Sturgiss, a voracious reader because he wanted to understand his environment, had many interests including history, philosophy and geography, as well as the natural sciences. A fourth generation grazier who served in the Middle East in World War I as a Light Horseman, Sturgiss returned to Australia after the war to find he had inherited his uncle's property. He married a local woman and they raised six children on this property which they had called Ataweenah after the Middle East town. He had remained in the Army Reserve, and when World War II broke out he found himself promoted to major and in charge of the Bega camp. He later coastwatched the area from Bermagui to Cape Howe. He had always been a fossicker and gold washer, exploring the country on horseback, gaining inspiration and historical knowledge for his writing.The vulnerable-listed tree species found only in the Northern Budawang Range, Eucalyptus Sturgissiana or the Ettrema Mallee, was named after him. He was described by the editor of his book as "a combination of horseman, writer, philosopher, explorer and poet" (The Man from the Misty Mountains : Memoirs and Poems of James Henry Sturgiss 1890-1983 (1986) vii).
