James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale
Oil on canvas, John Singer Sargent 1905
James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale PC, DSc (22 September 1835 – 16 March 1911) was a British politician of the Liberal Party, first a Member of Parliament and then a peer. He was known as Sir James Kitson, Bt from 1886, until he was elevated to the peerage in 1907. He was a prominent Unitarian in Leeds.
He was the younger son of James Kitson of Elmete Hall (1807–1885), a locomotive manufacturer who founded Kitson and Company, and his wife Ann Newton. He went to school in Wakefield and studied chemistry and natural sciences at University College London. With his elder brother, Frederick William (b.1829), James developed an iron foundry into a large company; Monkbridge Iron and Steel Works. Another brother, John Hawthorn Kitson (d.1899) had a daughter Jessie Beatrice Kitson (b.1877) who was Lord Mayor of Leeds in 1942. Like his niece, James Kitson would also become Lord Mayor of Leeds; in 1896 and 1897.[1]
The success of the iron and steel works gave James the time, money and influence to pursue other interests including politics, becoming President of the Leeds Liberal Association, and running the election campaign for William Ewart Gladstone. He became an MP himself in 1892, continuing to 1907, supporting education, Irish home rule, and old age pensions. He was a member of both the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He supported local education, notably the Mechanics' Institute and the Yorkshire College, the forerunner of the University of Leeds, which awarded him an honorary doctorate (DSc) in 1904. He was also the first Lord Mayor of Leeds (1896 and 1897).[2]
He and his family were closely linked to Mill Hill Chapel, the Unitarian church on Leeds City Square made famous by the ministry of Joseph Priestley a century before. In 1897 he paid for the extension of the vestry. William Morris designed a window to James's mother Ann, who died in 1865. After his death, Archibald Keightley Nicholson created a window in his name, representing the continuation of Christianity.[3] The church guidebook describes the early twentieth century as "a small but politically active and very influential congregation led by the Revd Charles Hargrove and Sir James Kitson".[4]
In 1878 he purchased Gledhow Hall, a country estate in the village of Gledhow, near Leeds, between Chapel Allerton and Roundhay. Gledhow Hall had been painted by J.M.W. Turner.[5] Kitson redecorated the hall and entertained lavishly, including playing host to both Prime Minister William Gladstone and his son, Viscount Gladstone MP, who was a witness at Kitson's second marriage in 1881, to Mary Laura Smith.[6] He commissioned Burmantofts Pottery to create an elaborate bathroom of faience (glazed architectural terra-cotta) in honour of a visit from the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) circa 1885.[7]
He was created a baronet on 28 August 1886, and on 17 July 1907 was raised to the peerage as the first Baron Airedale, of Gledhow in the West Riding of the County of York.
He died in Paris on 16 March 1911. His body was brought to Leeds for a funeral and burial at Roundhay.
Family
He married (1) Emily Christina Cliff, on 20 September 1860. They had five (surviving) children.
- Sir Albert Ernest Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale (1863–1944)
- James Clifford Kitson (b.6 December 1864 – 25 September 1942)
- Charles Cifford Kitson – twin of James Clifford – (b.6 December 1864 – died ?) [8]
- Emily (b.1866)
- Edward Christian (b.1873)
- (Alice) Hilda (b.1872)
He married (2) Mary Laura Smith, on 1 June 1881. They had two children.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ List of Mayors and Lord Mayor on Leeds Council website
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 1989 Mill Hill Chapel Guidebook, cited in British Listed Buildings
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Retrieved 25 June 2008
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Colne Valley 1892–1907 |
Succeeded by Victor Grayson |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of the National Liberal Federation 1883–1890 |
Succeeded by Robert Spence Watson |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Airedale 1907–1911 |
Succeeded by Albert Kitson |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baronet (of Gledhow) 1886–1911 |
Succeeded by Albert Kitson |
- Pages with broken file links
- Use dmy dates from January 2012
- 1835 births
- 1911 deaths
- Liberal Party (UK) MPs
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Presidents of the Liberal Party (UK)
- UK MPs 1892–95
- UK MPs 1895–1900
- UK MPs 1900–06
- UK MPs 1906–10
- Alumni of University College London
- English mechanical engineers
- Mayors of Leeds
- Lord Mayors of Leeds
- English Unitarians
