James Stuart-Wortley (Conservative politician)

Summary

James Archibald Stuart-Wortley, PC, QC (3 July 1805 – 22 August 1881)[1] was a British Conservative Party politician and the husband of the philanthropist Jane Stuart-Wortley.

Arnold Genthe, James Stuart-Wortley, portrait photograph, Library of Congress

Life edit

He was born in 1805, the youngest son of James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 1st Baron Wharncliffe. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford and he became a barrister at the Inner Temple in 1831, rising to be a Queen's Counsel in 1841. He was a fellow of Merton College, Oxford.

He was elected at the 1835 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for Halifax,[1] but was defeated at the 1837 general election.[2] He returned to the House of Commons in 1842, when he was elected at an unopposed by-election as MP for Bute, and held that seat until 1859.[3] At the 1859 general election he stood in the West Riding of Yorkshire, but did not win a seat.[2]

In 1846, he was sworn a Privy Counsellor.[4] He held office as Recorder of London from 1850 to 1856 and then as Solicitor-General for England under Lord Palmerston from November 1856 until May 1857. He had to resign in 1858 due to spinal injuries sustained in a riding accident. He and his wife left their London home in Carlton House Terrace to live at East Sheen Lodge (which was renamed Wortley Lodge) near Mortlake until he became worse, forcing them to move back to London in 1869. Back in London his wife was able to delegate the care of her husband at least in part to their daughters.[5]

Family edit

 
Arnold Genthe, Mr. and Mrs. James Stuart-Wortley, portrait photograph, Library of Congress

On 6 May 1846 he married Jane Lawley (1820–1900), daughter of Lord Wenlock.[5] She died at Ripley, Surrey, on 4 February 1900, aged 79.[6] They had four sons and five daughters:[citation needed]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "House of Commons constituencies beginning with "H" (part 2)". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 141, 491, 576. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
  3. ^ "House of Commons constituencies beginning with "B" (part 6)". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 30 April 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ "No. 20578". The London Gazette. 27 February 1846. p. 771.
  5. ^ a b Jane Stuart Wortley, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Retrieved 31 January 2016
  6. ^ "Deaths". The Times. No. 36058. London. 6 February 1900. p. 1.

The photographs on this page are in The National Portrait Gallery and are listed as being JOHN Stuart-Wortley – 2nd Baron Wharncliffe (1801–1855)and his wife Georgina (née Ryder)

External links edit

  • Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by James Stuart-Wortley
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Halifax
18351837
With: Sir Charles Wood
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Bute
1842 – 1859
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Solicitor-General for England
1856–1857
Succeeded by