Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford, (30 October 1828 – 18 August 1911), known as Sir Henry James between 1873 and 1895, was an Anglo-Welsh lawyer and statesman. Initially a Liberal, he served under

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

in 1873 and as

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

between 1873 and 1874 and 1880 and 1885. However, he broke with Gladstone over

Irish Home Rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of ...

and joined the

Liberal Unionists The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

. From 1895 to 1902 he was

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. Excluding the prime minister, the chancellor is the highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the prime minister ...

in the Unionist ministries of

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903), known as Lord Salisbury, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United ...

and

Arthur Balfour Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...

Background and education

James was the son of Philip Turner James, a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

,, ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'' and Frances Gertrude, daughter of John Bodenham.thepeerage.com Henry James, 1st and last Baron James of Hereford
/ref> His father's family was descended from the Gwynnes of Glanbran,

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

, described in the nineteenth century as "one of the oldest in the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

". His grandfather, Gwynne James, was also a

, while his great-grandfather, another Gwynne James, was an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

. He was educated at

Cheltenham College Cheltenham College is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school opened in 1841 as a Church of England foundation and is known for its outstanding linguis ...

Legal and political career

James was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

on 12 January 1849 and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 16 January 1852. He joined the

Oxford circuit The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...

, where he soon established a notable reputation. In 1867 he was made

postman A mail carrier, also referred to as a mailman, mailwoman, mailperson, postal carrier, postman, postwoman, postperson, person of post, letter carrier (in American English), or colloquially postie (in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Unite ...

of the

Exchequer of pleas The Exchequer of Pleas, or Court of Exchequer, was a court that dealt with matters of equity (law), equity, a set of legal principles based on natural law and Common law#History, common law in England and Wales. Originally part of the , or King ...

, and in 1869 took silk. At the 1868 general election he represented

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 ...

for

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

as a Liberal, unseating Edward William Cox after an

election petition An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

heard in March 1869. He held the seat until 1885, when he was returned for Bury. He attracted attention in parliament by his speeches in 1872 in the debates on the

Judicature Act Judicature Act is a term which was used in the United Kingdom for legislation which related to the Supreme Court of Judicature. List United Kingdom :The Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 ( 36 & 37 Vict. c. 66) :The Supreme Court of Judicature ...

. In September 1873 James was made

. Already in November 1873, he was promoted to

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

by Gladstone, a post he held until the government fell the following year. He received the customary

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

at the time of his promotion. When Gladstone returned as

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

in 1880 James resumed this office. He was responsible for introducing the Corrupt Practices Act 1883 and guiding it through parliament. In 1885 he was sworn of the Privy Council. In 1886, he represented Sir Charles Dilke in the Crawford divorce case alongside Sir Charles Russell QC in which Dilke was accused of adultery with his brother's wife's sister. James and Russell, with disastrous consequences, advised Dilke not to go into the witness box saying there was insufficient evidence to convict him. The judge agreed, but decided Mrs Crawford's confession was sufficient to award her husband a divorce, resulting in an apparently contradictory verdict: that she had committed adultery with Dilke, but he had not with her! Their advice has been called "some of the worst professional advice that any man can ever have received". At a second hearing instigated by the

Queen's Proctor Proctor (a variant of '' procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

, Dilke was cross-examined to devastating effect and his career ruined. On Gladstone's conversion to

, James distanced himself from him and became one of the most influential of the

. Gladstone had offered him the

Lord Chancellor The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

ship in 1886, but he declined it and the knowledge of the sacrifice he had made in refusing to follow his old chief in his new departure lent great weight to his advocacy of the Unionist cause in the country. He was one of the leading counsel for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' before the Parnell Commission, and from 1892 to 1895 was Attorney General to the Prince of Wales. In 1895 he was raised to the peerage as Baron James of Hereford, in the County of Hereford. From 1895 to 1902 he was a member of Lord Salisbury's and

's Unionist ministries as

. In later years he was a prominent opponent of the

Tariff Reform Protectionism, sometimes referred to as trade protectionism, is the economic policy of restricting imports from other countries through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, import quotas, and a variety of other government regulations. ...

movement, adhering to the section of

Free Trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

Unionists. On 11 August 1902, he was appointed to the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

as a Knight Grand Cross (GCVO).

Personal life

Lord James of Hereford died unmarried in August 1911, aged 82. By his mistress Alice, whom he refused to marry, daughter of Robert Hardwicke (d.1874) of London, he left a daughter Alice Henland (1868–1936), who married Lt. Col. George Talbot Lake Denniss, Royal Wilts. Regt.Debrett's Peerage, 1968, Baron Manton colls. The barony became extinct on his death. His portrait was painted by

John St Helier Lander John St Helier Lander (19 October 1868 in Jersey – 12 February 1944 in Witley, Surrey) was a noted Portrait painting, portrait painter.Anonymous (1944). Mr. J. St H. Lander. ''The Times'' February 15, 1944 p 6 Born John Helier Lander, he added ...

, collection of Middle Temple; his 1893 photo-portrait by

Alexander Bassano Alexander Bassano (10 May 1829 – 21 October 1913) was an English photographer who was a leading royal and high society portrait photographer in Victorian London. He is known for his photo of the Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Earl Ki ...

is in the National Portrait Gallery. Lord James (Sir Henry James at the time) was also president of Bury Golf Club during the 1890s, during which time a championship trophy was awarded in his honour.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:James Of Hereford, Henry James, 1st Baron 1828 births 1911 deaths Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies James, Henry Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom People educated at Cheltenham College Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs who were granted peerages Attorneys general for England and Wales Solicitors general for England and Wales Members of the Inner Temple Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster