James Colledge Pope was born on June 11, 1826, in Bedeque, Prince Edward Island.

He was an entrepreneur, land proprietor, and politician. He attended school in Saltash, near Plymouth, and upon his return, he entered the family timber business. Pope was a successful businessman who was at one point the island's third-largest shipowner. He entered P.E.I. politics in 1857 when the island was still a colony of the U.K. He served as premier three times, 1865-1867 (Conservative), 1870-1872 (coalition), and April-September 1873 (Conservative). As premier, he called upon troops to quell Tenant League disturbances in 1865, negotiated purchase of the Cunard estate in 1866, commenced construction of a railway in 1871, and led the Island into Confederation on July 1, 1873. He did not run in the 1874 federal election but returned to the province's House of Assembly in 1875. In 1876, he lost his seat in the provincial election due to the issue of school funding. In 1877, he returned to the House of Commons and served as Minister of Marine and Fisheries (1878-1882) in the Conservative government of Sir John A. Macdonald.

In 1852, he married Eliza Dalrymple Pope (1829–1911). He died on May 8, 1885, in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.