James Edwin Meadows was born in Essex in 1828. His father was James Meadows Snr (1798-1864) a talented painter of inshore and coastal scenes, whom he studied under. His brothers Edwin Lewis, Alfred John, William and Arthur Joseph Meadows, were also artists. He lived and worked in the London area for most of his life, where he became renowned for his landscape views of Essex, Kent, Sussex, Surrey and the Isle of Wight.

Meadows exhibited many paintings at the Royal Academy, British Institute and the Royal Society of British Artist (1853-1875). He also exhibited at the major provincial galleries such as Walker Art Galleries, Liverpool, Manchester City Art Gallery and the Royal Hibernian Academy. The composition of his paintings are highly appealing, often containing figures, cottages, dogs and other animals such as ducks, which have made his works as popular and sought after today as they were in his lifetime.

Examples of his work can be found in the Wolverhampton Art Gallery and the Ramsgate Library.