William Dodge James

William Dodge James, CVO DL (December 7, 1854 – March 22, 1912) was the son of a wealthy American merchant, who was raised and educated in England.

He married Evelyn Elizabeth Forbes, daughter of the 4th Baronet of Newe, who became a celebrated society hostess of the period.

William's father, Daniel, was the son of a Connecticut farmer who when young had walked barefoot to New York to save wear on his shoes.

He married the daughter of merchant Anson Greene Phelps and ran the British end of his organisation, exporting metal to America and importing cotton in return.

[2] William, educated at Harrow, suffered ill-health as a teenager and as a consequence spent several winters in the warm climate of Egypt with his elder brother, Frank, who had graduated from Downing College.

Later that year the brothers, with George Rous, 3rd Earl of Stradbroke and Viscount Dungarvan, sailed to India and the Persian Gulf.

[3] In January 1890, Frank set sail on board the Lancashire Witch for Africa, this time without William, who had recently married.

The death of Frank came as a terrible blow to his brothers, but particularly to William, an experienced big game hunter, who had been his companion on almost all of his previous expeditions.

The families were acquainted and Edward, Prince of Wales, and Princess Alexandra were fond of Evelyn Forbes, presenting her with a diamond and sapphire brooch when she married.

The location of a new railway station (opened in 1881) at Singleton, adjacent to the entrance to the estate, made it convenient for guests coming from London and was often used by the Prince of Wales.

He and Evelyn took several voyages, including one to the West Indies, where they became involved with the rescue of a shipwrecked crew of the barque Caribon.

In 1891 the yacht required extensive repair work at the yard of Day, Summers and Company in Southampton to replace timber planking.

In addition to Monkton and West Dean the Jameses had a residence in Gullane, in East Lothian called Greywalls.

Evelyn, remarried in 1913 to Major John Chaytor Brinton, a member of the Royal Household; the marriage was annulled in 1927.

William's paternal half sister, Olivia, married Robert Hoe III in 1868 and moved to America; she died in 1935 aged 98.