 William James was born in Henley-in-Arden in Warwickshire in 1771, the second of the seven children of William James, a solicitor from Moseley near Birmingham, and his wife Mary, who came from a wealthy and well-connected family in Kings Norton.The young James was educated at The King's School, Warwick (Now Warwick School); at another school in Winson Green, Birmingham and at Lincoln’s Inn in London.After training and qualifying as a solicitor in Birmingham, he returned to Henley-in-Arden around 1797 to work in his father's practice.