{{Short description|English lawyer, businessman and politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Use British English|date=August 2016}} '''James Halse''' (bapt. 28 January 1769 – 14 May 1838)<ref>{{Rayment-hc|s|1|date=June 2014}}</ref> was an English lawyer and wealthy businessman in Cornwall. He was also a Tory (later Conservative) politician.
Halse settled in St Ives around 1790, where in addition to his solicitors's practice, he became town clerk and an alderman. He made his fortune through tin mines, mostly from the Wheal Reeth mine, but also from the St. Ives Consols mine.<ref name="histparl-james-halse">{{cite book | url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/halse-james-1769-1838 | title = HALSE, James (1769-1838), of St. Ives, Cornw. and 25 Half Moon Street, Mdx | first = Terry | last = Jenkins | work = The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820-1832 | editor = D.R. Fisher | year = 2009 | accessdate = 4 June 2014 }}</ref>
He used the Consols mine to create a political base for himself, by building the village of Halsetown to accommodate the mine-workers. The village was within the boundaries of the parliamentary borough of St Ives, allowing Halse patronage of the borough's two seats in Parliament.<ref name="histparl-james-halse" />
At the 1820 general election, both seats were taken by Halse's supporters, but his rival the borough-monger Sir Christopher Hawkins pursued him with charges of bribery, and at the 1826 election both Hawkins and Halse were elected.<ref name="histparl-james-halse" />
He was defeated at the 1830 election by William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, nephew of the Duke of Wellington, but regained the seat in 1831 and held it until his death.<ref name="histparl-james-halse" /> In 1835, he was blackballed by the recently created ''St. Ives Library and Institution''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1836-04-16 |title=ENGLISH INTELLIGENCE - Multum in Parvo |pages=3 |work=The Cornwall Chronicle |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65952037}}</ref>
== References == {{Portal|Cornwall}} {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef | before = Lyndon Evelyn | before2 = Sir Christopher Hawkins, Bt }} {{s-title | title = Member of Parliament for St Ives | years = 1826–1830 | with = Sir Christopher Hawkins, Bt to 1828 | with2 = Charles Arbuthnot 1828–30 }} {{s-aft | after = William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley | after2 = James Morrison }}
{{s-bef | before = William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley | before2 = James Morrison }} {{s-title | title = Member of Parliament for St Ives | years = 1831–1838 | with = Edward Bulwer-Lytton to 1832 }} {{s-aft | after = William Tyringham Praed }} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Halse, James}} Category:1769 births Category:1838 deaths Category:Councillors in Cornwall Category:Mining in Cornwall Category:Tory MPs (pre-1834) Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for St Ives Category:UK MPs 1826–1830 Category:UK MPs 1831–1832 Category:UK MPs 1832–1835 Category:UK MPs 1835–1837 Category:UK MPs 1837–1841 Category:English solicitors
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