Jackson was born on 3 July 1882 at Bunnythorpe, some ten kilometers north of Palmerston North, New Zealand. His father was George Albert Jackson and his mother was Mary Ann Julia Leach. George Jackson was a farmer from England and Mary Ann Leach was born in India. They had eleven children, including James. After Mary died in 1890, in 1894 the family moved to Darlinghurst, an eastern suburb of Sydney. Sydney Harbour made such an impression on James that it would remain a major motif in his work for the rest of his life.
