Baron Northbourne

Baron Northbourne, of Betteshanger in the County of Kent, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1884 for Sir Walter James, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Hull in the House of Commons as a Conservative. His son, the second Baron, sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Gateshead. As of 2010 the titles are held by the latter's great-grandson, the fifth Baron, who succeeded his father in 1982. Lord Northbourne is one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that were allowed to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, and sits as a cross-bencher. The James Baronetcy, of Langley Hall, in the County of Berkshire, was created in the Baronetage of Great Britain in 1791 for the first Baron's grandfather Sir Walter James, the last Warden of the Mint. Born Walter James Head, he assumed by Act of Parliament the surname of James only in 1778. His son and heir John James notably served as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands. The latter was the father of the second Baronet, who was raised to the peerage in 1884.

The Hon. Cuthbert James, second son of the second Baron, represented Bromley in the House of Commons as a Conservative between 1919 and 1930.

Baronets of Langley Hall (1791)

• Sir Walter James James, 1st Baronet (1759–1829)
• Sir Walter Charles James, 2nd Baronet (1816–1893) (created Baron Northbourne in 1884)

Barons Northbourne (1884)

• Walter Charles James, 1st Baron Northbourne (1816–1893)
• Walter Henry James, 2nd Baron Northbourne (1846–1923)
• Walter John James, 3rd Baron Northbourne (1869–1932)
• Walter Ernest Christopher James, 4th Baron Northbourne (1896–1982)
• Christopher George Walter James, 5th Baron Northbourne (born 1926)

• The heir apparent is the present holder's eldest son the Hon. Charles Walter Henry James (born 1960).

References

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages