James Alexander Forbes (1805-1881)

James Alexander Forbes (January 6, 1805 – May 6, 1881) was the British vice-consul to Mexican California as well as the first British consul to the U.S. state of California. He built a flour mill outside of San Jose, California (now known as Forbes Mill), and that land eventually became the basis of the town of Los Gatos.

Born in Inverness, Scotland to John Alonzo Forbes and Marta Rodriguez, he emigrated to Argentina around the age of 12 with an uncle who owned a shipping line. He was later educated by Jesuits in Montevideo, Uruguay, and fought for Argentina during the Cisplatine War, having converted one of his uncle's ships into a man of war. He then came to California on a whaleship in 1831, and worked for a while as an accountant on the Castro Rancho San Pablo near Richmond. In 1834, he married Ana María Galindo, daughter of Jose Crisostino Galindo, majordomo of Mission Santa Clara de Asís.

He worked for Hudson's Bay Company beginning in 1836, becoming administrator of the company's affairs in California in 1845, although that office closed the following year.

He was appointed British vice-consul in 1842. While serving as vice-consul, he advocated the takeover of California by the British government; the proposal was flatly rejected. Forbes was informed that Great Britain had no desire to interfere in California politics, but that she would look with great disfavor upon such interference by any other power. This sentiment was communicated to Thomas O. Larkin, United States consul, but did little to dissuade the U.S. from annexing California in 1846.

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