James Stuart-Wortley

Who was James Stuart-Wortley?

James Archibald Stuart-Wortley, PC, QC was a British Conservative Party politician.

The youngest son of James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, 1st Baron Wharncliffe, he was educated at Christ Church, Oxford.

He became a barrister at the Inner Temple in 1831, rising to be a Queen's Counsel in 1841. He was a fellow of Merton College, Oxford.

He was elected at the 1835 general election as Member of Parliament for Halifax, but was defeated at the 1837 general election. He returned to the House of Commons in 1842, when he was elected at an unopposed by-election as MP for Bute, and held that seat until 1859. At the 1859 general election he stood in the West Riding of Yorkshire, but did not win a seat.

In 1846, he was sworn a Privy Counsellor. He held office as Solicitor General for England and Wales under Lord Palmerston from November 1856 until May 1857.