 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.On 4 September 1793 in Wootton Wawen, a mile south of Henley-in-Arden, James married Dinah Tarleton, the daughter of local landowners.