Sir James Heath, 1st Baronet (26 January 1852 – 24 December 1942) was a businessman and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician in the

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Early life

James Heath was second son of Robert Heath (died 1893), a

colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

and

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...

owner, of

Biddulph Grange Biddulph Grange is a National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust landscaped garden, in Biddulph near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It is separate from Biddulph Grange Country Park. Description "Beh ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. He was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

Business career

Heath was an

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

and colliery proprietor, who began as a partner in his father's company in 1873, for whom he travelled round the world twice on business.Notes by Christopher Heath on family history website
/ref> Following his father's death in 1893, he and his brother

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

founded a limited company named Robert Heath & Sons to run the concerns, which they sold to the Low Moor Iron Company in 1910. The brothers also founded the Birchenwood Colliery Company at

Newchapel Newchapel is a hamlet in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, close to Kidsgrove in Staffordshire, England. Newchapel was originally named Thursfield. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as Turvoldesfeld. After the Reformation in th ...

near

Kidsgrove Kidsgrove is a town in the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, on the Cheshire border. It is part of the Potteries Urban Area, along with Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. It has a population of 26,276 (2019 census). ...

in 1893, and developed an associated coking and coal by-products business.

Political career

He was

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 of ...

for North West Staffordshire from 1892 to the 1906 General Election when he lost in the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

landslide to Sir Alfred Billson. Billson died suddenly in July 1907, but Heath declined to contest the seat. His father Robert Heath and brother

Arthur Heath Arthur Howard Heath TD (29 May 1856 – 24 April 1930) was a British industrialist, first-class cricketer, Rugby union international and Conservative Party politician. Background and education Born at Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire on ...

were also Members of Parliament. He was also a J.P. for Staffordshire.

Cricket

Heath played a single

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 officiall ...

match 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 ...

in 1882.

Military service

He served in the

Staffordshire Yeomanry The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) was a unit of the British Army. Raised in 1794 following Prime Minister William Pitt's order to raise volunteer bodies of men to defend Great Britain from foreign invasion, the Staffordshir ...

, being promoted Captain in 1876, and honorary Major in 1890. He was Lieutenant-Colonel commanding from 1898 to 1902.

Personal life

Heath was married four times. He married firstly, on 12 July 1881, Euphemia Celina, second daughter of Pieter Van-der-Byl, of

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and of Elsenwood,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England. They had one daughter who survived her parents and one son, Percy Voltelin Heath, who died unmarried from wounds received in the

First World War 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 ...

in France in September 1914. Lady Heath (as she became known following the creation of her husband's baronetcy) died on 21 August 1921. He married secondly, on 6 February 1924, Mrs Joy Nitch Smith, eldest daughter of John Hounsell, of Stillman Valley,

Ogle County, Illinois Ogle County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 53,497. Its county seat is Oregon, and its largest city is Rochelle. Ogle County comprises Rochelle, ...

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There were no children of this marriage, which was annulled at his petition in 1927. His third wife was Sophie Catherine Theresa Mary, previously Mrs Elliott Lynn, daughter of James Peirce-Evans, and better known during their marriage as

Mary, Lady Heath Mary, Lady Heath (17 November 1896 – 9 May 1939) was an Irish aviator and began life as Sophie Catherine Theresa Mary Peirce-Evans in Knockaderry, County Limerick, near the town of Newcastle West. She was one of the best known women in th ...

(1896–1939), the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

. They married on 11 October 1927, he aged 75 and she 30 years old, but this marriage produced no children and he divorced her in 1932, although she had obtained a divorce decree nisi at

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, U.S.A. in 1930, citing his cruelty to her. He married fourthly, on 6 February 1935, Dorothy Mary (born 1899), elder daughter of Christopher Mortimer Hodgson, of

Beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

, near

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. She was 47 years his junior, but there were no children of this marriage. She survived him.

Baronetcy and death

In 1904 he was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Ashorne Hill in the county of

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. Because his only son had died unmarried 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 ...

in 1914, the title became extinct on his death, aged ninety, on 24 December (Christmas Eve), 1942.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heath, James 1852 births 1942 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 People educated at Clifton College English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Staffordshire Yeomanry officers