687 James Howard

Constituency :  Bedford  1868-74, Bedfordshire  1880-85  

James  took  the  second  Bedford  seat  from  the  Tories.

James  was  a  Bedford  man  educated  locally. With  his  brother  he  set  up  a  business  making  agricultural  machinery. In  1862  he  bought  a  large  part  of  the  estates  of  the  Earl  of  Ashburnham  and  set  up  a  model  farm  there. He  was  a  noted  pig  breeder. He  was  mayor  of  Bedford  in  1863-4. In  that  capacity  he  entertained  Garibaldi  in  1864.

James  was  defeated  in  1874. In  1879  he  founded  the  Farmers' Alliance  to  rally  support  for  more  flexible  land  laws.

He  died  in  1889  aged  68.