Monarch Queen Victoria | Name James Longden | |
 | ||
Succeeded by John Douglas
acting governor Died 1891, Longhope, United Kingdom | ||
Preceded by William Henry Gregory | ||
Sir James Robert Longden (1827 – 4 October 1891) was an English colonial administrator.
Longden was born as the youngest son of John R. Longden, proctor, of Doctors' Commons, London. In 1844, two years after the establishment of a civil government, he was appointed government clerk in the Falkland Islands, and became acting colonial secretary the year after. In 1861 he was appointed President of the Virgin Islands, in 1865 Governor of Dominica, in 1867 Governor of British Honduras, in 1870 Governor of Trinidad, Governor of British Guiana in 1874, and in December 1876 Governor of Ceylon, which post he held until his retirement in 1883. He was made CMG in 1871, in 1876, in the 1883 Birthday Honours.
After his retirement he resided at Longhope, near Watford, Hertfordshire, and took a very active part in county affairs. He was a J.P. and alderman for the county under the Local Government Act. He died at Longhope on 4 October 1891. His funeral took place at Woking crematorium on 9 October 1891.
Family
On 22 September 1864 on the island of Saint Kitts, he married Alice Emily Berridge (1846–1910), younger daughter of James Samuel Berridge (1806–1885), a local landowner and businessman, and his wife Jane Chapman (1803–1888). They had six children, including: