James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale
James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale (22 September 1835 – 16 March 1911),
, Yorkshire.Life
James Kitson's parents were James Kitson (1807–1885) a self-made locomotive manufacturer who founded Kitson and Company, and his first wife Ann.[1] They had several children.[2] One of them, Emily, married the royal obstetrician William Smoult Playfair in 1864, and became inadvertently involved in a court case with implications for medical ethics that resonate today.[3] Another brother was Arthur Octavius Kitson, whose wife was the subject of the court case.
Kitson attended school in Wakefield and studied chemistry and
The loss of his first wife Emily in 1873 was devastating. His sister-in-law Clara Talbot (née Cliff, died 1905), and her husband Grosvenor Talbot (1835-1926) were described as "lifelines", "tending to the grieving man and looking after his children". Kitson and Talbot were college friends. Four years later, Kitson's older brother, Frederick, a gifted engineer also died.[4]
In 1885 Kitson purchased
Career
In 1854, when Kitson was aged nineteen, his father bought the ironworks at Monk Bridge and put him and his elder brother, Frederick, in charge. Monkbridge was amalgamated with their father's Airedale Foundry in 1858. In 1886 the business was a limited liability company under family control with £250,000 in capital. Frederick Kitson withdrew from the business because of ill health several years before his death in 1877. Their father retired in 1876 but James Kitson in reality ran the firm from 1862. The Airedale Foundry built nearly 6,000 locomotives for use in Britain and abroad from when it was founded until the end of the 19th century. The company diversified into manufacturing stationary engines for agricultural use and steam engines for tramways. From the 1880s, the Monkbridge works made steel using the Siemens–Martin open-hearth process. The Airedale Foundry and Monkbridge Works both employed about 2000 workers in 1911.[2]
In connection with his business interests Kitson was a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers from 1859 and was president of the Iron Trade Association. He was president of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1889 and was awarded the institute's Bessemer gold medal in 1903. Between 1899 and 1901, he was a member of the council of the Institution of Civil Engineers.[2]
Kitson's other interests included the London and Northern Steamship Company and the Yorkshire Banking Company. He was a director of the London City and Midland Bank and president of the Baku Russian Petroleum Company. He was also a director of the North Eastern Railway Company and president of the Leeds Chamber of Commerce from 1880 to 1881.[2]
Financial success allowed Kitson time, money and influence to pursue other interests including politics. He was president of the Leeds Liberal Association and ran the election campaign for
Kitson was a member of the
Kitson was appointed
Death
Airedale died following a
Mill Hill Chapel
The Kitsons were closely linked to
Family
Kitson married Emily Christina Cliff (1837-1873) on 20 September 1860.
- Sir Albert Ernest Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale (1863–1944)
- James Clifford Kitson (6 December 1864 – 25 September 1942)
- Charles Clifford Kitson – twin of James Clifford – (born 6 December 1864)[17]
- Emily (born 1866)
- Edward Christian (born 1873)
- (Alice) Hilda (1872–1944)
Kitson married Mary Laura Smith (died 1939) on 1 June 1881 and had issue:
- Sir Roland Dudley Kitson, 3rd Baron Airedale (1882–1958)
- Olive Mary (born 1887)
Mayors and lord mayors
Several members of the Kitson family were mayor or
- In 1860 and 1861, James Kitson
- In 1896 and 1897, his son, Sir James Kitson MP (later the 1st Baron Airedale)
- In 1908 (and briefly in 1910), Frederick J Kitson
- In 1942, Jessie Beatrice Kitson
Lord Airedale's father, James Kitson was Mayor of Leeds in 1860–1861.[19] A generation later it was his son who became the first Lord Mayor in 1896–1897.
The 1908 the lord mayor was Frederick James Kitson, Lord Airedale's nephew.[20]
In late 1942, the elected lord mayor died suddenly, and the council asked a fourth Kitson to take over: Jessie Beatrice Kitson (born 1877), daughter of John Hawthorn Kitson (died 1899) the younger brother of the first Lord Airedale.[21]
Arms
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References
- ^ Boswell, D. M. (1994). The Kitsons and the Arts (PDF). University of York, U.K. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34343. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/35541. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- OCLC 751047782.
- ISBN 9781906600327.
- ^ Web, Kanga. "James Kitson" (PDF). History of Kitson family. Kangaweb Pty Ltd. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
- ^ Campbell, Gordon (2006). The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts. Oxford University Press. p. 162.
- ISBN 9781315404486.
- ^ "List of Mayors and Lord Mayor". Leeds Council.
- ^ Iron & Steel Trades Journal and Iron Trade Circular. Vol. 88. 1911. p. 264.
- ^ "No. 27505". The London Gazette. 19 December 1902. p. 8762.
- ^ Memorial Window to the Late Lord Airedale. Report of the Proceedings at the Unveiling Ceremony ... Together with a Description of the Window. 8 page booklet published by the chapel.
- ^ Stuff, Good. "Mill Hill Chapel, City and Hunslet, Leeds".
- ^ "Parliamentary Papers: 1850-1908, Volume 71". Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons H.M. Stationery Office, 1899. 1899. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
... of such dissenting protestants ... at the date of the Inquiry were Sir James Kitson, Baronet, M.P.
- ^ "Cliff Family – owners of Peckfield Colliery". 30th April 1896. The Peckfield Colliery Disaster at Micklefield. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
- ^ Dunkley, S. J. "Women Magistrates, Ministers and Municipal Councillors in the West Riding of Yorkshire 1918-1939" (PDF). University of Sheffield 1991. p. 9. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
- ^ "Rt Hon Sir James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale of Gledhow". Red1st.com. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
- ^ "Lord Mayors & Aldermen of Leeds since 1626" (PDF). Leeds.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
- ^ Welch, Charles. "Kitson James". Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
- ^ "Latest Wills – Former Leeds Lord Mayor Mr. F. J. Kitson Leaves £l,OOO for Hospitals £115,000 Estate". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. West Yorkshire, England. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
Mr. Frederick James Kitson, of Quarry Dene, Weetwood, Leeds, a former Lord Mayor of Leeds, and a nephew of the first Lord Airedale, who died on November 19, 1935, aged 74, left (net ...)
- ^ "Formal Election". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. West Yorkshire, England. 14 November 1942. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
(Beatrice Jessie Kitson came from a) distinguished Leeds family. She was born in Hyde Terrace 1876, the daughter of the late Mr John Hawthorn Kitson (son of James Kitson Senior born 1807), head of the famous Airedale Foundry, who married Miss Jessie Ellershaw, a member another well-known Leeds family...
- ^ Burke's Peerage. 1949.
- Oxford Dictionary of National BiographyRetrieved 25 June 2008