Walter James, 4th Baron Northbourne

Walter Ernest Christopher James, 4th Baron Northbourne (18 January 1896-17 June 1982), was a British peer, agriculturalist, Olympic medalist, and author.

Life

James was the son of Walter John James, 3rd Baron Northbourne, and his wife Laura Gwennlian (née Rice). He studied agricultural science at Oxford University and later applied the theories of Rudolf Steiner to the family estate at Kent. James coined the term "organic farming" [Paull, John, [http://orgprints.org/10138/ The Farm as Oganism: The Foundational Idea of Organic Agriculture] Journal of Bio-Dynamics Tasmania, (80) 14-18, 2006] from the concept of "the farm as organism" and has the best claim to being the "father" of organic agriculture [http://orgprints.org/10138] . He published the book "Look to the Land" in 1940, which raises many of the issues current to discussions of organic agriculture.

He was also an accomplished rower and was one of the British rowers who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics. He was a crew member of the British boat, which won the silver medal in the eights. [ [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=JAMESWAL01 profile Olympic Database] ]

Lord Northbourne married Katherine Louise, daughter of George Augustus Nickerson, in 1925. She died in 1980. Lord Northbourne survived her by two years and died in June 1982, aged 86. He was succeeded in his titles by his son Christopher.

The Traditionalist School

After reading "Look to the Land", the philosopher and author Marco Pallis contacted Lord Northbourne and later introduced him to the writings of the Traditionalist (also known as Perennialist) philosophy. Lord Northbourne eventually integrated this thinking into his own writings and life, and became a correspondent with many of the most prominent writers of this school, as well as with Thomas Merton. ["Lord Northbourne: “Life and Work.” World Wisdom. [http://worldwisdom.com/Public/Authors/Detail.asp?AuthorID=43&WhatType=2] .]

Writing

Lord Northbourne was the English translator for the works of several fellow Traditionalists including René Guénon's major work, "The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times", "Light on the Ancient Worlds" by Frithjof Schuon, and "Sacred Art in East and West" by Titus Burckhardt.

Bibliography

*Look to the Land (1940)
*Religion in the Modern World (1963)
*Looking Back on Progress (1970)

References

External links

* [http://www.angeltowns.com/town/peerage/ Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page]
* [http://www.thepeerage.com/ www.thepeerage.com]
* [http://www.databaseolympics.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=JAMESWAL01 Medal Winners Profile]