James Sutton (1799 - 21 January 1868) was an English boatbuilder, canal boat carrier and owner of salt works. He became High Sheriff of Derbyshire. Sutton was born at Aston on Trent, the son of James Sutton and his wife Mary Crane. His father is said to have begun as a boatman but was successful in business in the salt trade, canal carrying and boatbuilding. The Suttons had a salt works at Rode Heath Cheshire and Shirleywich, Staffordshire. The Trent and Mersey Canal, linking with the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

near

Shardlow Shardlow is a village in Derbyshire, England about southeast of Derby and southwest of Nottingham. Part of the civil parish of Shardlow and Great Wilne, and the district of South Derbyshire, it is also very close to the border with Leice ...

, made the town a significant trans-shipment point. Sutton helped his father in the business and inherited it on his father's death in 1830. He was in partnership in a canal carrying company with James Clifford of Shardlow, and Charles Atkins of Etruria, Staffordshire in the Shardlow Boat Company.Shardlow Heritage Centre The Working Port 1770 - 1948
/ref> His business conveyed by water to

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, Hull,

Sleaford Sleaford is a market town and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. Centred on the former parish of New Sleaford, the modern boundaries and urban area include Quarrington to the south-west, Holdingham to the nor ...

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

Gainsborough Gainsborough or Gainsboro may refer to: Places * Gainsborough, Ipswich, Suffolk, England ** Gainsborough Ward, Ipswich * Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, a town in England ** Gainsborough (UK Parliament constituency) * Gainsborough, New South Wales, ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

The Potteries The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of ...

, Cheshire Salt Works, Stourport,

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

and

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. Sutton had two wharves at Shardlow. He lived at Shardlow Hall, Derbyshire, which either he or his father purchased in 1826. In 1843 Sutton was

High Sheriff of Derbyshire High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

. With the coming of the railways, the canal business was in decline, and by 1850 Sutton had stopped building boats and by 1858 had closed the wharf in Derby. Sutton died at Shardlow at the age of 68. Sutton married Sophia Hoskins, the daughter of Abraham Hoskins who built Bladon Castle at

Newton Solney Newton Solney is a small village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, England, located about two miles (3 km) from the East Staffordshire border, near to Burton upon Trent. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 659. I ...

. Three of her sisters married members of the Wilders family who founded the

Burton Brewery Company The Burton Brewery Company was one of the largest brewers in Burton upon Trent, England in the 19th century. The company was founded in 1842 by Henry and Thomas Wilders, who came from a family of Tanner (occupation), tanners. They built their bre ...

and her aunt married

Michael Thomas Bass Michael Thomas Bass, DL (6 July 1799 – 29 April 1884) was an English brewer and a Member of Parliament. Under his leadership, the Bass Brewery became the largest brewery in the world, and Bass the best known brand of beer in England. Bass r ...

of the brewery company. Their son Sir Henry Sutton, a High Court judge, had daughters who married

Julius Bertram Julius Bertram (8 November 1866 – 5 November 1944) was a Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom who served one term as member of parliament (MP) for the Hitchin division of Hertfordshire. Bertram was son of Julius Alfred Bertram (1829 ...

and Herbert Warrington Smyth. Their son Rev. Alfred Sutton was the father of Air Marshall Sir Bertine Sutton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, James 1799 births 1868 deaths People from Aston-on-Trent People associated with canals High Sheriffs of Derbyshire People from Shardlow 19th-century English businesspeople