William Henry Kitto (1855 – 26 March 1930) was Captain of the Foxdale Mines, vice-chairman of the

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

, a director of the

Isle of Man Railway The Isle of Man Railway (IMR) ( gv, Raad Yiarn Vannin) is a narrow gauge steam-operated railway connecting Douglas with Castletown and Port Erin on the Isle of Man. The line is narrow gauge and long. It is the remainder of what was a mu ...

and a Justice of the Peace who became a Member of the

House of Keys The House of Keys () is the directly elected lower house of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man, the other branch being the Legislative Council. History The oldest known reference to the name is in a document of 1417, written in L ...

for the constituency of

Glenfaba Glenfaba ( ; gv, Glion Faba) is one of the six sheadings of the Isle of Man. It is located on the west of the island (part of the traditional ''North Side'' division) and consists of the two historic parishes of German and Patrick. Historical ...

in 1902.''Ramsey Courier.'' Friday, March 28, 1930; Page: 4

Early life

William Henry Kitto was born in

Perranzabuloe Perranzabuloe (; kw, Pyran yn Treth) is a coastal civil parishes in England, civil parish and a hamlet in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Perranzabuloe parish is bordered to the west by the Atlantic coast and St Agnes, Cornwall, St Agnes par ...

, near

Perranporth Perranporth ( kw, Porthperan) is a seaside resort town on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 1 mile east of the St Agnes Heritage Coastline, and around 8 miles south-west of Newquay. Perranporth and its long beach f ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in 1855. His father, also named William Kitto, was a mine engineer who had worked in the Cornish mining industry before moving with his family to the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

to take a position with the

Isle of Man Mining Company The Isle of Man Mining Company, also referred to as the Foxdale Mining Company, was a mining company formed to operate the Foxdale Mines on the Isle of Man. ''Manx Sun.'' Saturday, 20 March 1886; Page: 4 History The date that mining operations ...

as manager of the Foxdale Mines. Following his schooling the younger Kitto followed him into the profession. ''Mona's Herald.'' Wednesday, February 11, 1914; Page: 6'' Kitto Family

Mining

Kitto joined the

, serving as under-manager to his father until 1890 when his father was appointed to take charge of the Cape Copper Company's property at

Namaqualand Namaqualand (khoekhoe: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoe people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into ...

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

. Kitto then succeeded his father as manager of the mines at

Foxdale Foxdale (; glv, Forsdal ; on, Fors-dal – 'waterfall dale or valley') consisting of the districts of Upper and Lower Foxdale on the A3 Castletown to Ramsey Road with the junction of the A24 Foxdale to Braaid road and the A40 ''The Hope'' road ...

, the position being referred to as the Mine Captain. William Kitto remained with the

until the closure of the Foxdale Mines in 1911. Said to have been highly respected within the mining industry, he is noted for his display of extraordinary courage during the Snaefell Mine Disaster in 1897 when he was instrumental in the recovery operation.

Other interests

Kitto was also a director of the

, being vice-chairman at the time of his death in addition to which he served as a director of the Isle of Man Railway Company. In 1901 he was appointed a Justice of the Peace, a position which he also held until his death, by which time he was recognised as the oldest

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

on the

Politics

William Kitto was elected as a Member of the

for the constituency of

in 1902, succeeding John Joughin. Said to have been liberal in his political beliefs, he held the position until 1919 when he declined re-nomination. Capt

Personal life and death

Kitto was twice married. On 23 March 1876 he married Susan (née Edge) of

New Ferry New Ferry is an urban area on the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is located on the Wirral Peninsula, with the River Mersey to the east and the town of Bebington to the west. Within the boundaries of the historic count ...

, Cheshire; they had four sons and three daughters - one daughter, Louisa, predeceased him. His first wife predeceased him in 1914. He married Isabel Goldsmith (1874-1967) in 1928. In 1908, in the company of Alex Hill, a fellow magistrate and a manager with the

Isle of Man Bank The Isle of Man Bank is a bank in the British Crown dependency of the Isle of Man, providing retail, private and business banking services to the local population. Incorporated in 1865, it has operated as a trading name of RBS International ...

, Kitto undertook a trip around the world. Captain Kitto was also involved in the Freemasons movement, being the senior member of the St Maughold Lodge, Ramsey, Isle of Man. On 4 March 1930, in the capacity of a director of the

, Capt. Kitto attended the launch of the company's new steamer, the '' Lady of Mann'' at

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...

. He presided at a dinner on the eve of the launch. Upon his return to the Isle of Man, Captain Kitto suffered a stroke and died at his home, Burnside, Union Mills, on the evening of 26 March. The funeral was on Saturday 29 March, and his body was interred at St. Paul's Churchyard,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitto, William Henry 1855 births 1930 deaths Manx politicians