James Harold France was born in Manchester, England in 1873 and was articled to Henry Robert Price (1836-1907) in Manchester from 1889 to 1892. He also attended Manchester School of Art and Manchester Technical School. He worked as an assistant to Frank Page Oakley (1862-1943); to J. J. Morris in Bolton; and to John Ely (1848-1915) in Manchester
France commenced independent practice as an architect in Manchester in 1897. He was in partnership with Harry Smith Fairhurst (1869-1945) as Fairhurst & France from 1900 to 1905; and with Harry Brooksbank Laycock (1885-1916) as France & Laycock from c.1909 to 1913.
France & Laycock had offices at 7 Chapel Walks, Manchester and 13 Canning Street Bury, Lancashire. Work by the practice included an annex to the Congregational Church School in Ashley Road, Hale, Cheshire (1909-11); an extension to the Congregational Church in Ashley Road, Hale, Cheshire (1912-13); and the the Roby Congregational Church and Schools in Longsight, Manchester (1913).
In 1909 France & Laycock were selected 3rd place in a competition to design an Elementary Council School in Elton Ward, Bury. Their entry is illustrated in British Competitions in Architecture vol. 2, no. 9, July 1909 (pp. 342-345)
France was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1911, He died in Flint, Flintshire, Wales on 31 March 1925.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 1: A-K. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001