Graham

Graham, Sir James Robert George (1792-1861), an English statesman, was horn at Naworth in Cumberland. He was educated at Westminster and Queen's College, Cambridge, and, after making a tour abroad, was appointed private secretary to the British Minister in Sicily. In 1818-20 he sat as a Whig in Parliament for Hull, changing his seat for that of Carlisle in 1826. He wrote upon Com and Currency, and, having in 1830 been elected for the county of Cumberland, he became First Lord of the Admiralty under Lord Grey; but in 1834 he left his party, and joined the Conservatives. In 1838 he sat for Pembroke, and in 1841, while member for Dorchester, he became Home Secretary under Peel. At this time his views about the Scottish Church and his opening of letters which were in charge of the Post Office gave offence to many. In 1852 he was First Lord of the Admiralty under Lord Aberdeen, and in Lord Palmerston's Government, but the questions that arose over the conduct of the Crimean War caused his retirement.