Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/379

 borough' in 1850, 'Whitby Pier in a Gale' in 1863, and 'St. Ives' Pier' in 1864. In 1856 he removed to Streatley-on-Thames. Reading, and subsequently to Henley-on-Thames. Thenceforward he chiefly devoted himself to views of the Thames. 'The Thames at Wargrave, Mid-day' (now at South Kensington) is dated 1866, and 'The Thames from Streatley Bridge ' 1868. Jackson's strength lay in firm and careful execution, and in restrained harmonies of tone and colour. In such early work as his 'Hazy Morning on the Coast of Devon' he favoured restful sunlight effects. His handling of grey mist and clouds always skilfully interpreted the placid west country atmosphere. Jackson had other than artistic interests. He was keenly interested in photography, and invented an instantaneous shutter for which he gained a medal from the Royal Photographic Society. He moved in later life to Bristol and died unmarried at his residence there, 62 Clifton Park Road, on 27 Jan. 1904.

 JAMES, HENRY, first  (1828–1911), lawyer and statesman, born at Hereford on 30 Oct. 1828, was third and youngest son of Philip Turner James, surgeon, of Hereford, by his wife Frances Gertrude, daughter of John Bodenham of The Grove, Presteign, Radnorshire. One of his brothers, Gwynne James, became a leading solicitor at Hereford, and a nephew is Judge Gwynne James. He was educated at Cheltenham College, which was opened in 1841, and was the first boy on the roll. In after years he was president of the council of governors of the school, and founded the James of Hereford entrance scholarships, primarily for Herefordshire boys. At school he played in the cricket elevens of 1844 and 1845, and never lost his interest in the game, playing occasionally for the old boys, and becoming president of the M.C.C. in 1889. He gained no special distinction in school studies, and on leaving began training as an engineer, but soon joined the Middle Temple as a student (12 Jan. 1849). He was lecturer's prizeman in 1850 and 1851, and was one of the earliest and foremost members of the Hardwicke Debating Society, where he developed a power of lucid speaking. Called to the bar in 1852, he joined the Oxford circuit, among his contemporaries being Mr. (afterwards Baron) Huddleston [q.v.] and Henry Matthews, now Lord Llandaff. His rise at the bar was not rapid. He practised at first mainly in the mayor's court, of which he became leader. Comparatively early in his career he became known to (Sir) John Hollams[q. v. Suppl. II], and through him obtained much commercial work at the Guildhall. In 1867, after fifteen years at the bar, he was appointed ‘postman’ of the Court of Exchequer—an office now extinct—and became a Q.C. in 1869. Next year he was elected bencher of his Inn, and in 1888 served as treasurer. In 1870 he joined (Sir) Henry Drummond Wolff [q. v. Suppl. II] in an expedition to the seat of the Franco-German war, and came under the fire of French artillery at Strassburg.

In 1869 James entered the House of Commons as liberal member for Taunton. There he came to the front more quickly than at the bar. In company with (Sir) William Harcourt [q. v. Suppl. II] he was soon a prominent figure on the ministerial side below the gangway, occasionally criticising his leaders with effect. As a parliamentary speaker he was rarely brief, but he held the ear of the house. A speech which he made in 1871 against a bill introduced by Jacob Bright for giving the parliamentary franchise to unmarried female householders attracted attention as ‘a bold and incisive speech … the speech of a man who was weary of talking around a subject and went straight to the root of the matter’ (Ann. Reg. 1871, p. 92). During the same session he took an active part as a private member in the debates on the elections (parliamentary and municipal) bill, which was thrown out by the Lords. In 1872 he increased his reputation by a speech supporting Mr. Justice Keogh's judgment in the Galway election petition, a ‘powerful and conclusive argument’ (ib. 1872, p. 85), upon which he was complimented by Disraeli among many others. In 1873 he was prominent in the debates on Lord Selborne's Judicature Act. In Sept. 1873 he became solicitor-general in Gladstone's government in succession to Sir George Jessel [q. v.], and was knighted. Two months later, when the attorney-general (Sir) John Duke Coleridge [q. v. Suppl. I] became lord chief justice, James succeeded him as attorney-general, Sir William Harcourt becoming solicitor-