James Joicey, 1st Baron Joicey JP DL (4 April 1846 – 21 November 1936) was an English industrialist, politician, and aristocrat known primarily for being a coal mining magnate from

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

and a

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(MP).

Life

James Joicey was born on 4 April 1846 in Tanfield, co. Durham, the second son of George Joicey, partner in an engineering firm in

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, and Dorothy Joicey née Gowland. The family was living in

Kip Hill Kip Hill is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated directly to the north of Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 fil ...

at the time of Joicey's baptism in June 1846. He attended the Anchorage School, Gateshead, and Gainford Academy, near Darlington. Joicey's father died when Joicey was ten years old. Joicey married Amy Robinson in 1879. They had two sons. Widowed in 1881, Joicey married Marguerite Smyles Drever in 1884 and they had two sons and a daughter.

Career

James Joicey, Vanity Fair, 1906-12-19 corrected cropped

Aged seventeen years old, Joicey began as a clerk at his uncle James' mining company ''James Joicey & Co., Ltd,'' (founded in 1838, incorporated in 1886) which operated several collieries in the West Durham coalfield including pits at Beamish and Tanfield. Joicey became managing director in 1872. He purchased

Lord Durham Earl of Durham is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1833 for the Whig politician and colonial official John Lambton, 1st Baron Durham. Known as "Radical Jack", he played a leading role in the passing of the Gr ...

's Lambton collieries in 1896 and the

Hetton Hetton is a small Dales village in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England, situated 5.75 miles north of Skipton by the B6265 road. It is the largest settlement in the civil parish of Hetton-cum-Bordley. The population of the former ...

collieries in 1911. He was Chairman and Managing Director of both ''James Joicey & Co., Ltd,'' and the ''Lambton & Hetton'' ''Collieries, Ltd''. From late 1924, steps were taken to merge both companies to form the ''Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries''. Popularly known on

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as "Jimmy Joicey" and "Old King Coal", Joicey was reputed to have been the largest coal-owner in the world. Baron Joicey worked in government held posts in England, working as Deputy Lieutenant for County Durham, and Justice of the Peace for Northumberland, Montgomeryshire and Newcastle Upon-Tyne. Joicey was elected as

for

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at ...

at the 1885 general election, and held the seat until the 1906 election. He was created a

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of Longhirst and of Ulgham, both in the County of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, on 3 July 1893 and then elevated to the peerage as Baron Joicey, of Chester-le-Street in the County of Durham, on 13 January 1906. From 1887 his seat was Longhirst Hall near

Morpeth Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia ** Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales * Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK ** Morpeth (UK ...

, Northumberland. In 1906 he bought the Ford Castle estate,

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, Northumberland, and in 1908 the Etal Castle estate in Northumberland.

Death

Joicey died at his home, Ford Castle, on 21 November 1936, aged 90, and was buried at St Michael's Church, Ford. He was succeeded by his son

James Arthur James Arthur (born 2 March 1988) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame after winning the ninth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2012. His debut single, a cover of Shontelle's " Impossible", was released by Syco Music after the fi ...

References

External links

* *
St Michael's Church, Ford, gravesite
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joicey, James 1st Baron Joicey 1846 births 1936 deaths British mining businesspeople Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 UK MPs who were granted peerages People from Tanfield, County Durham People from Ford, Northumberland Peers created by Edward VII