James Fox-Lane

James Fox-Lane (August 1756 – 7 April 1821), known as James Fox until 1773, was an English landed gentleman, who represented Horsham in Parliament for six years.

He was the oldest son of Sackville Fox of East Horsley, Surrey, and his wife Ann Holloway. His father died in 1760 and left him his estate in Surrey, worth about £1,300 per year.[1] Educated at Marylebone School, he was admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge in 1771 and studied there until 1774.[2] On 22 February 1773, he inherited the Bramham Park, Yorkshire estate of his paternal uncle George Fox-Lane, 1st Baron Bingley, and subsequently took the name of Fox-Lane.[1]

Through extravagance as a youth he became indebted to the moneylender Robert Mackreth. Mackreth bought Fox-Lane's Surrey estate very shortly after James came of age in 1777 and resold it for a handsome profit. He attempted to buy the Yorkshire estate as well, but the sale was cancelled by the Court of Chancery. Fox-Lane subsequently retained John Scott as counsel and sued Mackreth, alleging that Mackreth had defrauded him, and that the transactions had begun while Fox-Lane was still a minor. His suit was successful, and he was awarded the purchase money of the Surrey estate with interest and costs, totaling about £20,000. Mackreth appealed, but the verdict was upheld by the Lord Chancellor and, in 1791, the House of Lords.[1]

On 23 July 1789, Fox-Lane married Hon. Marcia Lucy Pitt (1756–1822), the daughter of George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers. They had four sons and one daughter:

On 5 May 1790, Fox-Lane was commissioned a lieutenant in the Dorsetshire Militia,[3][1] of which his father-in-law was colonel.

Although he had joined Brooks's Club, famously a society of Whigs, Fox-Lane had little interest in politics. Frances, the Dowager Viscountess of Irvine, was one of his Yorkshire neighbours, and in the 1796 election, returned him for one of the seats she controlled at Horsham. No known speech or vote on his part survives, and he did not stand at the 1802 election. He died on 7 April 1821, his health having declined for some time, and left an estate worth £120,000.[1]

Lane–Fox–Pitt–Rivers family tree
Thomas Darcy, 1st Earl Rivers
(died 1640)
Elizabeth Savage, Countess Rivers
(1581–1650)		Thomas Savage, 1st Viscount Savage
(died 1635)
John Savage, 2nd Earl Rivers
(1603–1654)
Sir Richard Lane, 1st Baronet
(died 1668)		George Pitt
(died 1694)		Jane Savage
(died 1676)		Thomas Savage, 3rd Earl Rivers
(died 1694)		Richard Savage
George Lane, 1st Viscount Lanesborough
(died 1683)		George Pitt
(died 1735)		Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers
(died 1712)		John Savage, 5th Earl Rivers
(1665–1737)
James Lane, 2nd Viscount Lanesborough
(1650–1724)		Robert Benson, 1st Baron Bingley
(died 1731)		Frances Lane
(died 1674)		Henry Fox
(died 1719)		George Pitt
(died 1745)
Harriet Benson
(died 1771)		George Fox-Lane, 1st Baron Bingley
{died 1773)		Sackville Fox
(died 1760)		George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers
(1721–1803)
Robert Lane
(1732–1768)		James Fox-Lane
(1756–1821)		Marcia Lucy Pitt
(1756–1822)		George Pitt, 2nd Baron Rivers
(1751–1828)		Louisa Pitt
(died 1791)		Sir Peter Beckford
(1740–1811)
George Lane-Fox
(1793–1848)		William Augustus Pitt Lane-Fox
(1796–1832)		Sackville Lane-Fox
(1797–1874)		Horace Pitt-Rivers, 3rd Baron Rivers
George Lane-Fox
(1816–1896)		Augustus Pitt Rivers
(1827–1900)		Sackville Lane-Fox, 12th Baron Conyers
(1827–1888)		George Pitt-Rivers, 4th Baron Rivers
(1810–1866)		Horace Pitt-Rivers, 6th Baron Rivers
(1814–1880)
James Thomas Richard Lane-Fox
(1841–1906)		Alexander Edward Lane Fox-Pitt-Rivers
(1855–1927)		St George Lane Fox-Pitt
(1856–1932)		William Augustus Lane Fox-Pitt
(1858– )		Douglas Fox-Pitt
(1864–1922)		Marcia Pelham, Countess of Yarborough
(1863–1926)		Violet Herbert, Countess of Powis
(1865–1929)		Henry Pitt-Rivers, 5th Baron Rivers
(1849–1867)
George Lane-Fox, 1st Baron Bingley
(1870–1947)		Edward Lane-Fox
(1874–1949)		Emily Rachel Forster (died 1979)George Pitt-Rivers
(1890–1966)		Rosalind Pitt-Rivers
(1907–1990)		William Augustus Fitzgerald Lane Fox-Pitt
(1896–1988)
Francis Lane Fox
(1899–1989)		Marcia Agnes Mary Lane-Fox
(1904–1980)		James Henry Lane-Fox
(1912– )		Felicity Lane-Fox, Baroness Lane-Fox
(1918–1988)		Michael Pitt-Rivers
(1917–1999)		Julian Pitt-Rivers
(1919–2001)		George Anthony Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers
(born 1932)		Valerie Pitt-Rivers
(born 1939)		William Oliver Lane Fox-Pitt
(1932–2012)
George Francis Lane Fox
(1931–2012)		Robin Lane Fox
(born 1946)		William Fox-Pitt
(born 1969)
Edward Lane Fox
(born 1976)		Martha Lane Fox
(born 1973)

References
  1. Port, M. H. (1986). "FOX LANE, James (1756-1821), of Bramham Park, Yorks.". In Thorne, R. G. (ed.). The House of Commons 1790-1820. The History of Parliament Trust.
  2. "Fox, James (FS771J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. "No. 13200". The London Gazette. 11 May 1790. p. 291.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Lord William Gordon
William Fullarton		 Member of Parliament for Horsham
1796–1800
With: Sir John Macpherson		 Succeeded by
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Parliament of Great Britain		 Member of Parliament for Horsham
1801–1802
With: Sir John Macpherson		 Succeeded by
Edward Hilliard
Patrick Ross
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