Sir James Lamb, 1st Baronet

Sir James Bland Lamb, 1st Baronet (8 June 1752 – 13 October 1824), born James Burges and known as Sir James Burges, Bt, between 1795 and 1821, was a British author, barrister and Member of Parliament.

Background and education

Born James Burges, he was the only son of George Burges and Anne Whichnour Somerville, daughter of James Somerville, 13th Lord Somerville.^[1] He went to Westminster School and then entered University College, Oxford in 1770 before studying law at Lincoln's Inn in 1773.

Political career

Burges first served in Parliament as Member of Parliament for Helston from 1787 to 1790). He then served as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1789 and 1795 before becoming a Baronet and Knight Marshal of his majesty's household (1795)^[2] where he played an important role in the coronation of George IV.^[3] He was well established; being a friend of William Cumberland and John Graves Simcoe;^[4] and a patron of Thomas Dermody. He was connected by marriage to Lord Byron. He wrote music for Ode to the Passions by William Collins and wrote the prologue to Vortigern and Rowena (1796).

Works

• Heroic epistle from Serjeant Bradshaw to John Dunning. 1780.
• Considerations on the law of insolvency. 1783.
• A letter to the Earl of Effingham. 1783.
• Address to the country gentlemen of England. 1789.
• Letters on the Spanish aggression at Nootka. 1790.
• Narrative of the negotiation between France and Spain in 1790. 1790.
• Alfred's letters: a review of the political state of Europe. 1792.
• The birth and triumph of love. 1796.
• Richard the first: a poem in eighteen books. 2 vols, 1801.
• The exodiad [with Richard Cumberland]. 1807, 1808.
• Riches, or the wife and brother: a play. 1810.
• Songs, duets, etc. in Tricks upon travellers, a comic opera. 1810.
• Dramas. 2 vols, 1817.
• The dragon knight: a poem in twelve cantos. 1818.
• Reasons in favour of a new translation of the holy scriptures. 1819.
• An inquiry into the procrastination attributed to the House of Lords. 1824.
• Selections from the letters and correspondence, ed. Hutton. 1885.

References

1. ^ thepeerage.com Sir James Bland Lamb, 1st Bt.
2. ^ http://wiz2.cath.vt.edu/spenser/authorrecord.php?action=GET&recordid=33250
3. ^ David McClure, "BBC Local Hero Caroline Burges and Eglinton Castle" http://www.ayrshirehistory.org.uk/Shorts/localhero.htm
4. ^ John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806 by Mary Beacock Fryer, Christopher Dracot, p89

External links

• Catalogue of the papers of Sir James Bland Burges, mainly 1772-1824, with papers of the Burges and Head families, C18th-20th, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford