James Brain was born in Oxford England in 1831 to William Brain and an unknown  mother. He married Mary Ann Wharton in England. She was the daughter of Abel Wharton  and an unknown mother. James and Mary Ann came to Australia in 1853, arriving in  Hobson's Bay Melbourne Victoria, with their daughter Maria and their son George. James was a builder with the railways at Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong before  heading to the goldfields at Stuart Mill near St Arnaud. In 1865 James took up 300  acres at Waterloo Plain in the St Arnaud district. It became known as a model farm.  James built the North Western Hotel on the corner of Bewley St and North Western Road  St Arnaud in the1860s.The hotel had 17 rooms including 10 bedrooms, 8 of which were  open to the public, and a 6 stall stable. This was originally a single storey hotel  until a road was cut into the hill and it had to become 2 storey to fit into the side  of the hill. There was a bar, billiard room and storeroom underneath and dining room,  bedrooms etc above. There was a chaff house alongside. These were erected by Martin  Schultze. 
 Later James and Mary retired to the farm and their second eldest son took over. In  1922 the hotel was de-licensed and demolished. The Brains had sold it by then. All  that remains is the front retaining wall

These two people have more than 500 descendants. I am continually finding more.