Sir James Knott, 1st Baronet (31 January 1855 – 8 June 1934) was a shipping magnate and Conservative Party politician in northeast England.

Family

In 1878 Knott married Margaret Garbutt. They had three sons: Thomas Garbutt Knott, James Leadbitter Knott and Henry Basil Knott. All three sons served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

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 ...

. Basil Knott was a captain in the

Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution and ...

, and was killed at

Ypres Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

on 7 September 1915. James Knott was a major in the

West Yorkshire Regiment The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1958 it amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire which was ...

, was awarded the DSO, and was killed on the first day of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

, 1 July 1916. The brothers are buried side by side in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery. Thomas Knott was reported missing in the Gallipoli campaign in 1915. He survived as a prisoner of war, and in 1934 succeeded his father as Second Baronet. Thomas was married in 1925 but died childless in 1949. In 1929 Lady Margaret died, and in 1932 Knott married Elizabeth Gauntlet.

Business career

Knott's father had been a customs officer and became a publican. Knott was the eldest of ten children. He was brought up in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. At 13 years old Knott began work in the office of a shipbroker on Newcastle Quay. After six years he left his employer to work as a shipbroker on his own account. At the age of 23 Knott borrowed £185 and bought a quarter share in ''Pearl'', a collier

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

. From this start he built up a fleet of 32 old brigs from which he made great profits carrying coal. SS Glitra

Knott's first

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

, '' Saxon Prince'', was built in 1881, and he sold his last sailing ship in 1887. In 1884 Knott founded the Prince Steam Shipping Co Ltd. In 1895 he restructured his business as Prince Line (1895) Ltd with a fleet of 14 steamships. In 1899 Knott bought the Togston Colliery. He also formed the Acklington Coal Company and was part-owner of the Welsh Primrose Coal Company. Knott was also a qualified

master mariner A master mariner is a licensed mariner who holds the highest grade of licensed seafarer qualification; namely, a master's license. A master mariner is therefore allowed to serve as the captain (nautical), master of a merchant ship for which natio ...

. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1899 and practised law at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

for four years. When the

began in 1914, Prince Line had 42 ships. By 1916 the company had lost four of these to enemy action. Knott's

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

, Thomas, did not take a great interest in his father's business. The second son, James, had been its deputy managing director. The third son, Basil, had managed the company's coal interests. Having lost James and Basil, and with Thomas' fate uncertain, in August 1916 Knott sold Prince Line to Furness, Withy & Co Ltd for £3 million.

Political career

Knott was an unsuccessful candidate for the Conservative Party at the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting e ...

in the Tyneside division of

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

. At the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 UK general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. Called amid a constitutional crisis after the Conservative-dominated House of Lords rejected the People's Budget, the Liberal government, seeking a mandate, los ...

he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for the two-seat constituency of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, along with

Samuel Storey Samuel Storey may refer to: * Samuel Storey (Liberal politician) (1841–1925), British politician and newspaper proprietor, member of parliament for Sunderland * Samuel Storey, Baron Buckton (1896–1978), his grandson, British Conservative poli ...

(who had been MP for the constituency from 1881 to 1895). Storey was an "Independent Tariff Reform" candidate (i.e. opposed to

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

), but his candidacy had the full support of the local Conservative association and his return of election expenses was made jointly with Knott, who was the official Conservative candidate. They both stood down because of ill-health at the

general election in December 1910 The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the First World War. The election took place following the efforts of ...

. 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 ...

in 1917, of Close House,

Heddon-on-the-Wall Heddon-on-the-Wall is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, located on Hadrian's Wall. Heddon-on-the-Wall is roughly west of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, and just outside Throckley. In 2011 the parish had a population of ...

, Northumberland.

Samarès Manor

In 1924 Knott moved to

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

, bought

Samarès Manor Samarès Manor (Jèrriais: ''Mangni d'Sanmathès'') is a manor house with medieval origins in the Vingtaine de Samarès, in the parish of St. Clement in Jersey, and is the traditional home of the Seigneur de Samarès. The name Samarès is an o ...

and became the

Seigneur of Samarès A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...

Death duties

On 13 November 1934, John Stourton, MP for Salford South, asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer,

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from ...

, whether an agreement had been reached over payment of

death duties International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and prop ...

on Knott's £5m

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

. Chamberlain replied that he "was not prepared to disclose information as to the position in regard to taxation in a particular case."

Legacy

Several institutions in northeast England are named after Knott, including the Knott Memorial Hall in

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knott, James 1855 births 1934 deaths Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1910 British businesspeople in shipping Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Seigneurs of Samarès