James Kitson (27 October 1807 – 30 June 1885) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er and early railway industrialist, founding the locomotive builders

Kitson and Company Kitson and Company was a locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Early history The company was started in 1835 by James Kitson at the Airedale Foundry, off Pearson Street, Hunslet, with Charles Todd as a part ...

Early life

The son of a publican, he was born in his father's pub, the Brunswick Tavern, in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

in October 1807. He acquired some level of education at local schools in Leeds, with Kitson helping out in the family pub as a young child. At 14 he was apprenticed at a local dyeworks, where he acquired a bad injury. Despite his injury he was determined to improve himself and was fascinated by the new emerging railway technology. Kitson joined the newly founded Leeds Mechanical Institute, where he studied chemistry, mathematics and mechanics. He then undertook an apprenticeship at

Fenton, Murray and Wood Fenton, Murray and Jackson was an engineering company at the Round Foundry off Water Lane in Holbeck, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Fenton, Murray and Wood Fenton Murray and Wood was founded in the 1790s by ironfounder Matthew Murray and ...

in Leeds, before briefly gaining employment under

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...

with his company,

Robert Stephenson and Company Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne in England. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines. Famous early locomoti ...

, at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. He counted the elder

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the ...

among his close friends.

Career

In 1835, Kitson decided to form his own locomotive engineering company. Enlisting the help of Charles Todd and David Laird, together the trio founded Todd, Kitson and Laird in a former cloth mill. Within a month of founding the company they received a lucrative order for locomotives from the

Liverpool and Manchester Railway The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...

, with the company producing

LMR 57 Lion The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (LMR) 57 ''Lion'' is an early 0-4-2 steam locomotive, which had a top speed of and could pull up to 200 tons (203 tonnes). One of a pair designed for hauling freight (the other, number 58, was called ''Tig ...

. The company would go on to produce locomotives for 103 years, finally ceasing operations in 1938.

Cricket

Kitson played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Batting twice in the match, he was dismissed in the MCC first innings by Francis Popham, while in their second innings he was dismissed for a single run, being caught by

Henry Knatchbull Henry Edward Knatchbull (30 August 1808 – 31 August 1876) was an English clergyman and amateur cricketer who played top level matches in the 19th century. Knatchbull was a son of Sir Edward Knatchbull, 8th Baronet and his third wife Mary Hawki ...

off an unrecorded bowler.

Politics

He served as the

Mayor of Leeds The Lord Mayor of Leeds (until 1897 known as the Mayor of Leeds) is a ceremonial post held by a member of Leeds City Council, elected annually by the council. By charter from King Charles I in 1626, the leader of the governing body of the bo ...

from 1860 to 1862, in addition to serving on the Leeds Town Council for many years.Death of Mr James Kitson. ''Ulverston Mirror and Furness Reflector''. 4 July 1885. p. 6

Religion

The Kitsons were closely associated with

Unitarianism Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...

in Leeds, at

Mill Hill Chapel Mill Hill Chapel is a Unitarian church in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians. The building, which stands in the centr ...

, with Kitson giving lectures to working women on hygiene as part of his missionary work.

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

was commissioned to create a stained glass window there in honour of Ann Kitson, who died in 1865.

Marriages and children

At the age of 21 he married Ann Newton, with the couple having 11 children, though only six survived to adulthood. One son, also named

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

, followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a locomotive builder, in addition to becoming a politician and the 1st Baron Airedale. Another son, Arthur Octavius Kitson, was involved in a notorious court case with his brother-in-law

William Smoult Playfair Dr William Smoult Playfair FRCP (27 July 1836 – 13 August 1903) was a leading Scottish obstetric physician and academic. In 1896 a trial, Kitson v. Plafair, found against him for a breach of medical confidentiality. Biography Playfair was ...

, an eminent obstetrician. After his second marriage, Kitson bought Elmete Hall, in the vicinity of what is now

Roundhay Park Roundhay Park in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is one of the biggest city parks in Europe.Only Richmond Park (London), Phoenix Park (Dublin) and Silesian Culture and Recreation Park ( Chorzów, Poland) are larger. It covers more than of park ...

, to the north of Leeds. He and his wife Elizabeth raised four children there. He died at Elmete Hall on 30 June 1885. His life is documented by the Thoresby Society, the historical society for Leeds.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitson, James 1807 births 1885 deaths People from Leeds English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English railway mechanical engineers British railway entrepreneurs English businesspeople English Unitarians Mayors of Leeds