Sir John Kelk, 1st Baronet (16 February 1816 – 12 September 1886) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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, builder and public works contractor.

Family

Kelk was the son of his namesake, John Kelk, an ironsmith, and Martha, daughter of Jacob Germain. In 1848, he married his cousin, Rebecca Anne, daughter of George Kelk, and together they had five children: * Ellen Maud (died 1938), Married Frederick William Maud, son of Sir

George Ashley Maude Colonel Sir George Ashley Maude, (11 November 1817 – 31 May 1894) was a British Army officer and Crown Equerry to Queen Victoria. Biography Colonel Sir George Ashley Maude was born in 1817, the son of Rev Hon. John Charles Maude of Ennisk ...

. * John William (1851–1923), became 2nd Baronet * George Edward (1852–1876) * Arthur Sanders (1854–1855) * Charles James (1856–1874)

Construction career

Buildings

Kelk started his career, after a commercial education, as an apprentice of builder

Thomas Cubitt Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in Belgravia, Pimlico and Bloomsbury. His great-great-g ...

, with whom he later had fierce competition, and then went into partnership with William Newton. Upon Newton's retirement, he amalgamated the business with another Mayfair builder, John Elger, and then worked on rebuilding houses in Grosvenor Square, and churches

St. Michael's Church, Chester Square The Church of Michael (archangel), St Michael is a Church of England parish church on Chester Square in the Belgravia district of West London. It has been Listed building#England and Wales, listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England ...

, and

All Saints, Margaret Street All Saints, Margaret Street, is a Grade I listed Anglo-Catholic church in London. The church was designed by the architect William Butterfield and built between 1850 and 1859. It has been hailed as Butterfield's masterpiece and a pioneering buil ...

. He also built

Kneller Hall Kneller Hall is a Grade II listed mansion in Whitton, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It housed the Royal Military School of Music, training musicians for the British Army, which acquired the building in the mid-19th century. I ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, the

Museum of Practical Geology The Geological Museum (originally the Museum of Economic Geology then the Museum of Practical Geology), started in 1835 as one of the oldest single science museums in the world and now part of the Natural History Museum in London. It transfe ...

Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers. Hist ...

, designed by James Pennethorne and

St Paul's Church, Camden Square St Paul's Church is a church dedicated to Paul the Apostle on Camden Square in Camden, north London. It is called St Paul's because the estate was owned originally by the canons of St Paul's Cathedral. It was built in 1849 to designs by Fred ...

from 1849 to 1851. In 1854 he was involved in the reconstruction of the

Carlton Club The Carlton Club is a private members' club in St James's, London. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only. History The ...

in Pall Mall. His firm was the main contractor for the

Albert Memorial The Albert Memorial, directly north of the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gardens, London, was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband Prince Albert, who died in 1861. Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic R ...

, a task which saw him "striking terror into at least one of the sculptors". This monument, inaugurated in 1872, saw him, and its architect George Gilbert Scott, offered a knighthood; while Scott accepted, Kelk refused, perhaps seeking the

baronetcy 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 ...

he later obtained from Benjamin Disraeli on 16 May 1874.

Infrastructure

He generated considerable wealth in construction relating to railways and docks, acting primarily as the promoter rather than contractor, and handing over the firm to Smith and Taylor, his foremen, in 1862. During this period, he built the Commercial Dock Company's south dock in Rotherhithe, and was a partner in the

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cann ...

, which produced the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

's first seafaring

ironclad warship An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...

HMS Warrior in 1860, and the ironwork for

Blackfriars Railway Bridge Blackfriars Railway Bridge is a railway bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and the Millennium Bridge. First bridge There have been two structures with the name. The first bridge was opened in 1864 and was d ...

and

Hammersmith Bridge Hammersmith Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the River Thames in west London. It links the southern part of Hammersmith in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, on the north side of the river, and Barnes in the London Borough ...

. Alongside these, he built the

Millwall Dock Millwall Dock is a dock at Millwall, London, England, located south of Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs. History The scheme was developed speculatively by a partnership of John Kelk and John Aird & Co.'The Millwall Docks: The docks', in Su ...

with John Aird & Co., but this venture caused significant financial difficulty after the crash of

Overend, Gurney and Company Overend, Gurney & Company was a London wholesale discount bank, known as "the bankers' bank", which collapsed in 1866 owing about £11 million, equivalent to £ million in . The collapse of the institution triggered a banking panic. History Ear ...

. The project was only abled to proceed after help from

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough covering much of the traditional East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former metropolitan boroughs of Stepney, Poplar, and Bethnal Green. 'Tower Hamlets' was originally ...

