James Urmston (1750-1815) was the son of John Urmston (1698-1780) and Elizabeth Wye. In 1777 he married Elizabeth Lawrance (1752-1842), daughter of George Lawrance; they had five sons and two daughters. George Lawrance was a naval officer and secretary to Admiral Byng; he was a witness in Byng’s defence at his court martial, and was on the quarter death at Byng’s execution. He subsequently held shore posted in various dockyards, and spent the last thirty years of his life in Deal in Kent. James was a captain in the Royal Navy and saw action against the French in the West Indies in 1795/6; he then became a Commander in the employ of the East India Company. He left the navy in 1803 and became High Sheriff of Essex in 1806. He owned Chigwell House in Essex, but at the time of his death resided in Walmer in Kent, and was buried in Deal.