James Kenyon (1846 – 25 February 1924) was an English woollen manufacturer and Conservative Party politician from Bury in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, 1895–1902.

Early life

Kenyon was the second son of James Kenyon and his first wife Margaret (''née'' Whittaker) of Crimble, near Heywood in Lancashire. He was educated at Bury Grammar School and at Liverpool Collegiate Institution. He was a prosperous woollen manufacturer with a large factory in Bury. He became a Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Lancashire, a Fellow of the

Royal Colonial Institute The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) is a non-governmental organisation with a mission to promote the value of the Commonwealth and the values upon which it is based. The Society upholds the values of the Commonwealth Charter, promoting conf ...

, and was chairman of the Liverpool Storage Company. His residence was listed in 1901 as ''Walshaw Hall, Bury'', which later became a

residential care home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

. In 1875, he had married a German born Elise Genth, a classically trained musician from

Burnage Burnage is a suburb of the city of Manchester in North West England, about south of Manchester city centre and bisected by the dual carriageway of Kingsway. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the population of the B ...

. They had four sons who assisted in running the business: James died from illness as a result of service in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Charles became a successful actor/manager in London and

Myles In Greek mythology, Myles (; Ancient Greek: Μύλης means 'mill-man') was an ancient king of Laconia. He was the son of the King Lelex and possibly the naiad Queen Cleocharia, and brother of Polycaon. Myles was the father of Eurotas who begot ...

played cricket for Lancashire.

Political career

He was elected at the 1895 general election as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for borough of Bury, having stood unsuccessfully in nearby Heywood at the 1885 election.Craig, op. cit. page 318 He was re-elected in Bury in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

, but resigned his seat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

two years later, by the procedural device of becoming

Steward of the Manor of Northstead The office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead functions as a procedural device to allow a member of Parliament (MP) to resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. As members of the House of Commons are forbidden ...

on 29 April 1902.

References

External links

* 1846 births 1924 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury People educated at Bury Grammar School {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1840s-stub