James Steuart Shanks,[1] (1826–1911), second son of the coachmaker Robert Shanks was a British merchant living in Moscow. James studied at Leiden University and he came of age in 1845 at which point he inherited from his uncle Robert How. In 1852 James established the Moscow shop 'Shanks & Bolin, Magasin Anglais' [2] with Henrik Conrad Bolin, younger brother of Carl Edvard Bolin, the St. Petersburg jeweller of House of Bolin. Two of James' children made significant contributions to art and literature.