FORBES, James Staats Railway Director, Art Collector ^{3 4 5}

   Other names for James were FORBES, James S.,⁷ FORBES, James States,⁸ FORBES, James Statts ⁹ and FORBES, James Stoats.¹⁰

  General Notes:

Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers England
Scots Church, Woolwich, Kent
Baptisms

"James Staats, son of James Staats Forbes, Bombardier in the Royal Artillery, parish of Woolwich and County of Kent, and of Ann his wife. was Born March 17^th 1823 and Baptized April 19^th 1823 by me John Blythe"

Note: A photo of the baptism record in the original can be seen at Ancestry.co.uk. The details are noted as:
"Name:James Staats Forbes
Baptism Date:19 Apr 1823
Baptism Place:Greenwich, Middlesex, England
Church:Saint Andrew´s United Reformed Church
Father:James Staats Forbes
Mother:Ann Forbes"
The wording of the text of the record is as given above.


James Forbes, eldest of six sons, was Scottish railway engineer, railway administrator and art collector. He was the uncle of the painter Stanhope Alexander Forbes, and father of the zoologist William Alexander Forbes.

from Wikipedia

"Educated at Woolwich, Forbes showed early skill as a draughtsman, and in 1840 entered the office of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who was then constructing the Great Western line."

from ODNB

In the "Quality, Trade or profession" column of the 1853 baptismal record for James Staats Forbes, his son, James Staats Forbes was recorded as "Railway Manager", and his abode as Paddington, London.

In the "Quality, Trade or profession" column of the 1857 baptismal record for Ann Bennett Forbes, his daughter, James Statts Forbes was recorded as "Gentleman".

In the 1871 census for West Wickham in Kent, James Staats Forbes was recorded living with his wife Ann, their three children Ann, Mary and John, Susan bennet who was Ann's niece, an elderly visitor Ann Lucas, a governess, a butler, a cook, three housemaids and a kitchenmaid. James was aged 47 years and had been born in Woolwich. He was a railway director.


"Tranquillo Cremona (1837-1878), High Life (A piquant conversation), ca 1876-1877, acquerello toccato a guazzo su carta grigia.....venduta a James States Forbes..."

from Gabinetto Dei Disegni

The 1881 census recorded James Staats Forbes living with his family in Ashley Place, in the St George Hanover Square district of London. He was a Railway Chairman and JP. ^{1 3 4 6 8 9}

James married Ann BENNETT, daughter of John BENNET and Unknown, on 20 August 1851 in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England.^{1 2} (Ann BENNETT was born about 1821 in Frampton, Gloucestershire, England ⁷ and died between July and September 1901 in Chelsea, London, England ¹¹.)