1344 James White

Constituency  : Forfarshire  1895-7


As  discussed  a  few  posts  back  the  Liberals  had  lost  Forfarshire  to  the  Liberal  Unionists  in  a by-election  partly  as  a  result  of  a  selection  squabble. James, the  Liberal  who  lost  out  in  that , won  the  seat  back  at  the  general  election  by  441  votes.

James  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  jute  merchant  and  was  actually  born  in  New  York. The family  moved  back  home  during  the  American  Civil  War  and  purchased  a  baronial  castle near Dundee.  James  studied  engineering  at  Cassel  University  in  Germany  and  became  a  keen amateur  scientist. James  and  his  father  constructed  a  domestic  dynamo  in  1881. He  was  also a keen  photographer  and  a  collector  of  Japanese  art. He  also  supported  the  development  of  the theatre  organ .He  stood  for  St  Andrews  Burghs  in  1892.

In  November  1896  James  was  away  in  India  when  the  Dundee  Advertiser  printed  a  story that he  had  resigned  his  seat  following  a  court  case  brought  against  him  for  breach  of  promise. James  sent  the  Forfarshire  Liberal  Association  an  angry  letter  denying  any  intention  to  resign and  accusing  the   committee of  planting  the  story  but  he  resigned  anyway.

James  got  adopted  for  Wilton  in  Wiltshire  but  did  not  contest  it  when  a  by-election  arose during  the  Boer  War  because  the  Tory  candidate  had  been  wounded  fighting  in  South  Africa. He  contested  the  1900  General  Election  there  but  wasn't  successful.

In  1906  James  contested  Great  Yarmouth  but  was  unsuccessful. He  lodged  a  petition  against the  result  but  the  senior  judge, Grantham  ( a  former  Tory  MP )  dismissed  the  petition. This was  widely  condemned  as  partisan  and  discussed  in  a  Commons  debate  that  July.

James  had  a  keen  interest  in  sociology . Having  spent  time  at  Toynbee  Hall, he  became convinced  that  training  in  the  subject  would  help  politicians  and  public  servants  achieve   social  reform  more  effectively. He  provided  an  endowment  for  a  Department  of Sociology  at the  University  of  London.

James  was  also  a  philanthropist  who  maintained  a  farmhouse  to  provide  holidays  for disadvantaged  children, reduced  his  estate  workers'  hours  and  set  up  a  pension  scheme  for them.

He  died  in  1928  aged  70.