On 1 March 1783, at St. Clement Danes, Strand, London, James Burton married Elizabeth Westley (12 December 1761 – 14 January 1837), of Loughton, Essex, daughter of John and Mary Westley. They had six sons and six daughters, ten of whom were alive at the time of their father's death on 31 March 1837. Their first four children were all baptized at the church at which they had married, and entered in the church registers with the surname 'Haliburton': however, James and Elizabeth changed their surname to 'Burton' between the birth of their fourth child and the birth of their fifth child.
