James PREECE b. ca 1848, Van Diemen's Land son of Evan PREECE (1803-1860) from Herefordshire, England and Margaret CALAGHAN (1811-1877). Evan PREECE, an ex-convict convicted for sheep-stealing, with a Conditional Pardon in Van Diemen's Land, along with his family moved from Van Diemen's Land to Portland Bay, Victoria in 1851 and then over the border to Mount Gambier in South Australia.
James PREECE was married in 1870 at Mount Gambier, South Australia to Catherine McSHEEHY, b. 1851, Morphett Vale, South Australia, daughter of Patrick McSHEEHY (Bootmaker) and Deborah SHEEHAN.
James and Catherine PREECE are both buried in the Sandford Cemetery.
James PREECE and Catherine McSHEEHY had the following known family:
- Michale John PREECE b. ca1872, Mt Gambier, SA, d. 1954, Gippsland, Victoria, m. Agnes TEMPLETON 1880-1965
- James Alexander PREECE b. 1873, Mt Gambier, SA, d. 1926, m. Adelaide Phoebe CUTCHIE 1889-1964
- Deborah Mary PREECE b. 1875, Casterton, Victoria, d. 1920, Melbourne, Vic, m. Robert GORDON
- John Thomas PREECE b. 1877, Casterton, Vic, d. 1919, Sandford, m. Elizabeth JONES 1890-1933.
- Alfred George PREECE b. 1880, Sandford, Vic, d. 1924, m. Norah Cecelia PEDRINA
- enlisted WW1 1 Feb 1917
- served as Pte 6579, 4th Machine Gun Battalion, AIF
- RTA, 5 Apr 1919
- Sandford War Memorial
- George Francis PREECE b. 1883, Sandford, Vic, d. 1946, m. Frances Emily Davis BRUGGY 1888-1976
- William Patrick PREECE b. 1885, Sandford, Vic, m. Flora Ethel Maud DUNCAN, served in WW1, living at Forbes, NSW in 1917.
- enlisted WW1 9 May 1915, Liverpool, NSW
- served as Pte 2459, 2nd Battalion, AIF (Egypt)
- RTA, 7 Sep 1916 (broken wrist)
- Sandford War Memorial
- Thomas Andrew PREECE b. 1887, Sandford, Vic., d. 1917, WW1
- Francis PREECE b. 1889, Sandford, Vic, d. 1947, m. ........?
- Henry Patrick PREECE b. 1891, d. 1891, Sandford, Vic.
- Catherine Margaret PREECE b. 1893, Sandford, Vic, d. 1954, Casterton, Vic.
- Henry Peter PREECE b. 1896, Sandford, Vic., d. 1917, WW1