James Stuart PC (2 January 1843 – 12 October 1913) was a British educator and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Biography

Stuart was born on 2 January 1843, in

Markinch Markinch (, Scottish Gaelic: Marc Innis) is both a village and a parish in the heart of Fife, Scotland. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the village has a population of 2,420. The civil parish had a population of 16,530 (in 2011).Census ...

, and attended Madras College and the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

before going to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He later became a Fellow of the College and Professor of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 1875; he was also Lord Rector of St Andrews from 1898 to 1901. Stuart was interested in popularising scientific topics and published several books on the subject. Stuart was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the

parliamentary seat in an 1882 by-election; in the 1884 by-election he was elected for Hackney. From the 1885 election, he sat for the

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. It was Historic counties of England, historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London, is considered to be a part of London's East End ...

division of Shoreditch. He became known for his contribution to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

politics and in February 1890 was chosen as an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

of the

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

; the added work caused him to resign his chair at Cambridge. The Progressive Party on the LCC chose him as its Leader shortly after his election but he stood down after the 1892 council election. In the 1900 general election, Stuart lost his seat in Parliament. He returned briefly for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

from

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

until again being defeated in January 1910. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1909. Suffering poor health, he published his memoirs (''Reminiscences'') in 1912. He married Laura, the eldest daughter of Jeremiah Colman (MP) and Caroline Colman. His sister in law

Ethel Colman Ethel Mary Colman (12 February 1863 – 23 November 1948) was a philanthropist and a member of the Colman family who was Lord Mayor of Norwich in 1923–24. Colman is notable for having been the first woman to be a Lord Mayor in the United Kin ...

was the first female Lord Mayor of Norwich. He died in

Carrow Abbey Carrow Abbey is a former Benedictine priory in Bracondale, southeast Norwich, England. The village on the site used to be called Carrow (there are many alternative spellings) and gives its name to Carrow Road, the football ground of Norwich F.C., ...

, Norwich on 12 October 1913, aged 70. His wife and sisters in law's memorial to him was the 1915 erection of a block of 22 flats, to re-house some of those affected by the Norwich flood of 1912. Stuart Court is still used for low-income housing, managed by Norwich Housing Society.

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, James 1843 births 1913 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of London County Council Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of St Andrews Rectors of the University of St Andrews UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1906–1910 Hackney Members of Parliament Progressive Party (London) politicians Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge People from Markinch People educated at Madras College Presidents of Co-operative Congress Professors of engineering (Cambridge, 1875)