{{Short description|American judge}} {{use dmy|date=May 2026}}
'''James Henry''' (1731 – December 9, 1804) was an American lawyer from Aberdeen, Great Britain. He moved to Virginia, where he was a delegate to the Continental Congress and later becoming a judge in the newly independent United States.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bioguide Search|url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/H000506|access-date=2022-02-07|website=Congress Bioguide }}</ref> He died in 1804.<Ref name=hg />
== History == James Henry was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He studied law at the University of Edinburgh before moving to the British colonies in North America. He started working in Pennsylvania before he settled on the eastern shore of Virginia in Accomack County.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://shorehistory.pastperfectonline.com/byperson?keyword=Henry,+James|title=Henry, James |publisher=Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society|accessdate=12 May 2026}}</ref> He was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1772–1774.<ref name=s>{{Cite web|url=https://shoredailynews.com/headlines/the-revolutionary-shore-august-4-1774/|title=THE REVOLUTIONARY SHORE - August 4, 1774 |work=Shore Daily News|date=6 August 2024|accessdate=12 May 2026}}</ref> Despite the Royal Governor of Virginia dissolving the House, the elected members met in Accomack Courthouse in a meeting chaired by Henry. During the meeting, they resolved they would maintain allegiance to King George III but they would demand their liberties and rights of Englishmen and protested against the Parliament of Great Britain's actions in Boston, Massachusetts. It was also resolved to push for reconciliation between the colonies and the British authorities.<Ref name=s /> He was first elected to the Continental Congress on December 17, 1779 as a representative for Virginia, but didn't enter the Congress until April 1780. Although he was elected again the following year, he attended no other sessions.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-CDOC-108hdoc222/pdf/GPO-CDOC-108hdoc222-2.pdf |title=The Continental Congress |work=Government Publishing Office |accessdate=2026-05-12}}</ref>
Following the declaration of independence, he became a member of the state legislature. In 1779, he was appointed a judge of the court of admiralty and thus a judge of the first Court of Appeals. In 1789, when the Court of Appeals was reorganized, he was made a judge of the general court.<ref name=hg>{{Cite web|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/H/HENRY,-James-(H000506)/|title=HENRY, James | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives|website=House of Representatives|accessdate=12 May 2026}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000506 Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, James}} Category:1731 births Category:1804 deaths Category:People from colonial Virginia Category:Continental Congressmen from Virginia Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia Category:Virginia lawyers Category:Virginia state court judges Category:People from Accomack County, Virginia Category:Lawyers from Edinburgh Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:Scottish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies