Sir James Langham, 2nd Baronet (c. 1621 – 22 August 1699) of Cottesbrook, Northamptonshire was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at various times between 1656 and 1662. Langham was the eldest son of

Sir John Langham, 1st Baronet Sir John Langham, 1st Baronet (20 April 1584 – 16 May 1671) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons in 1654 and 1660. He was the eldest son of Edward Langham of Guilsborough, Northamptonshire, who ...

and his wife Mary Bunce.John Burke ''A General and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of ..., Volume 2''
/ref> He was educated at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

, where he matriculated in 1638, and was admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1640 to train for the law. He was knighted in 1660 and appointed

Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respon ...

for 1664. In 1656, Langham was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

in the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in t ...

. He was elected MP for

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

in 1659 for the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a powe ...

. In 1661, Langham was elected

for

in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

but the election was declared void on 13 June. Langham was again elected MP for Northampton in February 1662 but the election was also declared void on 26 April 1662. Langham inherited the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on the death of his father in 1671. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1678. Langham married four times, his first wife being Mary Alston, the daughter of Sir Edward Alston, his second wife Elizabeth, the daughter of

Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon Ferdinando Hastings, 6th Earl of Huntingdon (18 January 1609 – 13 February 1656), was the son of Henry Hastings, 5th Earl of Huntingdon, and Lady Elizabeth Stanley, the daughter of Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby, and Alice Spencer. He m ...

, his third wife Penelope, the daughter of John Holles, 2nd Earl of Clare and his fourth wife Dorothy, the daughter of John Pomeroy of Devon. He died at Kensington and was buried at Cottesbrooke, Northamptonshire, leaving no male children. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his brother

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. His daughter married

Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington (13 January 1652 – 2 January 1694) was a Member of Parliament, Privy Councillor, Protestant protagonist in the Revolution of 1688, Mayor of Chester and author. Life Booth was a son of George Booth, ...

References

History of Parliament - LANGHAM, Sir James (c.1621-99), of Lincoln's Inn Fields, Mdx. and Cottesbrooke, Northants.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langham, James 1620s births 1699 deaths People from Cottesbrooke People from Northampton Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire Baronets in the Baronetage of England Place of birth missing Year of birth uncertain Fellows of the Royal Society English MPs 1656–1658 English MPs 1659 English MPs 1661–1679