James Saunderson, 1st Earl Castleton

Who was James Saunderson, 1st Earl Castleton?

James Saunderson, 1st Earl Castleton was an English aristocrat and politician, Member of Parliament for Newark from 1698 to 1700, and from 1701 to 1710.

James Saunderson was the eighth son of George Saunderson, 5th Viscount Castleton and Grace, daughter of Henry Belasyse. He was educated in Laughton and at Magdalene College, Cambridge before being admitted at Gray's Inn in 1686. He held the office of Vice-Admiral of Lincolnshire between 1705 and 1723. In 1714 he succeeded his father as 6th Viscount Castleton in the Irish peerage. Created Baron Saunderson of Saxby, Lincolnshire in 1714, he was made Viscount Castleton in the English peerage in 1716, and finally Earl Castleton of Sandbeck in 1720. Upon his death, his estates passed to his cousin Thomas Lumley, who thereupon took the additional surname of Saunderson, by Act of Parliament.