[1] His father, Canon Charles Clement Hancock James, was also a Church of England clergyman.
[1] James was ordained a deacon at Trinitytide 1952[3] and priest a year later,[4] both by William Wand, Bishop of London, at St Paul's Cathedral.
[5] In 1959, he joined the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as a producer of religious programmes.
[1] Then, his final appointment before being ordained to the episcopate, he was Vicar of St Peter's Church, Bournemouth from 1967 to 1973.
[14] James was part of the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England, and was opposed to the ordination of women.