James Oatley’s Grave

The first historical marker erected by Hurstville Council and Hurstville Historical Society was at the site of James Oatley’s grave at his farm, ‘Snugsborough’, where he was buried in 1839.  The plaque is set into a small concrete plinth.

The Oatley Estate.  King George’s Road.  James Oatley arrived in the colony as a convict.  He was pardoned in 1821.  He was a clockmaker, who carried out work for Governor Macquarie.  He was granted 175 acres beside Wolli Creek at Kingsgrove and he bought the adjoining 80 acres fronting King George’s Road, including the estate of Snugsborough.  He was also granted 300 acres at Georges River, now the suburb bearing his name.  A slab house built in the 1830s survived until the early 1900s.  Subsequent owners of the estate were Thomas Walker and then William George Judd, whose farm was called ‘The Meadows’.  Judd grew vegetables and farmed sheep.  A rough racecourse was marked out, and in the surrounding bush, cock-fighting, bulldog fighting and two-up schools occasionally took place.  When James Oatley died on 8 October 1839, he was buried on his Snugsborough farm about fifty yards from the dwelling house.  The grave was enclosed with a paling fence.  In 1925, the headstone was found lying on the Moorefield Estate and it is now in the collection of Hurstville Museum and Gallery.