose integrity and honesty were never questioned throughout his career, a victim of unfortunate circumstances and granted him an unconditional discharge, the extensive reporting of the hearings in contemporary newspapers gives the impression that there were some underhand dealings on the part of others. The complex and convoluted details are quite beyond the scope of this brief biography, but the interested reader can follow up the matter through the sources listed below.

Bankrupt, James moved from Kew to Leongatha where he had selected land around 1880. As consolation, Fanny with her husband and little children lived nearby. But the brewing industry had got into the family blood: three of Alfred’s sons purchased the Trentham Brewery in 1899, later adding the Kyneton Brewery to the company, and Alfred and Mary went to live with them.

James’ probate in 1910 makes poignant reading: in addition to the major allocations, his will made in better times bequeathed £50 to each of his numerous grandchildren, but his net worth amounted to less than £70.

Trove list: https://trove.nla.gov.au/list/57763

Colonial Bank of Australasia:

http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/476670