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{{infobox person |name = James Silk Buckingham |image = James Silk Buckingham by Clara S. Lane.jpg |caption = ''James Silk Buckingham'' by Clara S. Lane |nationality = British |occupation = Author, journalist, traveller |birth_date = {{birth date|1786|8|25|df=yes}} |birth_place = [[Flushing, Cornwall]] |death_date = {{death date and age|1855|6|30|1786|8|25|df=yes}} |death_place = [[London]], England }}

'''James Silk Buckingham''' (25 August 1786 – 30 June 1855) was a [[Cornwall|Cornish]]-born British author, journalist and traveller, known for his contributions to Indian journalism. He was a pioneer among the Europeans who fought for a liberal press in India.

==Early life==
Buckingham was born at [[Flushing, Cornwall|Flushing]] near [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]] on 25 August 1786, the son of Thomasine Hambly of [[Bodmin]] and Christopher Buckingham (died 1793/94) of [[Barnstaple]]. His father, and his ancestors, were seafaring men.<ref name="cman212">{{cite news |title=The Flushing Boy Who Became A Great Traveller |work=The Cornishman |issue=212 |date=3 August 1882 |page=6}}</ref> James was the youngest of three boys and four girls and his youth was spent at sea. The property of his deceased parents consisted of houses, land, mines and shares, which was left to the three youngest children.<ref name="cman212"/> In 1797 he was captured by the French and held as a prisoner of war at [[A Coruña|Corunna]].

==Career==
In 1821, his ''Travels in Palestine'' was published, followed by ''Travels Among the Arab Tribes'' in 1825.<ref>Shepherd, Naomi, ''The Zealous Intruders: the Western Rediscovery of Palestine'', London 1987, p. 59.</ref> After years of wandering he settled in India, where he established a periodical, the ''Calcutta Journal'', in 1818. This venture at first proved highly successful, but in 1823 the paper's outspoken criticisms of the [[British East India Company|East India Company]] led to the expulsion of Buckingham from [[India]] and to the suppression of the paper by [[John Adam (India)|John Adam]], the acting governor-general in 1823. His case was brought before a select committee of the House of Commons in 1834, and a pension of £500 a year was subsequently awarded to him by the East India Company as compensation.

[[Image:Henry William Pickersgill 001.jpg|thumb|right|''James Silk Buckingham'', by [[Henry William Pickersgill]] {{Circa|1816}}]]

Buckingham continued his journalistic ventures on his return to England; he settled at Cornwall Terrace, [[Regent's Park]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Cornwall Terrace |url=http://www.cornwallterrace.co.uk/residences.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012010929/http://cornwallterrace.co.uk/residences.php |archive-date=12 October 2012 }}</ref> and started the ''Oriental Herald and Colonial Review'' (1824–9) and the ''[[Athenaeum (British magazine)|Athenaeum]]'' (1828) which was not a success in his hands, Buckingham selling to [[John Sterling (author)|John Sterling]] after a few weeks.

Between 1832 and 1836 Buckingham served as MP for [[Sheffield (UK Parliament constituency)|Sheffield]]. He was a strong advocate of social reform, calling for the end of flogging in the armed services, abolition of the press-gang and the repeal of the [[Corn Laws]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB|title=Buckingham, James Silk (1786–1855), author and traveller |year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-3855|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/3855}}</ref>

During his time as an MP, Buckingham served as Chair of the select committee charged with examining "the extent, causes, and consequences of the prevailing vice of intoxication among the laboring classes of the United Kingdom" devise a solution. Campaigner for the working class Frances Place concluded that the lack of “parish libraries and direct reading rooms, and popular lecture that were both entertaining and instructive” were drawing individuals to frequent “public houses for other social enjoyment.” <ref>Select Committee on inquiry into drunkenness, Report (1834)</ref> With this in mind, Buckingham introduced the Public Institutions bill in 1835. Buckingham’s bill allowed boroughs to charge a tax to set up libraries and museums. This bill never became law but would serve as inspiration for William Ewart and Joseph Brotherton, who introduced a bill that would "[empower] boroughs with a population of 10,000 or more to raise a ½d for the establishment of museums".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thomas|first=Kelly|title=Books for the People: Illustrated History of the British Public Library|publisher=Harper Collins|year=1977|isbn=0233967958|location=Britain|pages=77}}</ref> Ewart and Brotherton’s bill would become the basis for the Museum Act of 1845.

