Social Victorians/People/Henry James

Not the writer Henry James.

Also Known As

• Family name: James
• Baron James of Hereford, created 3 August 1895
  • Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford (3 August 1895 – 18 August 1911)
• Sir Henry James (1873 – 1895)
• Henry James, Baron of Hereford is on this page.
• Arthur (John Arthur) James (24 February 1853 – 30 April 1917) is on the Cavendish-Bentinck page.
• William Dodge James, who married Evelyn Elizabeth Forbes, is on the William James page.

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies

Friends

• Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII
• Spencer Compton Cavendish, Marquis of Hartington, later 8th Duke of Devonshire
• Sir Charles Dilke
• G. J. Goschen
• Lord Salisbury
• Lord Randolph Churchill
• W. E. Gladstone
• H. Cunynghame
• Mr. and Mrs. Asquith
• Viscount Haldane

Clients

• Sir Charles Dilke

Organizations

• Cheltenham College (first boy enrolled)
• Cambridge University
• Member of Parliament, Liberal Party
• Gladstone's governments (after 1883)
• Liberal Unionist

Timeline

1880–1885, Henry James was Attorney General.

1885, Henry James was appointed Privy Counsellor.

1885 March 18, Lilian Gertrude James and Walter Roper Lawrence married in Bombay (as it was at that time), India.

1895 August 5, Henry James elevated to the peerage by Lord Salisbury.

1892–1895, Henry James was the Attorney General to Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.

1897 July 2, Friday, Henry James and his niece, possibly Helena May James, attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

1907 July, Arthur Gwynne James and Olive Wynefred Hugolyne Piggott married, at St. George., Hanover Square, London.

1911 August 23, Wednesday, a memorial service was held for Henry James at St. Margaret's, Westminster; the funeral took place at the same time in Braemore, near Salisbury.

Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford in costume as Sir Thomas More. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein, the Younger, showing the insignia of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (the collar and rose)

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

Lord James of Hereford

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Henry James (at 122) sat at Table 4 in the first seating for supper.

• "Lord James of Hereford appeared as Sir Thomas More, from an old portrait in the National Gallery, and was dressed in brown velvet long tunic, trimmed black fur, worn over a crimson tunic and sleeves, Lancastrian collar and rose, and gold belt."
• He was dressed as "Sir Thomas More, from an old portrait in the National Gallery. Brown velvet, long tunic, trimmed black fur, worn over a crimson tunic and sleeves. Lancastrian collar and rose and gold belt."
• "Lord James of Hereford, mindful of his office, appeared as Sir Thomas More, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster."
• "represented Sir Thomas More, the dress being copied from an old portrait in the National Gallery, the long, brown velvet tunic trimmed with black fur over crimson sleeves. He wore the Lancastrian collar and rose, with a gold belt."
• "Lord James of Hereford as Sir Thomas More looked suitable [sic?] grave and dignified in his long robes of brown velvet trimmed with black fur."
• "Lord James of Hereford chose Sir Thomas More as prototype."
• "Lord James of Hereford (Sir Thomas More), brown velvet tunic, with black fur, over a crimson tunic and sleeves. Lancastrian collar and gold belt."

Alexander Bassano's portrait of "Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford as Sir Thomas More" in costume is photogravure #53 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lord James of Hereford as Sir Thomas More."

Helena May James?

His niece, possibly Helena May James, (at 396) was dressed as

• "Eugénie Hortense de Beauharnais, Louis Bonaparte's wife, in a beautiful Empire gown of white satin, and rose Dubarry train outlined with ermine."

Demographics

• Nationality: Anglo-Welsh; British

Residences

• St. Peter, Herefordshire
• St. George, London
• Chelsea, London

Family

• Philip Turner James ()
• Frances Gertrude Bodenham (1797– 25 October 1894)

1. John Gwynn James (1821– 23 May 1908)
2. Lilian Gertrude James (1826–1913)
3. Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford (30 October 1828 – 18 August 1911)

• John Gwynn James (1821– 23 May 1908)
• Elizabeth Poole (1831 – October 1905)

1. Sir Arthur Gwynne James (10 April 1855 – 17 March 1936)
2. Francis Reginald James (27 May 1856 – 28 June 1942)
3. Lilian Gertrude James Lawrence (1857 – 18 December 1929)
4. Catherine Florence James (2 November 1859 – 12 November 1939)
5. Henry Percival James (July 1860 – 26 May 1903)
6. Helena May James (2 May 1874 – 28 March 1958)

• Sir Arthur Gwynne James (10 April 1855 – 17 March 1936)
• Olive Wynefred Hugolyne Piggott (5 November 1874 [Bombay, India] – 25 September 1965)
  1. Elsa Hugolyne Gwynne James (14 August 1908 – 1999)

• Francis Reginald James (1857–1942)
• Mary Sophia Martyn (1866–1951)

1. Frances Mary James (1889-1989)
2. Harold Gwynne James (1891 – )
3. Eric Gwynne James (1893–1916)
4. Helena Gertrude James (1899–1984)
5. Philip Gwynne James (1899–1982)
6. Lilian Morwenna James (1903–1977)

• Lilian Gertrude James (1826–1913)
• Sir Walter Roper Lawrence, 1st Bt. (9 February 1857 – 25 May 1940)

1. Sir Percy Roland Bradford Lawrence, 2nd Bt (9 April 1886 – 16 May 1950)
2. Henry Walter Neville Lawrence (26 October 1891 – 24 May 1959)

• Robert Hardwicke (c. 1823 – January 1875)
• Harriet M. Hardwicke ? ()

• Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford (30 October 1828 – 18 August 1911)
• Unmarried partner: Alice Hardwicke ( – 1874)

1. Alice Henland (1868–1936)

• Alice Henland (1868–1936)
• Lt.-Col. George Talbot Lake Denniss ()

1. Angela Blanche Gladwin Denniss ( – 18 November 1959)

Notes and Questions

1. The niece who attended the Duchess of Devonshire's ball with Henry James could have been his niece Helena May James, who was living with him in 1891, according to the census that year.
2. According to Hazlehurst, Philip Gwynne James (1899–1982) donated Henry James's papers, identifies him as a nephew.
3. A Miss H. G. James attended one of the social events. Helena's middle name was May.
4. The uncited details about birth and death dates come from Ancestry.com records assembled from otherwise good sources, particularly birth, death, marriage, and probate as well as census records.
5. The Mr. and Mrs. Arthur James at the ball cannot be Arthur Gwynne James and Olive Wynefred Hugolyne Piggott, because they married in 1907, so it must be Arthur (John Arthur) James, who married into the Cavendish-Bentinck family.