Archibald James

Wing Commander Sir Archibald William Henry James, MC (September 1893 – 5 May 1980) was a British Conservative Party politician and Royal Air Force pioneer.

Born in Paddington, London, the son of H. A. James of Herstmonceux Place, East Sussex, he was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.

He married twice, to Bridget Guthrie (1919), with whom he had one son, David, and one daughter, Moira, whose married name became Ismay Cheape; and to Eugenia Stirling (1940), with whom he had two sons.

From 1914 to 1926 he served with the 3rd Hussars, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force, rising to the rank of wing commander.

Whilst in Parliament he held the following offices of state: PPS to R. A. Butler at the India Office and Ministry of Labour (1936–38), Board of Education (1942) and Honorary First Secretary to the British Embassy in Madrid (1940–41).

After his stint in Parliament, James moved to Southern Rhodesia, where he owned land at Bita in the Marandellas district. In 1955 he bought Champions Farm at Thakeham in West Sussex. He died in Worthing, West Sussex, aged 86.

His son David followed in his footsteps as Conservative MP for Brighton Kemptown 1959–1964 and for North Dorset 1970–1979.

He was a convert to Catholicism.