James_Fox-Lane

James Fox-Lane

James Fox-Lane

British politician

James Fox-Lane (August 1756 – 7 April 1821), known as James Fox until 1773, was an English landed gentleman, who represented Horsham in Parliament for six years.

Quick Facts Member of Parliament for Horsham, Preceded by ...

Early life

He was the eldest son of Sackville Fox of East Horsley, Surrey, and his wife Ann Holloway. His father died in 1760 and left him his estate in Surrey, worth about £1,300 per year.[1]

Educated at Marylebone, he was admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge in 1771 and studied there until 1774.[2] On 22 February 1773, he inherited the Bramham Park, Yorkshire estate of his paternal uncle George Fox-Lane, 1st Baron Bingley, and subsequently took the name of Fox-Lane.[1]

Career

Through extravagance as a youth he became indebted to the moneylender Robert Mackreth. Mackreth bought Fox-Lane's Surrey estate very shortly after James came of age in 1777 and resold it for a handsome profit. He attempted to buy the Yorkshire estate as well, but the sale was cancelled by the Court of Chancery. Fox-Lane subsequently retained John Scott as counsel and sued Mackreth, alleging that Mackreth had defrauded him, and that the transactions had begun while Fox-Lane was still a minor. His suit was successful, and he was awarded the purchase money of the Surrey estate with interest and costs, totaling about £20,000. Mackreth appealed, but the verdict was upheld by the Lord Chancellor and, in 1791, the House of Lords.[1]

On 5 May 1790, Fox-Lane was commissioned a lieutenant in the Dorset Militia,[3][1] of which his father-in-law was colonel.[4]

Political career

Although he had joined Brooks's Club, famously a society of Whigs, Fox-Lane had little interest in politics. Frances, the Dowager Viscountess of Irvine, was one of his Yorkshire neighbours, and in the 1796 election, returned him for one of the seats she controlled at Horsham. No known speech or vote on his part survives, and he did not stand at the 1802 election.[1]

Personal life

On 23 July 1789, Fox-Lane married Hon. Marcia Lucy Pitt (1756–1822), the daughter of British diplomat and politician George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers and the former Penelope Atkins (a daughter of Sir Henry Atkins, 4th Baronet). They had four sons and one daughter:[5]

He died on 7 April 1821, his health having declined for some time, and left an estate worth £120,000.[1]

Descendants

Through his eldest son George, he was a grandfather of George Lane-Fox, the High Sheriff of Leitrim and of Yorkshire who married Katherine Mary Stein (a daughter of John Stein).[5]

Through his son William he was a grandfather of Augustus Pitt Rivers,[4] a prominent English ethnologist, and archaeologist.[9]

Family tree

More information Lane–Fox–Pitt–Rivers family tree ...

References

  1. [1]
    Port, M. H. (1986). "FOX LANE, James (1756-1821), of Bramham Park, Yorks.". In Thorne, R. G. (ed.). The House of Commons 1790-1820. The History of Parliament Trust.
  2. [2]
    "Fox, James (FS771J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. [3]
    "No. 13200". The London Gazette. 11 May 1790. p. 291.
  4. [4]
    Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 2, page 2788.
  5. [5]
    L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 29.
  6. [6]
    "Georgiana Henrietta Lane Fox (née Buckley)". www.lordbyron.org. Lord Byron and his Times. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  7. [7]
    Townend, Peter. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 18th edition. 3 volumes. London: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965-1972, volume 3, page 767.
  8. [8]
    Fox, Thomas Henry Lane (1854). Reflections on the Collects of the Church of England. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  9. [9]
    "Excavating Pitt-Rivers project". Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
More information Parliament of Great Britain, Parliament of the United Kingdom ...
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