James Coleridge was the older brother of the philosopher-poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...

 and father of Sir John Taylor Coleridge

John Taylor Coleridge

Sir John Taylor Coleridge was an English judge, the second son of Captain James Coleridge and nephew of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.-Life:...

, future Judge of the King's Bench

King's Bench

The Queen's Bench is the superior court in a number of jurisdictions within some of the Commonwealth realms...

, and Henry Nelson Coleridge

Henry Nelson Coleridge

Henry Nelson Coleridge was an editor of the works of his uncle Samuel Taylor Coleridge.Henry's father was Captain James Coleridge, the poet's brother. While a chancery barrister, Henry married Samuel's daughter Sara in 1829. He was a great admirer of his uncle and father-in-law...

, the editor of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's works.

History

He obtained his captaincy during the period of the French Revolutionary Wars

French Revolutionary Wars

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

 and was later promoted to the Colonel. He purchased the Coleridge family home, the Chanter's House, in Ottery St. Mary

Ottery St Mary

Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery" , is a town in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about ten miles east of Exeter on the B3174. It is part of a large civil parish of the same name, which also covers the villages of West Hill, Metcombe, Fairmile, Alfington, Tipton St...

, Devon in 1796. During the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 he escorted French prisoners to Dartmoor prison

Dartmoor (HM Prison)

HM Prison Dartmoor is a Category C men's prison, located in Princetown, high on Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. Its high granite walls dominate this area of the moor...

.