Acton Smee Ayrton Acton Smee Ayrton (5 August 1816 – 30 November 1886) was a British barrister and Liberal Party politician. Considered a radical and champion of the working classes, he served as First Commissioner of Works under William Ewart Gladstone between ...

. His most notable construction work, within his railway projects, was the

Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway The Victoria Station and Pimlico Railway was an early British railway company which was incorporated by Act of Parliament 23 July 1858. to build a railway line connecting the existing London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) terminus in Ba ...

across the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, built from 1858 to 1860 with John Fowler. Together, they also enlarged

Farringdon station Farringdon is a London Underground and connected main line National Rail station in Clerkenwell, central London. The station is in the London Borough of Islington, just outside the boundary of the City of London. Opened in 1863 as the terminu ...

in 1863, to allow for the Metropolitan Railway, and

Smithfield meat market Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London, England. Smithfield is home to a number of City institutions, such as St Bartho ...

goods depot. They were both also involved with Peto and Betts, and

Waring Brothers Waring Brothers was an English company specialising in railway structures. History The company was founded by Charles Waring, William Waring and Henry Waring in 1841 in York as a civil engineering business. By 1853 the company was working for t ...

, in building railway lines for the Metropolitan Railway between

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

and

London Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great W ...

, and

Metropolitan District Railway The Metropolitan District Railway, also known as the District Railway, was a passenger railway that served London from 1868 to 1933. Established in 1864 to complete an " inner circle" of lines connecting railway termini in London, the first par ...

between

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

and South Kensington, from 1864 to 1871.

South Kensington Museum

Kelk's firm also built the early buildings of the South Kensington Museum – now the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

– including the Sheepshanks, Turner, and Vernon galleries, as well as its north court, south court, and lecture range.

1862 exhibition

Kelk was instrumental in the construction of buildings for the

1862 International Exhibition The International Exhibition of 1862, or Great London Exposition, was a world's fair. It was held from 1 May to 1 November 1862, beside the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, London, England, on a site that now houses ...

, working with Lucas Brothers to erect the buildings for a lower than anticipated cost of £300,000 on the site of the now

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

. When the financing of the exhibition came under doubt, largely due to the death of Prince Albert, he offered to meet the shortfall.

Alexandra Palace

When dismantled, elements of the exhibition buildings were used for the creation of the Alexandra Palace, intended to be a rival to the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. Kelk's palace was designed by

Owen Jones Owen Jones (born 8 August 1984) is a British newspaper columnist, political commentator, journalist, author, and left-wing activist. He writes a column for ''The Guardian'' and contributes to the ''New Statesman'' and '' Tribune.'' He has two ...

, but its architect was John Johnson; Lucas and Kelk provided a third of the finance required, with the remaining funds being provided by the London Finance Association, and some by an entrepreneur named Rodonachi who later withdrew from the project. When the palace was destroyed by a fire in 1873, just a month after it had opened, Kelk lost a considerable amount of money. Nevertheless, the palace was rebuilt and re-opened on 1 May 1875.

Political career

Kelk was elected MP for Harwich in 1865 but did not seek re-election when the seat was reduced to one member in 1868.

Other activities

Having attained considerable wealth, Kelk bought

Bentley Priory Bentley Priory is an eighteenth to nineteenth century stately home and deer park in Stanmore on the northern edge of the Greater London area in the London Borough of Harrow. It was originally a medieval priory or cell of Augustinian Canons in ...

at Stanmore, and

Tidworth Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately west of Andover, south ...

sporting estate in

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

. At the latter, John Johnson was employed to extend

Tedworth House Tedworth House, also known as South Tidworth House, is a 19th-century country house in Tidworth, Wiltshire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is used by the charity Help for Heroes. The house and its grounds were in Hampshire until ...

and to rebuild St Mary's Church in 1878 to 1879. He again worked with Johnson to rebuild 3 Grosvenor Square for his own abode. Kelk was a Major in the Engineer Volunteer Staff Corps, and became a member of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

in 1861, a Justice of the Peace (JP) and Deputy Lieutenant for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, and a JP and

High Sheriff of Hampshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Hampshire. This title was often given as High Sheriff of the County of Southampton until 1959. List of High Sheriffs *1070–1096: Hugh de Port "Domesday Book Online" *1105: Henry de Port (son of Hugh) *1129: W ...

in 1884. He died at his home, Tedworth House, on 12 September 1886, and was buried in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

under a ledger-stone of the pink granite also used in the Albert Memorial.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelk, John Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deputy Lieutenants of Middlesex UK MPs 1865–1868 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom 1816 births 1886 deaths