1219 James Smith

Constituency  : Glasgow  Partick  1890 - 1906  ( Liberal  Unionist )

James  kept  Glasgow  Partick  in  Liberal  Unionist  hands  after  the  death  of  Alexander  Sellar.

James  was  a  lawyer's  son. He  was  proud  of  having  a  number  of  illustrious  ancestors . He  was   educated  at   Winchester  and  Cambridge . He  became  a  barrister  .He  contested  Paisley  for  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  1886. He  was  a  director  of  a  number  of  Glasgow-based  companies.

In  1900  James  became  assistant  private  secretary  to  Chamberlain  at  the  Colonial  Office. He  was  an  enthusiastic  proponent  of  the  Tariff  Reform  League.

James  had  an  interest  in  working  class  housing  and  encouraged  building  on  his  own  estate  by  low  site   rents.

James  held  on  to  his  seat  fairly  comfortably  against  Liberal  challengers  until  he  was  swept  away  in  the  landslide  of  1906. He  was  defeated  at  Greenock  in  January  1910.

He  died  in  1929  aged  75.