1444 James Tomkinson

Constituency : Crewe  1900-10

James  took  Crewe  back  from  the  Tories.

James  was  the  son  of  a  general  at  Waterloo. He  had  estates  in  Cheshire  and  around  Nuneaton.  James  was  educated  at  Rugby. In  1895  he  contested  Nuneaton  and  remained  President  of  Nuneaton  Liberal  Club..He  was  the  first  vice-chairman  of  Cheshire  County  Council. He  once  told  Gladstone  that  he  was  the  only  member  of  the  landed  interest  in  Cheshire  not  to  go  Unionist. He  was  escorting  Gladstone  on  a  visit  to  Chester  in  the  1892  campaign  when  a  woman  hit  Gladstone  in  the  eye  with  a  gingernut  biscuit. He  was  a  director  of  Lloyds  Bank  and  a  number  of  railway  companies.

James's  maiden  speech  was  in  support  of  the  Sale  of  Intoxicating  Liquors  to  Children  Bill  in  1901. He  expressed  the  hope  that  the  age  limit  would  be  raised  from  16  to  18.

James  became  a  Church  Estates  Commissioner  in  1907. He  was  a  member  of  a  Royal  Commission  on  vivisection  in  1909.

In  April  1910  James  participated  in  the  House  of  Commons  Steeplechase. He  fell  off  his  horse - not  his  first  riding  accident - and  died  of  the  injuries  sustained. He  was  69. He  was  a  direct  ancestor  of  Tara  Palmer -Tomkinson.