Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford

The Right Honourable The Lord James of Hereford GCVO PC KC
Lord James of Hereford, by Bassano, 1882
Solicitor-General
In office 26 September 1873 – 20 November 1873
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	Sir George Jessel
Succeeded by	Sir William Vernon Harcourt
Attorney-General
In office 20 November 1873 – 17 February 1874
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	Sir John Coleridge
Succeeded by	Sir John Burgess Karslake
In office 3 May 1880 – 9 June 1885
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	Sir John Holker
Succeeded by	Sir Richard Webster
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 4 July 1895 – 11 August 1902
Monarch	Victoria Edward VII
Prime Minister	The Marquess of Salisbury Arthur Balfour
Preceded by	The Viscount Cross
Succeeded by	Sir William Walrond, Bt
Personal details
Born	(1828-10-30)30 October 1828
Died	18 August 1911(1911-08-18) (aged 82)
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Liberal Unionist

Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford GCVO PC KC (30 October 1828 – 18 August 1911), known as Sir Henry James between 1873 and 1895, was an Anglo-Welsh lawyer and statesman. Initially a Liberal, he served under William Ewart Gladstone as Solicitor General in 1873 and as Attorney-General between 1873 and 1874 and 1880 and 1885. However, he broke with Gladstone over Irish Home Rule and joined the Liberal Unionists. From 1895 to 1902 he was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in the Unionist ministries of Lord Salisbury and Arthur Balfour.

James was the son of Philip Turner James, a surgeon of Hereford, and Frances Gertrude, daughter of John Bodenham. His father's family was descended from the Gwynnes of Glanbran, Carmarthenshire, described in the nineteenth century as "one of the oldest in the Empire." His grandfather, Gwynne James, was also a surgeon, while his great-grandfather, another Gwynne James, was an apothecary. He was educated at Cheltenham College.