{{Short description|English colonial administrator (1827-1891)}} {{more footnotes needed|date=August 2012}} {{Use British English|date=June 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Sir James Robert Longden | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100|GCMG}} | image = James Robert Longden.png | alt = | order = 15th | office = Governor of British Ceylon | term_start = 4 September 1877 | term_end = 10 July 1883 | predecessor = William Henry Gregory | successor = John Douglas<br />(Acting governor) | monarch = Queen Victoria | order2 = | office2 = | term_start2 = | term_end2 = | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | birth_date = 7 July 1827<ref>{{cite book|title=Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica|date=1900|publisher=Hamilton, Adams, and Company|page=107|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TltIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA107|access-date=2 September 2016|language=en}}</ref> | birth_place = Fitzroy Square, London | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1891|10|4|1827|7|7}} | death_place = Longhope, Watford | resting_place = Brookwood Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|51.300307|-0.625660|display=inline|format=dms}} | birth_name = | citizenship = | party = | other_party = <!--For additional political affiliations--> | spouse = | partner = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married--> | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = <!--Military service--> | nickname = | allegiance = | branch = | service_years = | rank = | unit = | commands = | battles = | awards = }}
'''Sir James Robert Longden''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|GCMG}} (7 July 1827 – 4 October 1891) was an English colonial administrator.
Longden was born as the youngest son of John R. Longden, proctor, of Doctors' Commons, London. In 1844, two years after the establishment of a civil government, he was appointed government clerk in the Falkland Islands, and became acting colonial secretary the year after. In 1861 he was appointed President of the Virgin Islands, in 1865 Governor of Dominica, in 1867 Governor of British Honduras, in 1870 Governor of Trinidad, Governor of British Guiana in 1874, and in December 1876 Governor of Ceylon, which post he held until his retirement in 1883. Most notable of his tenure in Ceylon was his grant of land that established the Borella General Cemetery, that has since interred the names of many great Ceylonese over the centuries. He was made CMG in 1871, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCMG}} in 1876, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCMG}} in the 1883 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue= 25233|page=2731 |date= 24 May 1883 }}</ref>
After his retirement he resided at Longhope, near Watford, Hertfordshire, and took a very active part in county affairs. He was a J.P. and alderman for the county under the Local Government Act. He died at Longhope on 4 October 1891. His funeral took place at Brookwood Cemetery on 9 October 1891.
==Family== On 22 September 1864<ref>''Gloucestershire Notes and Queries''. Reprint. London: Forgotten Books, 2013. 245-6 http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/Gloucestershire_Notes_and_Queries_1000743797/271 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208043928/http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/Gloucestershire_Notes_and_Queries_1000743797/271 |date=8 December 2015 }}. Retrieved 2 December 2015</ref> on the island of Saint Kitts, he married Alice Emily Berridge (1846–1910), younger daughter of James Samuel Berridge (1806–1885), a local landowner and businessman, and his wife Jane Chapman (1803–1888). They had six children, including: *Colonel Arthur Berridge Longden DSO (1868–1936)<ref>https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68926953. Retrieved 2 December 2015 {{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}</ref> *Cyril Chapman Longden KPM (1873–1913) *Vice-Admiral Horace Walker Longden CMG (1877–1953)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U239967 |title=Longden, Vice-Adm. Horace Walker, (1877–4 Jan. 1953) |website=oxfordindex.oup.com |year= 2007|doi= 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U239967|access-date=2 December 2015}}</ref> *Alice Emily Longden, who married in 1900 W. Engelenburg of Soerabaia, Java.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Marriages|date=24 February 1900 |page=1 |issue=36074 }}</ref>
== External links == * {{DNB|wstitle=Longden, James Robert}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20111016181355/http://i955fm.com/ttportal/tt-directory/item/135/1664.html Longden biography], specific for Trinidad and Tobago * [https://books.google.com/books?id=eUF_rS8FEoIC&dq=James%20Robert%20Longden&pg=PA78 Description and image] in ''Twentieth century impressions of Ceylon'' (Google books)
== References == {{reflist|30em}} * Dod's Knightage, 1891 * Colonial Office List, 1891 * Times, 5 and 10 October 1891
{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{succession box | before=William Henry Gregory | title=Governor of Ceylon | years=1877–1883 | after=John Douglas<br /><small>''acting governor''</small> }} {{succession box | before=Sir John Scott | title=Governor of British Guiana | years=1874–1877 | after= Cornelius Hendricksen Kortright }} {{succession box | before=Arthur Charles Hamilton-Gordon | title=Governor of Trinidad | years=1870–1874 | after=William Wellington Cairns }} {{succession box | before=John Gardiner Austin | title=Lieutenant Governor of British Honduras | years=1867–1870 | after=William Wellington Cairns }} {{succession box | before=Thomas Price | title=Lieutenant Governor of Dominica | years=1865-1867 | after=Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer (acting) }} {{succession box | before=Thomas Price | title=President of the Virgin Islands | years=1861–1864 | after=Arthur Carlos Henry Rumbold }} {{end}} {{British Governor of Ceylon}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Longden, James Robert}} Category:Civil servants from London Category:1827 births Category:1891 deaths Category:19th-century English people Category:Governors of British Trinidad Category:Governors of Dominica Category:Presidents of the British Virgin Islands Category:Governors of British Honduras Category:Governors of British Guiana Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:Burials at Brookwood Cemetery