Jessie Beatrice Kitson

Jessie Beatrice Kitson (1876–1965) was Lord Mayor of Leeds, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, from 1942 to 1943.[1]

Lord Mayor of Leeds, Jessie B. Kitson by A. R. Middleton Todd

Life

Kitson was elected lord mayor of the County Borough of Leeds on 18 November 1942 after Arthur Clark died on 9 November, shortly after being elected to the position.[2] She was the first woman to be Lord Mayor of Leeds.[3] Kitson's friend Elinor Gertrude Lupton (1886–1979) served as her Lady Mayoress.[4]

She came from a well-known Leeds family and was the fourth member of the family to serve as lord mayor.[3] Her parents were John Hawthorn Kitson, brother of James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale (1835–1911), engineer and MP, and Jessie, née Ollershaw. Her grandfather was James Kitson senior (1807–1885), the founder of Kitson and Company. Her brother was the artist Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873–1947).[5][6]

Her portrait in oils by A. R. Middleton Todd is held in Leeds Civic Hall.[7]

Her leading role in the Leeds community saw a close friendship develop between her and Princess Mary who lived nearby at Harewood House.[8]

In 1944, the University of Leeds conferred on Kitson the honorary degree of LL.D..[9]

On her death in 1965, she was described as "of "Elmet", Brimpton, near Reading" and left an estate of £38,281.[10]

References
  1. "Lord Mayors & Aldermen of Leeds since 1626" (PDF). Leeds City Council. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  2. "Armistice Day, Leeds General Post Office Building, City Square". Leodis. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  3. "Fantastic photo flashback to year Leeds had its first female Lord Mayor". Newsroom. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  4. "Paul Jones Flag". Leodis. Leeds City Council. Retrieved 1 May 2019. Image of Kitson and Lupton
  5. Bradford, Eveleigh. "Robert Hawthorn Kitson (1873–1947) Artist, Patron, Exile". They Lived in Leeds. Thoresby Society. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  6. Bradford, Eveleigh. "James Kitson, 1807 – 1885: Pioneering Engineer and Industrialist – A Model of Self-Help". They Lived in Leeds. Thoresby Society. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  7. "Miss J. B. Kitson, JP, Lord Mayor of Leeds (1942–1943)". Art UK. Retrieved 1 May 2019. Includes image of portrait
  8. Suttenstall, S. "Jessie Beatrice Kitson". S. Suttenstall 1988. Retrieved 5 June 2019. The Princess Royal – Mary as she was known to Miss Kitson – was a frequent Royal visitor to the City, and also a personal friend of the Lord Mayor.
  9. "Honorary Graduates: 1904–2018". University of Leeds. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  10. "Deaths". The Times. 25 October 1965. p. 12.
  • "The Life of Jessie Beatrice Kitson". Phelps Ancestry. Family history website which includes text of Kitson's "autobiography" written for a meeting of "The Little Owls" ladies' group
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