Naturalist, geologist and officer of the British colonial army in India James Franklin died on this day. He was about 50. He was the brother of Sir John Franklin, Royal Navy officer in India and explorer.

James Franklin, who was in the 1st Bengal Cavalry, took part in many geological surveys in India, including in the Central Provinces. He collected avian species for the Asiatic Society. He was a member of the Royal Society of London. On a journey through parts of India, he had collected about 200 specimens of birds by the time he was in Saugor (Sagar) and had made paintings of them.

The descriptions of the birds he had collected were published in 1831. He was an authority on the white-eyed buzzard, the Indian eagle-owl, the rufous-tailed lark, the oriental skylark, the tawny-bellied babbler and the Indian spotted creeper.