This James, by the death of his father, by the death of Henry, Viscount Lowther, of Lowther, who died without issue, and by the death of Sir William Lowther, Bart., of Whitehaven,[15] who also died without issue, became possessed of the three great estates of Meaburn, Lowther and Whitehaven. James Lowther represented the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland for several years in Parliament, and was elevated to the peerage in 1784 by the titles of Baron Lowther of Lowther, Viscount Lowther, and Earl of Lonsdale; consequently he was the first Earl. He was born at Meaburn Hall, where he resided at different times while the Hall at Lowther was in ruins, being burnt down about 1720. There is every reason to believe Meaburn was his favourite residence, where he kept a large establishment, of which the dairy over the bridge bears unmistakeable evidence. He also stocked the park with deer; and there are many yet living who can remember the last of them being removed to Lowther. [Illustration: RUINS OF LOWTHER HALL FROM A SKETCH BY LADY MARY LOWTHER.] In 1761 he married Lady Mary Stewart, daughter of John, Earl of Bute. Lady Mary appears to have been an accomplished lady, and extremely fond of sketching in water colours; some of her sketches are tolerably well executed. There is at Lowther a large portfolio containing numbers of her sketches, generally in the neighbourhood of Lowther, Ullswater, Shap and Meaburn; some of which are extremely interesting as depicting places now either gone or greatly changed.[16] He died in the year 1802, leaving no issue, and after his day, Meaburn Hall passed into the hands of farmers.