Born in 1841 near Cairncastle, James Chaine was educated at Blackheath in England and married Henrietta Creery from Newcastle in County Down. Chaine was an incredible representative of the region, who helped transform Larne into a busy port and market town in East Antrim.

Chaine also maintained a successful shipping business. With his later appointment as a Conservative Member of Parliament for East Antrim in 1874, he was able to develop the Larne to Stranraer cross-channel trade routes. He also partly financed the construction of the port and the Larne Railway Lines from Larne to Belfast, as well as Larne to Ballyclare and Ballymena. Unfortunately, Chaine lost his life at the age of 43 in May 1885 after contracting pneumonia. 

Townspeople were so moved by his passing that they constructed a private burial mound where he was buried in a standing position looking out towards the Irish Sea. Later, the people of Larne built the Chaine Memorial Tower in 1888 in his memory. Today, the private memorial mound is home to his late wife, as well as other family members.