Following his retirement from parliament, in October 1837, Buckingham began a four-year tour of North America. In 1844 he was central to the foundation of the British and Foreign Institute in Hanover Square.<ref name=":0" />
Buckingham was the former editor of Asiatic Mirror.

He was a prolific writer. He had travelled in Europe, America and the East, and wrote many useful travel books, as well as many pamphlets on political and social subjects. "In 1851, the value of these and of his other literary works was recognized by the grant of a [[Civil List]] pension of £200 a year. At the time of his death in London, Buckingham was at work on his autobiography, two volumes of the intended four being completed and published (1855)".<ref>{{cite book
|author = Santanu Banerjee
|title= History of Journalism : A Legend of Glory
|publisher = Suhrid Publication
|year= 2010
|isbn= 978-81-92151-99-1
}}</ref> This work is important as it mentions in detail the life of the black composer [[Joseph Antonio Emidy]] who settled in [[Truro]].

==Personal life==
In February 1806, Buckingham married Elizabeth Jennings (1786–1865), the daughter of a Cornish farmer.

Buckingham died after a long illness at Stanhope Lodge, Upper [[Avenue Road, London|Avenue Road]], [[St John's Wood]], London, on 30 June 1855.<ref name=":0" /> Buckingham is buried in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=130734|title=Term details|website=British Museum|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-02-12}}</ref>

His youngest son, [[Leicester Silk Buckingham]], was a popular playwright.

==Works==
* ''[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JS_Buckingham_Poem.jpg Contribution For the Commemoration of the Fourth of July, 1838.]'' Contribution For the Commemoration of the Fourth of July 1838. Written on a couch of sickness. By J S Buckingham, of England, Albany, N.Y., 3 July 1838.
* America, historical, statistic, and descriptive. Jackson, Fisher, Son, London, 1841.
* ''[https://archive.org/details/slavestatesofame00buck The Slaves States of North America, VI.]'' Fisher, Son, and Co. London, 1842.
* ''[https://archive.org/details/slavestatesofame02buckuoft The Slaves States of North America, VII.]'' Fisher, Son, and Co. London, 1842.
* National Evils and Practical Remedies. With the Plan of a Model Town. Jackson, Fisher, Son, London, 1849.
* (1821): ''Travels in Palestine Through the Countries of Bashan and Gilead, East of the River Jordan, Including a Visit to the Cities of Geraza and Gamala in the Decapolis'' ([https://archive.org/details/travelsinpalest00buckgoog volume I],[https://archive.org/details/travelsinpalest02buckgoog volume II]).
* (1825): ''[https://archive.org/details/travelsamongara00buckgoog Travels among the Arab Tribes Inhabiting the Countries East of Syria and Palestine.]'' The full text, google-books.
* (1827): ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=7GyNhYk9NoYC Travels in Mesopotamia Including a Journey from Aleppo to Bagdad By the Route of Beer, Orfah, Diarbekr, Mardin, and Mosul; With Researches on the Ruins of Nineveh, Babylon, and Other Ancient Cities].''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Buckingham, James Silk}}
* G. F. R. Barker, ‘Buckingham, James Silk (1786–1855)’, rev. Felix Driver, [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]], [[Oxford University Press]], 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3855 accessed 11 Oct 2007]

==External links==

* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-james-buckingham | James Silk Buckingham }}
* {{NPG name}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-new | constituency}}
{{s-ttl
| title = Member of Parliament for [[Sheffield (UK Parliament constituency)|Sheffield]]
| years = [[1832 United Kingdom general election|1832]] – [[1837 United Kingdom general election|1837]]
| with = [[John Parker (Whig politician)|John Parker]]
}}
{{s-aft | after = [[John Parker (Whig politician)|John Parker]]<br />[[Henry George Ward]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckingham, James Silk}}
[[Category:1786 births]]
[[Category:1855 deaths]]
[[Category:British expatriates in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Writers from Cornwall]]
[[Category:English male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:English travel writers]]
[[Category:Holy Land travellers]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1832–1835]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1835–1837]]
[[Category:People from Flushing, Cornwall]]
[[Category:People of British India]]

James Silk Buckingham - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 20:00, 13 August 2023