Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet

Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet (c. 1617 – 22 January 1692) was an English politician and Royalist soldier.

Born at South Wraxall, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, the son of Sir Walter Long and Anne Ley (daughter of James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough), he was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1634. At his father's death in 1637, Long inherited the bulk of his Wiltshire estates, including the manor of Draycot Cerne.

Long held the following offices:

He succeeded his uncle Sir Robert Long as 2nd Baronet by special remainder in 1673.

Sir James was also a magistrate. His friend, the historian John Aubrey wrote: "When there was a Cabal of Witches detected at Malmesbury they were examined by Sir James Long and committed by him to Salisbury Gaole. I think there were seven or eight old women hanged".

He had entered the royal army and served in Sir Thomas Glemham's regiment at the beginning of the Civil War; later rising to the rank of Colonel of horse in Sir Francis Dodington's brigade. In 1645, he escorted the Prince of Wales to Bristol, and while returning to Devizes he was overtaken by a superior force of Parliamentarians under Waller and Cromwell; he fell rapidly back towards Bath, hotly pursued by Waller; but was intercepted by Cromwell, and the high thick-set hedges prevented his escape. He was captured, but soon exchanged.

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