Walter Charles James, 1st Baron Northbourne (3 June 1816-4 February 1893), known as Sir Walter James, 2nd Baronet, from 1829 to 1884, was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

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James was the son of John James, Minister Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands, and grandson of Sir Walter James, 1st Baronet. He succeeded his grandfather in the baronetcy in 1829 and in 1837 he was elected to the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 for Hull as a Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

, a seat he held until 1847. He acquired Betteshanger House in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 in 1850 and commissioned George Devey

George Devey

George Devey was a British architect, born in London, the second son of Frederick and Ann Devey. Devey was educated in London, after leaving school he initially studied art, with an ambition to become a professional artist...

 to oversee extensions and alterations to the house.

He served as High Sheriff of Kent

High Sheriff of Kent

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 responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred elsewhere or are now defunct, so that its functions...

 for 1855. He was a friend of William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...

 and in 1884, during Gladstone's second term as Prime Minister, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Northbourne, of Betteshanger in the County of Kent.

Lord Northbourne married Sarah Caroline, daughter of Cuthbert Ellison

Cuthbert Ellison

Cuthbert Ellison was a British Whig politician.He inherited his father's estate aged 15. He was educated at Harrow School and Christ's College, Cambridge...

, in 1841. She died in 1890. Lord Northbourne survived her by three years and died in February 1893, aged 76. He was succeeded in his titles by his son Walter

Walter James, 2nd Baron Northbourne

Walter Henry James, 2nd Baron Northbourne , was a British peer and Liberal politician.James was the son of Walter James, 1st Baron Northbourne.He attended Oxford University, and won a blue at tennis in 1868...

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