Sir Thomas Birkin, 1st Baronet

Sir Thomas Isaac Birkin, 1st Baronet JP DL (15 February 1831 – 16 January 1922) was a Nottingham lace manufacturer.

Sir

Thomas Birkin

Bt JP DL
Born
Thomas Isaac Birkin

15 February 1831
Died16 January 1922(1922-01-16) (aged 90)
Resting placeWilford Hill Cemetery, West Bridgford, Nottingham
NationalityBritish
OccupationLace manufacturer
Board member ofGreat Northern Railway
Spouse(s)
Harriet Tebbutt
(
m. 1856)
Children9
Parent(s)Richard Birkin
RelativesFreda Dudley Ward (granddaughter)

Early life

He was born on 15 February 1831, the second son of Richard Birkin (1805–1870), who founded the family lace-making business.[1][2]

Career

After his father retired in 1856, his sons Richard Jr and Thomas took over, until Richard Jr retired in 1862, and Thomas was in sole charge.[2]

By 1898, the business had been split into two companies, Birkin and Co (fancy lace), and T. I. Birkin and Co (lace curtains), both headquartered at Broadway, Nottingham.[2] They had expanded internationally, with large factories in Saxony and Chester, Pennsylvania, US.[2]

Birkin was a magistrate, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, of which he was the High Sheriff in 1892.[2] He was a director of the Great Northern Railway.[2]

Personal life

He married Harriet Tebbutt, on 9 October 1856, and they had nine children:

  • Sir Thomas Stanley Birkin, 2nd Baronet (1857–1931)
  • Sir Alexander Russell Birkin, 4th Baronet (1861–1942)
  • Lt-Col Richard Leslie Birkin (1863–1936)
  • Harriet Maud Birkin (1864–1951)
  • Colonel Charles Wilfred Birkin (1865–1932); married American Claire Lloyd Howe. One of their daughters was English socialite Freda Dudley Ward, who was the mistress of the Prince of Wales prior to his meeting Wallis Simpson.
  • Hilda Mary Birkin (1868–1926)
  • Major Philip Austen Birkin (1869–1951)
  • Major Harry Laurence Birkin (1872–1951)
  • Ethel Lillian Birkin (1874–1972)

He died on 16 January 1922,[1] and is buried in the grade II listed Birkin Mausoleum, a small classical temple built in 1921 of Portland stone in Wilford Hill Cemetery, West Bridgford, Nottingham.[3]

References
  1. "Birkin (UK Baronet, 1905)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  2. "Nottinghamshire history > Nottingham & Notts Illustrated : "Up-to-Date" Commercial Sketches (1898)". www.nottshistory.org.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  3. dijit.net. "Birkin Mausoleum - Mausolea & Monuments Trust". www.mmtrust.org.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
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