James Tolmie (25 July 1862 – 6 April 1939) was a member of the Parliament of Queensland, newspaper proprietor, and soldier.

[1] The eldest of a family of nine children, he was educated at the South State School, Toowoomba, and began as a pupil teacher in 1877.

In 1894 he became editor, with a half-share interest, of the Darling Downs Gazette, a position he held until that paper's amalgamation with the Toowoomba Chronicle in 1922.

[2] He was re-elected in 1915, when the Denham Government was defeated, and was Leader of the Opposition until he was forced to resign in 1918 due to ill health.

[1] Before the Federation of Australia in 1901, Tolmie was a captain in the Fourth Queensland Regiment, and during World War I was major in command of a troop ship.