General Sir James Edward Alexander KStJ CB FRSE FRGS (16 October 1803 – 2 April 1885) was a Scottish traveller, author and soldier in the British Army. Alexander was the driving force behind the placement of Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames Embankment.
Born in Stirling, he was the eldest son of Edward Alexander of Powis, Clackmannanshire, and his second wife Catherine Glas, daughter of John Glas, Provost of Stirling. The family purchased Powis House near Stirling in 1808 from James Mayne (his uncle by marriage) for £26,500. His father, a banker, had to sell Powis House in 1827 on collapse of the Stirling Banking Company. He received his training in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
In 1837 he married Eveline Marie Mitchell, daughter of Col C. C. Mitchell of the Royal Artillery.
In 1853 he obtained Westerton House in Bridge of Allan, built in 1803 by Dr John Henderson of the East India Company (a cousin and friend). Here he became an elder of Logie Kirk, walking there each Sunday.
He died in Ryde on the Isle of Wight but is buried in Old Logie Churchyard just east of his home town of Stirling. The graveyard lies several hundred metres north of Logie Cemetery and the 19th century Logie Kirk.
After his death his trustees sold Westerton House to Edmund Pullar.