James Irvine (landowner) - James Irvine II

James Irvine II

James Harvey Irvine, Sr. (1867–1947), son of James Irvine I and Henrietta Maria (Nettie) Rice, was born October 16, 1867 in San Francisco. His mother died when he was seven years old, and his father died when he was about eighteen. Between the time of James Irvine I's death in 1886 and James Irvine II's inheritance of the Southern California real estate holdings upon his twenty-fifth birthday in 1892, the properties were supervised by James Irvine I's brother, George Irvine. James II bought out Flint and the other partners, and formed the Irvine Company. He married Frances Anita Plum in 1892, and they had three children, "Jase", James Harvey Irvine Jr. (1894–1935), Katharine Helena Irvine (1894–1920) and Myford Plum Irvine (1898–1959). In 1931, James II married Mrs. Kathryn Brown White, who died in 1950. James II lived in San Francisco until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, when he relocated to the Irvine Ranch. He was a member of the Bohemian Club, and kept a residence in San Francisco, at 2421 Pierce Street. He established the James Irvine Foundation in 1937, an entity dedicated to the "general well-being of the citizens and residents of the state of California." James II owned nearly a third of the land in present day Orange County. The city of Irvine (formerly Myford) is named after him. He died of Bright's disease in 1947.