FORBES, James Staats Railway Director, Art Collector ^{4 5 6}

   Other names for James were FORBES, James S.,⁸ FORBES, James States,⁹ FORBES, James Statts ¹⁰ and FORBES, James Stoats.¹¹

  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 4 5 7 9 10}

James married Ann BENNETT, daughter of John BENNET and Unknown, on 20 Aug 1851 in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England.^{1 2} (Ann BENNETT was born about 1821 in Frampton, Gloucestershire, England ⁸ and died between Jul and Sep 1901 in Chelsea, London, England ¹².)

James next married Bridget McMAHON, daughter of John McMAHON and Mary HUGHES.³ (Bridget McMAHON was born on 30 Jul 1862 in Calton, Glasgow, Scotland ².)

  Marriage Notes:

(at Banchory-Ternan in 1567)

"James Reid, a younger son of James R. of Pitfoddels; min. in 1567, with Strachan also in the charge; trans, to Colstone in 1573, but re-trans, from Birse; pres. to the vicarage by James VI. 2nd March 1582; adm. burgess of Aberdeen Oct. 1598; died before 16th July 1602. He 'was a man of a notable head-piece for witte, and most of his children were men of extraordinary qualifications.' He marr. Isabel Meldrum, who died in June 1621, and had issue Robert, his suc cessor; Thomas, M.A. (Marischal College, 1600), M.A. (Oxon, 1620), Latin secretary to James VI., metaphysician and Latin poet, founder of the first public reference library in Scotland, died 1624; Alexander, physician to Charles I., a prolific writer on medical subjects, whose writings were standard works till the end of the seventeenth century, died Oct. 1641; James ; Peter; Adam, min. of Methlick; Catherine (marr. William Burnett, min. of Kinairney); Elspeth (marr. Alexander Youngson, min. of Durris. [Stewart's Life of Reid; Tombst. ; Scots Mag., Ixv. ; Inq. Reg. de Tut., 498, 499 ; Aberdeen Journal Notes and Queries, iii., 329 Scot. Notes and Queries, x., 73, for list of Alexander R.'s Works.]"

from Fasti Ecclesiae ³