Sir James Bland Lamb, 1st Baronet (8 June 1752 – 13 October 1824), born James Burges and known as Sir James Burges, Bt, between 1795 and 1821, was a British author, barrister and Member of Parliament.
Background and education
Born James Burges, he was the only son of George Burges and Anne Whichnour Somerville. His mother was the daughter of James Somerville, 12th Lord Somerville.[1] His father had distinguished himself at the Battle of Culloden by capturing the standard of Charles Edward Stewart and was later deputy paymaster in Gibraltar.[2]
Burges was an ambitious and productive writer. He was well established; being a friend of William Cumberland and John Graves Simcoe;[7] and a patron of Thomas Dermody. He was connected by marriage to Lord Byron. He wrote music for Ode to the Passions by William Collins and wrote the prologue to Vortigern and Rowena (1796).
He exchanged poetry with royalty and wrote long poems. The Birth and Triumph of Love was published in 1796 and the 16,000 line poem was very poorly received. It was quoted as a project that was known for its lack of success. Despite the ignominy Burges still had a prestige and funds available where he could indulge his literary interests. He wrote an introduction for William Henry Ireland's Shakespearian forgery and Thomas Dermody stole money from him. Burges continued to publish poetry and he had a play in Drury Lane. Despite being championed by Lord Byron, no other plays followed.[2]
He wrote an introduction to a later edition of the Pilgrim's Progress sequel, Progress of the Pilgrim Good-Intent in Jacobinical Times. In this introduction he revealed that the true author of the work was his gifted sister Mary Ann Burges.[2]
Family
Burges married three times; his first marriage to Elizabeth Noel, second daughter of Edward Noel, 1st Viscount Wentworth in 1777 produced no children. His second marriage to Anne, third daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Charles Montolieu, Baron of St Hippolite produced the following children.[8]
Somerville Waldemar (b. 7March 1794), an ensign in the 1st Foot Guards, lost a leg at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.[9] In 1821 he married Mademoiselle Melanie-Marianne Meray, daughter of Capt. Meray, of the French Army.[8]
Clara Maria (d. 4February 1821).
Emilia Charlotte, who married Major-General Sir Hugh Halkett on 25May 1810.
Caroline Eliza Anne (d. 20November 1863).
Sophia Anne (d.11October 1858), who married Warburton Davies on 21December 1821.
Songs, duets, etc. in Tricks upon travellers, a comic opera. 1810.
Dramas. 2 vols, 1817.
The dragon knight: a poem in twelve cantos. 1818.
Reasons in favour of a new translation of the holy scriptures. 1819.
An inquiry into the procrastination attributed to the House of Lords. 1824.
Selections from the letters and correspondence, ed. Hutton. 1885.
References
^thepeerage.com Sir James Bland Lamb, 1st Bt.
^ a b cDavid Hill Radcliffe, ‘Burges, Sir James Bland, first baronet (1752–1824)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 4 Aug 2014
^"Sir James Bland Burges (1752-1824)". Archived from the original on 7 June 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
^David McClure, "BBC Local Hero Caroline Burges and Eglinton Castle" http://www.ayrshirehistory.org.uk/Shorts/localhero.htm
^John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806 by Mary Beacock Fryer, Christopher Dracot, p89
^ a b cBurke 1869, p. 656.
^ a bGronow 1863, p. 22.
^Major & Murden. A Georgian Heroine: The Intriguing Life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs
Bibliography
Burke, Bernard (1869). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. London: Harrison.
Gronow, Rees Howell (1863). Recollections and Anecdotes: Being a Second Series of Reminiscences of the Camp, the Court, and the Clubs. Smith, Elder.
External links
Catalogue of the papers of Sir James Bland Burges, mainly 1772-1824, with papers of the Burges and Head families, 18th-20th cent., Bodleian Library, University of Oxford