James Kennedy (British politician)

{{Short description|British Member of Parliament}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2021}}

James Kennedy (1798–1859) was a British Member of Parliament.

He was a barrister and art critic, founding Library of the Fine Arts magazine in 1831.{{Cite web |title=Library of the Fine Arts; or Repertory of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, and Engraving. ... |url=https://collections.soane.org/b8480 |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=collections.soane.org}} However, he stepped down as its editor and owner in October 1832 after his selection as a Radical candidate for the constituency of Tiverton, Devon in that year's general election.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MNlLAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA242 |title=Library of the Fine Arts: Or, Repertory of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, and Engraving |date=1832 |publisher=M. Arnold |language=en}}

Kennedy's electoral victory in the seat was challenged by the Whigs, who petitioned that his nomination at the time had not been strictly legal, due to the property requirements. The petition led to his election being declared void, and his having to fight a further by-election in May 1833, which he won against the Whig contender Benjamin Wood, who had been the third placed candidate in the 1832 general election.[http://electionhub.co.uk/uk/1832/const/tiverton Tiverton :: UK General Election 1832]

After fighting again to retain his seat at the general election in February 1835, Kennedy left Parliament in July, "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" and retiring conveniently at a time when Viscount Palmerston found himself without a seat in Parliament and forcing a by-election which Palmerston won comfortably. In Palmerston's Biography by K. Bourne it is reported that "The impecunious Kennedy" was paid £2000 for vacating the seat.[http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/constituencies/tiverton Tiverton | History of Parliament Online]

Kennedy was then appointed (by Palmerston) as a judge to the joint British and Spanish Mixed Court of Justice in Havana[https://issuu.com/fcohistorians/docs/history_notes_cover_hphn_17 Slavery in Diplomacy: The Foreign Office and the Suppression of the Transatlantic Slave Trade by FCDO Historians – Issuu] in post from 1837 to 1839.