James Burton (property developer)

Lieutenant-Colonel James Burton
Pyramidal Tomb of James Burton (1761–1837) and Burton family at St Leonards-on-Sea, England
Born	29 July 1761 Strand, London, England
Died	31 March 1837 St Leonards-on-Sea, England
Education	Homeschooled
Occupation(s)	Property developer; architect; Gunpowder Manufacturer
Notable work	Bloomsbury Regent Street Regent Street St. James St. James Swallow Street Regent's Park Russell Square Bedford Square Bloomsbury Square Tavistock Square Chester Terrace Cornwall Terrace York Terrace Clarence Terrace St Leonards-on-Sea
Children	10 that survived infancy including: James Burton (Egyptologist) Henry Burton (physician) Decimus Burton
Parents	William Haliburton (1731–1785) (father) Mary Johnson (1735–1785) (mother)
Relatives	George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield Thomas Chandler Haliburton Lord Haliburton Henry Marley Burton

Lieutenant-Colonel James Burton (né James Haliburton; 29 July 1761 – 31 March 1837) was an English property developer. He was the most successful property developer of Regency and of Georgian London, in which he built over 3000 properties in 250 acres. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says that Burton was "the most successful developer in late Georgian London, responsible for some of its most characteristic architecture".

Burton built most of Bloomsbury (including Bedford Square, Russell Square, Bloomsbury Square, Tavistock Square, and Cartwright Gardens), and St John's Wood, Regent Street, Regent Street St. James, Waterloo Place, St. James's, Swallow Street, Regent's Park (including its Inner Circle villas in addition to Chester Terrace, Cornwall Terrace, Clarence Terrace, and York Terrace). He also financed and built the projects of John Nash at Regent's Park (most of which were designed by his son Decimus Burton rather than by Nash) to the extent that the Commissioners of Woods described James, not Nash, as 'the architect of Regent's Park'. Burton also developed the town of St Leonards-on-Sea, which is now part of Hastings.

Burton was a member of London high society during the Georgian era and during the Regency era. He was an early member of the Athenaeum Club, London, whose Clubhouse his company built to a design by his son Decimus Burton, who was the club's "prime member". Burton was a friend of Princess Victoria (the future Queen Victoria), and of the Duchess of Kent. He was Master of the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers, and in 1810/11 Sheriff of Kent. Burton's children included the Egyptologist James Burton; the physician Henry Burton; and the architect Decimus Burton. He was the grandfather of Constance Mary Fearon, who was the founder of the Francis Bacon Society.

The Burtons' London mansion, The Holme of Regent's Park (which was built by Burton's company and designed by Decimus Burton), was described by 20th century architecture critic Ian Nairn as 'a definition of Western civilization in a single view'. Burton also built the Burtons' Tonbridge mansion Mabledon.