Sydney James Law was an Australian politician.

Born in Redfern

Redfern, New South Wales

Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sydney. Redfern is 3 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney...

 to cabinet maker John Law and Sarah Pollard, he established what would become a highly successful drapery shop in Balmain

Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....

 around 1881. On 4 July 1883 he married Mary Maclean, with whom he had two children. Having joined the Balmain Labour League

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 in 1891, he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly

New South Wales Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...

 as the member for Balmain South

Electoral district of Balmain South

Balmain South was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales from 1894 to 1901, when it was reabsorbed into the district of Balmain.-Members for Balmain South:...

 in 1894. In 1902 he resigned from the party to become an Independent Labor

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 member, but in 1904 he was elected to the seat of Rozelle

Electoral district of Rozelle

Rozelle was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales, created in 1904 and named after and including the Sydney suburb of Rozelle. With the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into the multi-member electorate of Balmain. It...

 as a Liberal

Liberal Reform Party (Australia)

The Liberal Reform Party was an Australian political party, active in New South Wales state politics between 1901 and 1916. The question of tariff policy which, had created and divided the Free Trade Party and Protectionist Party in New South Wales in the 1890s, became a federal issue at the time...

. Defeated in 1907, he became an auctioneer in 1909 and became active in New South Wales sectarian politics as a Protestant. Law died at Drummoyne

Drummoyne, New South Wales

Drummoyne is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 6 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Canada Bay....

in 1939.