James Walter Curry was born in 1858 in Port Hope, Ontario. He was a lawyer and practiced in Port Hope, Millbrook, and Toronto. In Toronto, he headed the law firm O'Connor, Wallace and Macdonald and specialized in criminal law. Curry was also Crown Attorney (Toronto) (1892-1906), managing director of Canada-Cuba Land and Fruit Company (1906-1907), president of the Toronto Lacrosse Club, and director of the Ontario Lacrosse Club. Curry also ran unsuccessfully for MPP as the Liberal candidate for East York (1908).