Dr James Broadbent AM is a well-known historian, conservationist and author, with his main area of study being the history of colonial houses in New South Wales, their furnishings, gardens and the society that built and lived in them.

He has had a long association with the properties cared for by the Historic Houses Trust (now known as the Sydney Living Museums) and began this relationship in a curatorial role at Elizabeth Bay House in the late 1970s. He has advised on the conservation and restoration of many significant Australian houses and gardens, including Elizabeth Farm, Vaucluse House, Rouse Hill House and Farm and Government House.

As the Senior Curatorial Advisor at HHT, 1991-2003, he has written numerous journal articles and book chapters and his publications, often complementing HHT exhibitions of the same theme and title, include: India, China, Australia: Trade and Society 1788-1850 (2003) and The Australian Colonial House: Architecture and Society in New South Wales 1788-1842 (1997), as well as co-authoring: Francis Greenway, Architect (1997); The Age of Macquarie (1992) and Gothick Taste in the Colony of New South Wales (1980).