James Alexander (1769–1848)
James Alexander was an Irish-born officer of the British East India Company who sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in two periods from 1812 to 1832.
Born in County Londonderry, Alexander joined the East India Company in 1784, and later became a partner in a merchant bank in Calcutta. His time in India gained him huge wealth.
He returned to the United Kingdom in 1818, and bought an estate in Hampshire. In 1820 he and his brother Josias jointly purchased the rotten borough of Old Sarum from their cousin, The 2nd Earl of Caledon, who had been returning James to Parliament since 1812, having previously returned another brother Henry Alexander.
