James Brogden was the Whig MP for Launceston (Cornwall) from 1796 - 1832. He was the oldest son of John Brogden, a merchant, of Leadenhall Street, London and James probably worked in partnership with his father, John, who was a Russia merchant and director of the London Assurance Company and in business from 1757 to 1793. By 1806 Brogden was being described as a "respectable Russia merchant." He was judged to know the "country and the climate" of Russia well and had spent a year in Russia in 1787/8. He also undertook a North European tour in 1791.
Brogden was elected, in 1796, to represent Launceston in Cornwall, in Parliament, supported by the Duke of Northumberland. He frequently spoke on commercial matters (including on the mining industry in which he had a stake in Carmarthenshire) and not always to the Duke's approval. He voted for parliamentary reform in the 1790s and was considered friendly to the abolition of slavery. On good terms with the Duke again by 1812, Brogden gained a seat on the Treasury Board but gave up the seat in 1813 when he became Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee where he remained for 13 years until he felt obliged to resign, claiming innocence, over his involvement in a mining company scandal. Brogden left parliament in 1832 and died ten years later.
James Caulfeild was the son of the Venerable John Caulfeild, Archdeacon of Kilmore, County Cavan. He joined the Bengal Army in 1798, arriving in India in 1799. Apart from a period of sick leave in England from 1807-1812, he served in the military until 1819 when he was appointed as 1st Assistant to the British Resident at Indore. He continued to serve in an administrative capapcity as Political Agent in Haraoti (the territories of Bundi and Kotah in the Rajputana Agency)1822–32, then Superintendent to the Mysore Princes in 1836, before being appointed Resident at Lucknow in 1839. Meanwhile, his military career progressed through seniority: regimental Captain 1818, Major 1823, Lieutenant-Colonel 1829, Brevet Colonel 1834.
Caulfeild left India on furlough in 1841, and never returned. Promoted to Major-General in 1841 and Lieutenant-General in 1851, he was a Director of the East India Company 1848–51, and stood for Parliament, unsuccessfully contesting the seat of Abingdon in 1845 and 1847 before finally winning it in July 1852. Caulfeild's career as a Member of Parliament was short, however, because he died at Copsewood, Pallaskenry, County Limerick, on 4 November 1852.
James Douglas Pearson was a British librarian and bibliographer in the field of Islamic studies who founded the Index Islamicus. He grew up in Cambridge, where he was also educated. His first job was as a book fetcher in the Cambridge University Library at the age of 16. He was awarded a scholarship for Hebrew at St John's College. graduating in 1936, and studied other languages such as Arabic and Persian. He worked in the Oriental Section of the Library until 1941 when he was enlisted for war service until 1945. He worked again in the same library as an assistant under-librarian from 1945 until 1950. During 1950, he was appointed as librarian of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. In 1972, Pearson was appointed as senior fellow and professor of bibliography in the University of London. He retired during 1979 and returned to Cambridge, to work on the Index Islamicus. In 1982, he retired from editorship, and handed responsibility of the Index Islamicus to Cambridge University.
In 1967, Pearson established the Middle East Libraries Committee, now known as MELCOM UK. This gave birth to a large series of bibliographies and research tools.
James George Roche Forlong was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland. He joined the Indian Army in 1843, being appointed to the Engineering Staff, Madras Presidency, in 1847. In 1852 he was appointed as an Engineer in the army based in Myanmar (Burma) and was responsible for creating a road across the mountains from Rahkine State (Arakan) to the Irrawaddy. Through 1858-9 he travelled extensively in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain. In late 1859 he was appointed a Special Commissioner and Inspector-General of Prisons for the Andaman Islands and Myanmar. His engineering skills took him to Kolkata (1861-20), Darjeeling (1863), the North West Provinces (1864-7), Rajput (1868-71), and Oudh (1872-6). He retired in 1877 and then concentrated on writing on comparative religions. His major works were "Rivers of Life" (1883) and "Faiths of Man: A Cyclopaedia of Religions" which was published posthumously in 1906. He died at home in 1904.
James Legge was a Scottish sinologist, missionary, and scholar, best known as an early and prolific translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong (1840–1873) and was the first Professor of Chinese at Oxford University (1876–1897). In association with Max Müller he prepared the Sacred Books of the East series, published in 50 volumes between 1879 and 1891.