James Quested owned and traded his ship Boomerang between Tasmania, New Zealand, and Australia. Subsequently he purchased a butchering business. He owned Smooth Island, near Dunalley. In 1851 he, together with John Rowlands, of Brushy Plains, and a man named Bannan, joined the gold diggings' rush to Bendigo, Victoria, and was fairly successful there. His later years were wholly spent on the Mainland. He migrated from Kent, England in 1821. His family was actively involved with famous bushrangers of Tasmania.