When James Pedler was born in March 1814, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, his father, William Pedlar II, was 50 and his mother, Grace Caroline Rouse, was 46. He married Mary Ann Grose on 4 December 1836, in Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 5 daughters. He died in 1885, in Victoria, Australia, at the age of 71, and was buried in Victoria, Australia.