James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave

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James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave KG, PC (1684–11 April 1741) was a British ambassador.

Waldegrave was the son of the 1st Baron Waldegrave and Henrietta FitzJames, the illegitimate daughter of James II and Arabella Churchill.

Waldegrave inherited his father's title in 1690 and on 20 May 1714, he married Mary Webbe, a daughter of Sir John Webb, 3rd Baronet and they had three surviving children:

• Hon. James Waldegrave (1714–1763)
• Hon. John Waldegrave (1718–1784)
• Lady Henrietta Waldegrave (1717–1753), married firstly, Lord Edward Herbert, a son of the 2nd Marquess of Powis and had issue; married secondly, John Beard (a singer at Covent Garden).

His wife died in childbirth in 1719 and after her death, converted from Roman Catholicism (the religion he was brought up with) to Anglicanism in order to take his seat in the House of Lords. He was briefly a Lord of the Bedchamber in 1723 and then from 1730-41 and Ambassador to Austria from 1727-30 and to France from 1730-40. During his ambassadorship to France, he still spent enough time in London to be one of the founding Governors of the new charity there, known as the Foundling Hospital (created in 1739). In 1729, he had been created Earl Waldegrave and on his death in 1741, was succeeded by his eldest son, James.

Waldegrave was the first person to discuss what would become game theory in a 1713 letter concerning the card game le Her.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Unknown	British Ambassador to Austria 1727–1730	Succeeded by Thomas Robinson
Preceded by The Lord Walpole of Wolterton	British Ambassador to France 1730–1740	Succeeded by Anthony Thompson
Regnal titles
Preceded by New Creation	Earl Waldegrave 1729–1741	Succeeded by James Waldegrave
Preceded by Henry Waldegrave	Baron Waldegrave 1690–1741