James Halse (bapt. 28 January 1769 – 14 May 1838) was an English lawyer and wealthy businessman in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. He was also a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

(later

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

) politician. Halse settled in St Ives around 1790, where in addition to his

solicitors A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

's practice, he became

town clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a To ...

and an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

. He made his fortune through

tin mine Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with approximately 2 ppm (parts per million), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. History Tin extraction and use can ...

s, mostly from the

Wheal Reeth Wheal may refer to: * Wheals, a type of skin lesion * Brad Wheal (born 1996), British cricketer * Donald James Wheal (1931–2008), British British television writer, novelist and non-fiction writer * David John Wheal, Australian businessman * "Th ...

mine, but also from the St. Ives Consols mine. He used the Consols mine to create a political base for himself, by building the village of

Halsetown Halsetown is a village near St Ives, Cornwall, England. Halsetown is an industrial village planned by the solicitor and politician James Halse and built in the 1830s. There was a tin mine nearby and also a ropewalk. James Halse founded the vill ...

to accommodate the mine-workers. The village was within the boundaries of the parliamentary borough of St Ives, allowing Halse patronage of the borough's two seats in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. At the 1820 general election, both seats were taken by Halse's supporters, but his rival the borough-monger

Sir Christopher Hawkins Sir Christopher Hawkins, 1st Baronet FRS (29 May 1758 – 6 April 1829) was a Cornish landowner, mine-owner, Tory Member of Parliament, and patron of steam power. He was Recorder of Grampound, of Tregony, and of St Ives, Cornwall. The Hawkins ...

pursued him with charges of bribery, and at the 1826 election both Hawkins and Halse were elected. He was defeated at the 1830 election by William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, nephew of the Duke of Wellington, but regained the seat in

1831 Events January–March * January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing '' The Liberator'', an anti-slavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts. * January 10 – Japanese department store, Takashimaya in Kyoto establ ...

and held it until his death. In 1835, he was blackballed by the recently created ''St. Ives Library and Institution''.

References

1769 births 1838 deaths Councillors in Cornwall Mining in Cornwall Tory MPs (pre-1834) Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for St Ives UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 English solicitors {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1760s-stub