James Gray Bethune (April 1, 1793 – October 13, 1841) was born in Upper Canada.
James Gray was from a large family and four of the brothers had notable careers in Canada.
James had a career in business which began in 1812 after finishing school and moving to Cobourg, Upper Canada.
He became an agent for the Bank of Upper Canada in 1830 and was promoted to cashier of the Cobourg branch.
He subsequently made an unsuccessful foray into politics (losing one of two seats representing Northumberland in the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada) and had a brief stay in debtors' prison in 1836.