James Theobald of Grays Thurrock and of Havering atte Bower, Essex, was the eldest son of James Theobald of
Hyde Abbey in Hampshire, and Sarah, daughter of the Reverend Charles Richards, Canon of Winchester. He was born in
Winchester in 1829. He was educated at
Trinity College, Oxford, where he matriculated 30 May 1849, aged nineteen. He took his B.A. and M.A. in 1859, and became a student of the
Inner Temple in 1851. In 1865 Theobald married Mable Laura, daughter of W.R. Eaton Esq. of Cheshire. He was Deputy Lieutenant for Essex, Lord of the Manor of Grays Thurrock and a large landowner in the county. In 1856, James Theobald was part of the expedition led by
Robert Stuart to the summit of
Mount Ararat, along with Major Alick Fraser, the Rev. Walter Thursby and John Evans. He was commissioned as a
Lieutenant in the
Hampshire Militia on 4 May 1861 and was promoted to
Captain on 19 May 1864, before retiring in 1869. A Conservative, and opposed to home rule, he represented the Romford Division of Essex in Parliament from 1886 to 1894. He entered parliament on the Conservative ticket for Romford at the 1886 general election, and was reportedly very popular and hard working. ==Death==