The name of J. P. Talty is synonymous with the saddlery craft in New South Wales; and James Talty himself, though he died early in 1972 , is still remembered today as one of the most colourful figures of the trade - a legend in his own lifetime. Born in Paddington, Sydney, in 1876, he was the second eldest of 13 children, the son of a grocer. Cars were of course unknown at that time, it being truly the heyday of the horse and the horse-drawn vehicle; and for young Jim, son of a grocer, the attainment of a position in the saddlery trade would have promised as secure a future as any lad could hope for. In 1890 therefore, at the age of 14, his meagre formal education behind him, James Patrick Talty began the first year of a seven year apprenticeship with John Brush, Saddlers, of Sydney. Talty completed his long period of training with John Brush, and it seems that he remained with that firm for a number of years after it also, at least until 1903, since nearly all who knew him, friends and relatives alike, remember well his tales of how he was put to work there making saddles for the Boer War (1899-1902), and also how he, as a young man, had taken time off from work to watch the Boer War contingent march through the streets of Sydney. In the main however, the events of his life during the first decade of this century are mostly unknown, since this author has been unable to locate any documents or records giving credence to anyone of, the many and varied tales of his doings and whereabouts for these years. Surviving relatives of Talty's are adamant that he spent some of these years living in New Zealand, and the remainder (until 1910) working up and down the N.S.W. coast as a travelling saddler. Exhaustive research and correspondence has failed to verify either story.** However, he first appears on the official register in 1910, when he is listed in the Country Alphabetical Section of the John Sands Directory as 'J.P. Talty, Saddler, Tamworth'. This then is the date which would seem to mark the actual founding of the firm of J. P. Talty, Saddlers, at Tamworth, in the year 1910, and, it is to be hoped that a now lost photograph of Talty and his first saddlery, taken in 1910**, is soon uncovered. It appears that Talty did not maintain his saddlery at Tamworth for very long, since it is not registered in the Sands Directory for the following year, 1911, and it would therefore, be safe to assume that it either closed down or changed hands early in that year; in any case, Talty himself then moved back to Sydney.

By 1912, the firm is registered under the name of  'J. P. Talty, Manufacturing Saddler', with its business premises listed as being at 388-390 Sussex Street, Sydney. The building in which his 'shop' was situated was shared with a number of other small business concerns, among them one 'Albert Chandler, Coach Iron-Monger and Importer " with whom Talty must have maintained a close working relationship. Talty set up his saddlery in Sussex Street in 1912. 1914 saw the outbreak of World War One, and Talty, despite his age (he was then 38 years old), and despite the fact that his saddlery was classified as an essential industry, necessary for the war effort, immediately rushed to enlist, serving with distinction in the 3rd Machine Gun Regiment, which fought in France for most of the war. Whilst in the army, he left his business in the care of an old and reliable saddler, one M. A. Rowland, until his return in 1919, and by 1920 the saddlery is listed in the Sands Directory as being located in the "Barlow Chambers", 388 Sussex Street , a 'slightly' different address to the one mentioned previously, and this would seem to indicate a change of workshop premises, still however, within the same building; the shop was moved onto a different floor. In 1922, the saddlery was moved to 350 Kent Street, City, on the third floor of Burnell House, a building which had been occupied prior to this date by the General Motors Export Company,. Although it is not known exactly how many tradesmen and workmen, Talty had in his employ at this time, judging by the relatively small sizes of his business premises to this date, it would certainly not have exceeded a total of 15. However, business cannot have been all that slow. Despite the onslaught of mechanical transport, the saddlery, as well as producing saddlery, harness and saddle 'furniture', and ironmongery, was also maintaining very close links with the 'Empire', Collar Making factory at Alexandria, and in fact, it is very probable that Talty himself owned shares in this company. It would be worthwhile here to digress for a short while to discuss James Talty, the man, as mentioned above perhaps the most colourful figure in N.S.W. saddlery history, and a most likeable eccentric. Though he lived to be 96 years of age, he never married, seemingly preferring the bachelors existence to the secure comforts of married life. In spite of his trade, he was a great lover and collector of motor vehicles; and, made possible by the wealth he attained from his business, a passionate collector of rare books, manuscripts and other such paraphernalia. This author has been told by a number of James Talty's old friends of the time when, in the early 1950s, he journeyed to Adelaide especially to be present at the auction of some ancient Greek manuscripts, which he then promptly purchased for 2,000 pounds. These, along with his many other valuable yet most unlikely possessions, such as early handwritten journals, death masks of famous people, expensive musical instruments, rare books and documents, and even the elaborate saddle upon which the Japanese emperor Hirohito was seated when he formally surrendered to the allies at the end of World War 11, he bequeathed to relatives and the Catholic Church. Talty was in fact a devout Catholic, attending Church every Sunday throughout all of his life. He was also a noted authority on Australian Bush Poets, and throughout his long life he would often travel far and wide in order to meet and talk with most of them. He was also an accomplished violinist, an instrument which he played in a number of orchestras. An extremely likeable and friendly character, his surviving friends remember his favourite pastime being sitting with visiting friends in his little office at the Saddlery, drinking a Scotch and discussing business, the world, the old times, and telling innumerable 'yarns'. The Saddlery remained at Burnell House, 350 Kent Street, Sydney, to where it had been moved in 1922, until 1926, when the whole business was shifted once again to a larger premises located at No. 6 Cunningham Street, Sydney (between Goulburn and Pitt Streets). The building here was also occupied by another saddler, 'E. O. Erickson', formerly of 449 Pitt Street, and the two were to develop and maintain a very close business relationship lasting nearly 50 years, this being the period of occupancy of this building for both saddleries. During the years around 1930, those of the Great Depression, the Talty saddlery suffered in much the same way as did other small industrial concerns in Sydney. Money was scarce, new orders almost ceased, and the majority of the Company's workforce was laid off Talty, however, by now quite a wealthy man, was able to keep his business going by instituting a generous 'deferred payments' plan, whereby customers, both, regular and irregular, were able to purchase goods more or less on loan with the money repayable whenever possible; and with Talty himself making up the temporary shortfall. When World War 11 broke out, in September 1939, James Talty was 63 years of age, and his firm, founded almost 30 years previously, was once again classified as an industry essential to the country's war effort, with more workmen being employed in order to fulfil the many government contracts for saddles and harnesses, supply packs and general military leather goods which then flowed into the company office. By 1948 the Saddlery was employing 15 tradesmen as well as a greater number of other workmen, with the firm selling their wares 'over the counter' at the workshop itself, as is still the case today. It should be pointed out to the reader here that, as one would expect with a 20th century saddlery, the company did not, throughout the course of its history, ever really show any true signs of expansion. On the other hand however, it could well be said that it was no minor feat of James Talty to keep his saddlery open throughout all these years, in the face of the almost totally overwhelming tide of mass mechanisation. For of all Sydney's early saddleries; which were as common as used-car lots only 70 years ago, only three or four are still operating today, and the Talty Saddlery is amongst them. 

The 1950s and 1960s saw the market for saddles being constricted even more than it had been previously, with farmers, riding schools and riding enthusiasts as the firm's only customers; so much had the horse been eclipsed by the automobile as this country's everyday mode of transport. Despite these inevitable major setbacks however, the firm was still managing to employ up to 23 men in the early 1970s, a feat accomplished in part by a market diversification, such as the firm winning government contracts to supply the N.S.W. Police Force with leather 'back-packs' for its motorcycles 25 , saddles for its horses, and by the production of saddles and leather 'props' for some major film ventures, such as 'The Sundowners' in 1960, and in later years, the stage performances of Jesus Christ - Superstar. James Talty himself was to continue working at his saddlery up until two weeks before his death, early in 1972, at the age of 96. His name had by then become a byword in the N.S.W. saddlery trade. His passing however, did not force the closure of the company which bore his name, and it continued making and supplying saddles and associated 'furniture' and ironmongery to the public from its business premises at 76 Parramatta Road, Camperdown, to where it was moved late in 1978 following a successful takeover bid by the Winchcombe-Carson Industrial Group.

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**Webpage Author's Additional Notes:

The Catholic Press (Sydney) on 03 September 1908 displayed an advertisement lodged by J P Talty: