James Gillis (7 April 1802 – 24 February 1864) was a Roman Catholic bishop who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District of Scotland.

[1][2] Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 7 April 1802, the son of a Scottish father and English mother, he came to Fochabers with his parents in 1816.

He left St Nicholas in October 1823 and entered the Sulpician's Seminary of Issy,[3] returning to Scotland in April 1826 after his health had given way.

[4] In 1831, John Menzies of Pitfodels, having, three years previously, bestowed on the Catholic Church in Scotland his extensive estate at Blairs, Aberdeenshire, where a seminary was built, came to reside permanently in Edinburgh and he persuaded Bishop Paterson to live with him at his home, 24 York Place.

[1][2] Following the death of Bishop Andrew Carruthers on 24 May 1852, Gillis automatically succeeded as the Vicar Apostolic of the Eastern District of Scotland.