Sir James Rankin, 1st Baronet (25 December 1842 – 17 April 1915) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was Member of Parliament for Leominster from 1880 to 1885, and from 1886 until the general election of 1906, losing the seat by only 28 votes to the Liberal candidate. He regained the seat in January 1910 and resigned in March 1912. He was made a Baronet on 20 June 1898, of Bryngwyn (Bryngwyn Manor, near Wormelow Tump), Herefordshire. He was a senior partner of the family timber and shipbuilding company, Pollok, Gilmour and Company.^[1] The Rankin Constitutional Club, in Corn Square, Leominster, is named after him.

Personal

Born on 25 December 1842, he was the eldest son of Robert Rankin (1801–1870), a timber merchant and shipowner, and his wife Ann, née Strang (1812–1875).^[2] He earned a first-class degree in the Natural Science Tripos at Trinity College, Cambridge.^[1]

On 12 January 1865, he married Annie Laura, the daughter Christopher Bushell J.P. (1810–1886) and Margaret née Easton of Hinderton Hall, Cheshire.^[3] He had four sons and four daughters. His Baronetcy was created in 1898.