Baron Northbourne


Baron Northbourne, of Betteshanger in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1884 for Sir Walter James, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Kingston upon Hull in the House of Commons as a Conservative. His son, the second Baron, sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Gateshead. The latter's great-grandson, the fifth Baron, who succeeded his father in 1982, was 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 sat as a cross-bencher until his retirement in 2018., the titles are held by his son, the sixth baron, who succeeded his father in that year.
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.
The first Baron Northbourne was the grandson of Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry, making him first cousin twice removed of Sir Winston Churchill, who was the grandson of his first cousin Lady Frances Anne Emily Vane, Duchess of Marlborough. He was also the great grandson of Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden.

Baronets of Langley Hall (1791)

The heir apparent is his elder son, Hon. Henry Christopher William James.

Line of succession