St. James Infirmary Blues London's St. James Hospital, a religious foundation for the treatment of leprosy. His references list an article by Kenneth Lodewick. That article states, giving no reference or source for the idea, that the phrase "St. James Hospital" refers to a hospital of that name in London. There is some difficulty in this because the hospital in question closed in 1532 when Henry VIII acquired the land to build St James's Palace. Another possibility suggested by Higginbotham on the basis of his claim that the song "St. James Infirmary" dates at least from the early nineteenth century, is the Infirmary section
James Johnston (British Army officer, died 1795) James Johnston (British Army officer, died 1795) James Johnston (21 May 1721 – 26 November 1795) was a general of the British Army, colonel of the Royal Horse Guards (the Blues) and colonel of the Scots Greys. He was the only surviving son of James Johnston (Secretary of State) and his wife, Lucy née Claxton. Johnston lived at Overstone, Northamptonshire and in retirement at Weston House near Bath and with a house in St James's Place, Middlesex. Johnston was first commissioned into the Royal Horse Guards and was present with the regiment at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 and