James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale PC

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

, DSc

Doctor of Science

Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...

 (22 September 1835 – 16 March 1911), known as Sir James Kitson, Bt, between 1886 and 1907, was a British peer and Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician.

He was the younger son of James Kitson, a locomotive manufacturer in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

. He went to school in Wakefield and studied chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

 and natural sciences at University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

. With his elder brother, Frederick, he developed an iron foundry into a large company, Monkbridge iron and steel works. This gave him the time, money and influence to pursue other interests including politics, becoming President of the Leeds Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 Association, and running the election campaign for William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone

William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...

. He became an MP himself in 1892, continuing to 1907, supporting education, Irish home rule, and old age pension

Pension

In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...

s. He was a member of both the Institution of Civil Engineers

Institution of Civil Engineers

Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...

 and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Institution of Mechanical Engineers

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...

. He supported local education, notably the Mechanics' Institute and the Yorkshire College which was the forerunner of the University of Leeds

University of Leeds

The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...

. The University awarded him an honorary doctorate (DSc

DSC

-in academia:* D.Sc., Doctor of Science* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine* Dalton State College, Georgia* Daytona State College, Florida* Deep Springs College, California* Dixie State College of Utah...

) in 1904. He was also the first Lord Mayor of Leeds

Lord Mayor of Leeds

The Lord Mayor of Leeds is a ceremonial post held by a member of Leeds City Council, elected annually by the council....

 (1896 and 1897).

He was created a Baronet on 28 August 1886, and raised to the peerage as Baron Airedale, of Gledhow

Gledhow

Gledhow is a suburb of north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, situated east of Chapel Allerton and west of Roundhay. A major feature of the area is Gledhow Valley, a strip of mixed deciduous woodland with a beck and lake. A bathhouse dating from 1671, the Gipton Spa, is in the woods...

 in the West Riding of the County of York (where he had a mansion house), on 17 July 1907. He died in Paris on 16 March 1911, and was brought to Leeds for a funeral and burial at Roundhay

Roundhay

Roundhay is a large suburb and City Council ward of north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, largely within the LS8 postcode. The ward boundary is the A6120 ring road on the north and the A58 Wetherby Road on the south and east. The boundary follows Gledhow Valley Road to the west before heading...

.

Family

He married (1) Emily Christina Cliff, on 20 September 1860. They had two children.

• Sir Albert Ernest Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale (1863-1944)
  Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airdale
  Sir Albert Ernest Kitson, BA, 2nd Baron Airedale was a British peer, the son of Sir James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale.He succeeded to the titles of 2nd Baron Airedale, of Gledhow, and 2nd Baronet Kitson on 16 March 1911....
  
  
• James Clifford Kitson (b. 6 Dec 1864)

He married (2) Mary Laura Smith, on 1 June 1881. They had one child.

• Sir Roland Dudley Kitson, 3rd Baron Airedale (1882-1958)
  Roland Kitson, 3rd Baron Airdale
  Captain Roland Dudley Kitson, 3rd Baron Airedale , businessman, was born in Leeds, son of Sir James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale and his second wife, Mary Laura daughter of Edward Fisher Smith.-Career:...