James Bateman (18 July 1811 – 27 November 1897) was a British landowner and horticulturist. He developed Biddulph Grange after moving there around 1840, from nearby Knypersley Hall in Staffordshire, England. He created the gardens at Biddulph with the aid of his wife Maria and his friend and painter of seascapes Edward William Cooke. From 1865 to 1870 he was the founding president of the North Staffordshire Field Club, an organisation which researched local natural history and folklore.
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Biography
He was born at Redvales near Bury in Lancashire. He matriculated at Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1829, graduating from Magdalen College with a BA in 1834 and an MA in 1845. Over the twenty years he made a great deal of money in iron, engineering and banking.
In 1871, Bateman and his sons (who included the painter Robert Bateman) gave up the house and gardens at Biddulph, and he moved to Kensington in London. He later moved to Worthing in Sussex, where he died on 27 November 1897.