James Bravery was 14 when he played soccer for Rosebells in the Ipswich and West Moreton Junior Minor competition in 1910. He scoted for Rosebells against Booval Stars in late May and again against Bundamba Rangers in early June. Both games were reported in the Queensland Times. His father, George Bravery senior, was the assistant treasurer of the West Moreton Coal-miners’ Sports’ Association in 1909.
By 1912 George had moved the family to the small mining community of Tannymorel near Warwick. Soccer existed in Tannymorel at the time, but there is no indication the Bravery family took any part in the town’s games against Warwick between 1912 and 1914. It is possible there were games played among Tannymorel’s population which were not reported.
Bravery followed his father into mining, before enlisting in April 1917. He was allocated to the 26th Battalion and departed in June. He arrived in France in January 1918 and not much is known of his service until he was wounded in action in mid-June. His records state he suffered from a severe gunshot wound to the face and was sent back to England. Bravery recovered and returned to France a month before armistice. Starting back to Australia in mid-1919, he was among a group of returning soldiers, including his brother George junior, who were welcomed home in August with a function at the Tannymorel’s Albert Hall. Each soldier was presented with a gold medal, while a small orchestra entertained the guests. The event was covered in the Warwick Daily News on 5 September 1919.
Bravery moved to Atherton in Far North Queensland in the early 1920s, where he became a farmer. He married Mary Healy in 1923, and they had a son, James Lesie Bravery. Bravery was also reported playing soccer for the first time since he was a teenager. The Cairns Post of 5 June 1925 listed Bravery as playing for Atheron against Malanda. The same paper on 5 April 1926, reported that Bravery had become secretary and treasurer of the Golden Grove soccer club, at a time when discussions were held to form a Tablelands soccer association.
Bravery died in Atherton in 1975.