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

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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 or from a mine. 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 extra ...

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 bloome ...

owner, of

Biddulph Grange Biddulph Grange is a National Trust landscaped garden, in Biddulph near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It is separate from Biddulph Grange Country Park. Description "Behind a gloomy Victorian shrubbery there's a gloomy Victorian mans ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. He was educated at

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

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 larg ...

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 masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

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

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

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 o ...

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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

match for the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

in 1882.

Military service

He served in the

Staffordshire Yeomanry The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) was a mounted auxiliary unit of the British Army raised in 1794 to defend Great Britain from foreign invasion. It continued in service after the Napoleonic Wars, frequently being called out ...

, 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 is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and of Elsenwood,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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 Stillman Valley is a village in Marion Township, Ogle County, Illinois, United States. It lies east of Byron, south of Rockford and west of Davis Junction. The population was 1,120 at the 2010 census, up from 1,048 in 2000. Stillman Valley Cu ...

Ogle County, Illinois Ogle County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 51,788. Its county seat is Oregon, and its largest city is Rochelle. Ogle County comprises Rochelle ...

, U.S.A. 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 sportswoman. Born 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 t ...

(1896–1939), the Irish

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

. 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. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, 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 (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

, 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 Zeala ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, 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 Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. Because his only son had died unmarried in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

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