James Blundell died on 15 January 1879 in London. His will, dated 11 April 1857 with a codicil of 27 March 1876, was proven on 29 January by his nephew Dr. George Augustus Frederick Wilks. His estate was valued at £350,000 at the time,[2] today equivalent of over £20,000,000. The fortune had been amassed by his large private practice and significant bequests. Much of it was left to his niece Sarah Haighton Noyes (née Wilks) whose husband Henry Crine Noyes had died five years earlier.