James Stewart, 1st Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox (6 April 1612 – 30 March 1655) was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 nobleman. He was the eldest son of Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox

Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox

Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox KG was the son of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox. He was a patron of the playwright Ben Jonson, who lived in his household for five years.He married Katherine Clifton, 2nd Baroness Clifton, in 1609...

 and his wife Katherine Clifton, 2nd Baroness Clifton

Katherine Clifton, 2nd Baroness Clifton

Katherine Clifton, 2nd Baroness Clifton was an English-born Scottish peeress ....

.

James Stewart inherited the Dukedom of Lennox on his father's death (30 June 1624) and was invested as a knight of Order of the Garter

Order of the Garter

The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...

 in 1633.

He married Mary Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham

George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...

 on 3 August 1637.

A cousin of Charles I of England

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

, Stewart was a Privy Council

Privy council

A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

lor and key member of Royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

 party in the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

. In 1641–42, he served as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports

Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports

The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century but may be older. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was originally in charge of the Cinque Ports, a group of five port towns on the southeast coast of England...

. He spent five months in exile in 1643, returning to England to defend the city of Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 for the king. He died on 30 March 1655 at age 42 and was buried in Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

.

Richmond

The Scottish connection to the earldom of Richmond began in 1613 when Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox

Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox

Ludovic Stewart, 2nd Duke of Lennox and 1st Duke of Richmond was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He was the son of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox and his wife Catherine de Balsac. Stewart was involved in the Plantation of Ulster in Ireland and the colonization of Maine in New England...

, was created Earl of Richmond. He was made Duke of Richmond

Duke of Richmond

The title Duke of Richmond is named after Richmond and its surrounding district of Richmondshire, and has been created several times in the Peerage of England for members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families...

 in 1623, when Cobham Hall and the manor of Cobham, Kent

Cobham, Kent

Cobham is a village and civil parish in the Gravesham District of Kent, England. It is located south of Watling Street, the old road from Dover to London, six miles south-east of Gravesend. The hamlet of Sole Street lies within the parish, which covers an area of 1,240 ha and has a population of...

, was granted to him by King James I of England

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

, and became the main residence of the family. Upon his death in February 1624, the Lennox

Earl of Lennox

The Mormaer of Lennox or Earl of Lennox was the ruler of the long-lasting provincial Mormaerdom/Earldom of Lennox in the Medieval Kingdom of the Scots. The first Mormaer is usually regarded as Ailin I , but the genealogy of the Mormaers gives earlier names...

 titles descended to his brother Esmé and the Richmond titles became extinct. In 1641 James Stewart was created Duke of Richmond, once again uniting the Scottish and English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 dukedoms.

James's son Esmé Stewart

Esmé Stewart, 2nd Duke of Richmond

Esmé Stuart, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 5th Duke of Lennox was the son of James Stewart, 1st Duke of Richmond and Mary Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham....

 inherited the Richmond and Lennox titles on James's death, but Esmé died at age 10 in 1660, whereupon both titles descended to Charles Stewart

Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond

Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox KG was the only son of George Stewart, 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny and Katherine Howard, daughter of Theophilus Howard, 2nd Earl of Suffolk...

, son of James Stewart's younger brother George Stewart, 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny

George Stewart, 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny

George Stewart , 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny was a Scottish nobleman and Royalist commander in the English Civil War...

.