Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale

Albert Ernest Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale (7 October 1863 – 11 March 1944) was a British peer. He was inter alia a director of Midland Bank.

Lord and Lady Airedale at the coronation of King George V, 1911

Family

Kitson was the son of James Kitson, an iron and steel manufacturer in Leeds. He was educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained a BA, before following his father into the family business.[1]

On 23 January 1890, at Mill Hill Chapel in Leeds, Kitson married Florence Schunck (1868–1942) the daughter of Edward, Baron von Schunck and his wife Kate Lupton whose family, the Luptons of Leeds, were land-owners, well-connected business people and philanthropists who played an important role in the politics of the city and the U.K.. Kate's father, Darnton Lupton had been Mayor of Leeds. Frances Lupton, the educational pioneer, and her son Francis Martineau Lupton were guests at the wedding,[2] as was Herbert Gladstone, M.P..[3][4][5]

The Kitsons had seven daughters.

Kitson's father was elevated to the peerage in 1907. Albert Kitson succeeded to the titles of 2nd Baron Airedale of Gledhow and 2nd Baronet Kitson on his father's death on 16 March 1911.[6] As peers of the realm, the Kitsons were invited to the coronation of George V at Westminster Abbey on 22 June 1911.[4]

Career, politics and interests

Kitson was a director of Midland Bank.[4] By 1918 Midland was the largest bank in the world, according to its company history.[7] He was president of the Yorkshire and Leeds Liberal Federations. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith was his guest at Gledhow Hall in November 1913.[8][9]

Like his father, Lord Airedale was a music-lover and supported the Leeds Triennial Musical Festival; in 1922, Kitson and his sister Hilda, were guarantors of the festival.[10][11] His nephew was composer Christian Darnton.

He owned one the country's finest collections of Leeds pottery.[12]

When the Prime Minister's wife, Margaret Lloyd George, visited Leeds in December 1920 for a reception for women supporters of the Liberal Coalition, she stayed with Lady Airedale at Gledhow Hall.[13][14]

Gledhow Hall

Gledhow Hall

Kitson inherited Gledhow Hall in 1911. During the First World War, he offered the hall for use as a Voluntary Aid Detachment hospital. The hospital was managed by the Headingley Company of the St John Ambulance Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD). On 22 May 1915, 50 patients were moved to the hall from the 2nd Northern General Hospital at Becketts Park. Kitson's cousin, Edith Cliff, was the Commandant and his daughter Doris was a VAD nurse.[15] Kitson's family maintained an interest in nursing after the Great War.[16]

Death

Albert Kitson died on 11 March 1944 at Stansted, Essex, and the barony was inherited by his younger brother Roland.[17] His wife had died on 8 July 1942.[18]

Arms

Coat of arms of Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale

Crest Issuant from park pales Proper a demi-unicorn Argent gorged with an annulet Azure. Escutcheon Or on a pale Azure a pike haurient of the first a chief of the second thereon an annulet between two millrinds erect of the field. Supporters On either side an owl close and affronteé Argent gorged with a collar Gules pendent therefrom an escutcheon of the arms. Motto Palmam Qui Meruit Ferat [19]

References

1. "Obituary: Lord Airedale". The Times. London, England. 13 March 1944. p. 6 – via The Times Digital Archive.
2. "Marriage of Mr Albert Kitson". The Yorkshire Post. 24 January 1890. Retrieved 18 May 2013 – via Genes Reunited.
3. "MARRIAGE OF MR. ALBERT KITSON". Leeds Times. West Yorkshire, England. 25 January 1890. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
4. Rayner, Gordon (13 September 2013). "'Middle-class' Duchess of Cambridge's relative wore crown and attended George V's coronation". Daily Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
5. Reed, M. "Gledhow Hall". House and Heritage 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
6. Iron & Steel Trades Journal and Iron Trade Circular. 88. 1911. p. 264.
7. HSBC Group in Europe Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
8. Packer, I (27 April 2006). Liberal Government and Politics, 1905-15. Springer. p. 184. ISBN 9780230625440. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
9. "Premier in Leeds...Premier and Mrs. Asquith leave Leeds". Leeds Mercury. West Yorkshire, England. 27–29 November 1913. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
10. "Musical Kitsons". Leeds Mercury. Yorkshire, England. 20 September 1922. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
11. "The Outlook: A Weekly Review of Politics, Art, Literature, and Finance, Volume 26". The Outlook Publishing Company. 1910. p. 523. Retrieved 2 October 2017. ....[James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale] held the post of secretary of the Leeds Triennial Music Festival, and now appears as vice-chairman
12. "Leeds Triennial Music Festival". Yorkshire Evening Post. West Yorkshire, England. 7 October 1925. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
13. Lloyd George, David (1973). "The Lloyd George Liberal Magazine 1920-1923, Volume 1, Issues 1-6". Great Britain: Harvester Press (re-print). pp. 246–385. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
14. "Lady Airedale". Leeds Mercury. 9 December 1920. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
15. "The Gledhow Hall scrapbook". Leeds Libraries. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
16. Miller, J.A. (2008). Not The Purser's Daughter. Strathmore Publishing Ltd. pp. 23, 25, 27, 28, 47, 67–70. ISBN 978-0955088766. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
17. Edward, Baron von Schunck (2nd World War ed.). Burke's Peerage. 1939. p. 2696. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
18. "Local News – Wills". Yorkshire Evening Post. West Yorkshire, England. 15 October 1942. Retrieved 19 August 2015. 8 July: The Right Hon. Florence, Baroness Airedale
19. Burke's Peerage. 1949.

Further reading

• Wilson, Peter (1995). War, State and Society in Württemberg, 1677-1793. Cambridge University Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780521483315.
• Edward Darnton, John (1933). The Von Schunck family : A history of the Hanau branch and connections. J. E. Darnton – Printed in England by Simpson and Co.
• Miller, Jill Ashley (2007). Call Back Yesterday. London: Strathmore Publishing London 2007. ISBN 978-0-9550887-3-5. OCLC 751047782.
• Miller, J.A. (2008). Not The Purser's Daughter. Strathmore Publishing Ltd. pp. 23, 25, 27, 28, 47, 56, 57, 69, 70. ISBN 978-0955088766. Retrieved 23 November 2017.

Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by James Kitson	Baron Airedale 1911–1944	Succeeded by Roland Kitson