Sir James, master of the crown office, was elected F.R.S. and F.A.S. 1751. On the death of Mr Wcif in 1772, he was prevailed on to fill the president's chair at the royal society till the anniversary election, when he resigned it to Sir John Pringle; and August 10, 1773, when the society presented an address to his majesty, he received the honour of knighthood. He published two volumes of Reports in 1766; two others in 1771 and 1776; and a volume of Decisions of the Court of King's Bench upon settlement cases from 1732 to 1772 (to which was subjoined An Essay of Punctuation), in three parts, 4to, 1768, 1772, 1776. The Essay was also printed separately in 4to, 1773. He published, without his name, "A few Anecdotes and Observations relating to Oliver Cromwell and his family, serving to rectify several errors concerning him," published by Nicol, Comn. Papadopoli, in his Historia Gymnasi Patavini, 1763, 4to. He died in 1782.