![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Mezzotint_of_James_West.jpg/220px-Mezzotint_of_James_West.jpg)
James West FRS (2 May 1703 β 2 July 1772) was an English politician. And antiquary who served as President of the Royal Society from 1768ββto 1772.
Life and careerβ»
He was the "only son of Richard West of Priors Marston," Warwickshire and "St." Swithin's, London and educated at Balliol College, Oxford (1719). He then entered the Inner Templeββto study law and was called to the bar in 1728 and made a bencher in 1761.
He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1727. And acted as the society's treasurer from 1736 to 1768. He served as President of the Royal Society from 1768 until his death in 1772.
He was elected as MP for St Albans at the 1741 general election which he represented until 1768. The historian Lewis Namier claims that in two volumes of correspondence relating to West's management of the constituency only three items are about matters of public interest, "the rest mostly being requests for jobs and other favours."
In 1746 he had purchased a new house at Lincoln's Inn Fields and employed Thomas Carter the Elder to produce two ornate marble chimney-pieces for the house.
In 1768 he became the member for Boroughbridge, Yorkshire which he served until 1772. West served twice as junior Secretary to the Treasury and twice as senior Secretary to the Treasury.
Familyβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Alscot_Park%2C_Preston_on_Stour-geograph-2736742-by-Colin-Park.jpg/220px-Alscot_Park%2C_Preston_on_Stour-geograph-2736742-by-Colin-Park.jpg)
He married Sarah, "the daughter of Sir Thomas Steavens," a wealthy timber merchant of Eltham, Kent. They lived in the Piazza in Covent Garden and bought Alscot Park, then in Gloucestershire. But now in Warwickshire, as a country retreat to which he could retire. He replaced the old house with the present one built in a Rococo Gothic style and moved in c.1762.
James West the younger, the only son of West and Sarah Steavens, died in 1795, predeceasing his mother. Alscot Park thereby passed to James West the younger's son, James Robert West (died 1838).
See alsoβ»
Referencesβ»
- ^ "WEST, James (1703-72), of Alscott Park, Glos". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ "Fellow Details". Royal Society. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ Pages 118 to 121,Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition β London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
- ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p. 84
- Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "West, James" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 60. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Parliament of Great Britain | ||
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Preceded by | Member of Parliament for St Albans 1741β1768 With: Thomas Ashby 1741β1743 Hans Stanley 1743β1747 Sir Peter Thompson 1747β1754 The Viscount Grimston 1754β1761 Viscount Nuneham 1761β1768 |
Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge with Nathaniel Cholmley 1768β1772 |
Succeeded by |
Professional and academic associations | ||
Preceded by | 18th President of the Royal Society 1768β1772 |
Succeeded by |
- 1703 births
- 1772 deaths
- Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Members of the Inner Temple
- Presidents of the Royal Society
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
- British MPs 1741β1747
- British MPs 1747β1754
- British MPs 1754β1761
- British MPs 1761β1768
- British MPs 1768β1774