Sir James Whitehead, 1st Baronet DL (2 March 1834 – 20 October 1917) was a British merchant and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician.

Early life

Whitehead was born near

Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. It falls within the historic boundaries of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Since April 2023, it has been administered by Westmorland and Furness local authority. Th ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. He was educated at the

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

Appleby-in-Westmorland Appleby-in-Westmorland is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, with a population of 3,048 at the 2011 Census. Crossed by the River Eden, Appleby is the county town of the historic county of Westmorland. ...

(which became the current

Appleby Grammar School Appleby Grammar School is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school and sixth form in Appleby-in-Westmorland for students aged 11 to 18. Since 2011, it has been an Academy. Until 2013, the school was a registered charity. History The ...

), and was apprenticed as a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

. He made his way to

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

and then

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and married Mercy Mildred Hinds in 1860. He established a business on

Gresham Street Gresham Street in the City of London is named after the English merchant and financier Thomas Gresham. It runs from the junction of Lothbury, Old Jewry and Coleman Street at its eastern end, to St. Martin's Le Grand in the west. Gresham St ...

and co-founded the business of John Barker & Company,

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, in 1870.

Civic service

Having made his fortune, he retired from business in 1881 and concentrated on civic service. He became

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

for Cheap ward in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

in 1882. He was Master of the Worshipful Company of Fanmakers in 1884, served as

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

that year and was then elected

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

for 1888. He replaced the circus-like

Lord Mayor's Show The Lord Mayor's Show is one of the best-known annual events in London as well as one of the longest-established, dating back to the 13th century. A new lord mayor is appointed every year, and the public parade that takes place as their inaugura ...

with a State Procession, and was arbitrator in the

London Dock Strike of 1889 The 1889 London dock strike was an industrial dispute involving dock workers in the Port of London. It broke out on 14 August 1889, and resulted in victory for the 100,000 strikers when they won their pay claim of sixpence per hour, the so-cal ...

. He also represented England at the Exposition Universelle in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1889. He was created 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 ...

on 26 November 1889, as Baronet Whitehead of Highfield House,

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...

, then in Kent. He was appointed

High Sheriff of the County of London Below is a list of sheriffs of the County of London, from the creation of the county in 1889 to its abolition in 1965: *1889–1890: Alfred de Rothschild, of Senmore Place *1890–1891: Sir James Whitehead, 1st Baronet, of Highlield H ...

for 1890. He also did charitable works. He erected a statue of Sir Rowland Hill in 1879, and established the Rowland Hill Benevolent Fund for aged and distressed

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

workers. He also named his son Rowland. He was Chairman of the Visiting Justices of

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a British prison security categories, closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, ...

, Visitor of the

City of London Asylum Stone House Hospital was a hospital and former mental illness treatment facility in Stone, near Dartford, Kent, in the United Kingdom. History Stone House was originally constructed between 1862 and 1866 at the behest of the London Commissioners ...

Stone, Buckinghamshire Stone is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Stone with Bishopstone and Hartwell, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located southwest of the town of Aylesbury, on the A418 road that links Aylesbury to Thame. Stone with Bis ...

, a committee member of

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

, a Governor of

Queen Anne's Bounty Queen Anne's Bounty was a scheme established in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy of the Church of England and by extension the organisation ("The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the ...

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

for the City of London, and a Justice of the Peace in

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

and in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He became an Honorary Visitor at Borstal Prison in 1898.

Parliamentary career

He stood for Parliament in the Appleby division of Westmorland in the general elections in

1885 Events January * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 17 – Mahdist ...

and

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

. He was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in the general election in

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

. He was a Liberal and supported

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

. He was in favour of

Irish home rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of ...

, reform of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, and

disestablishment The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular s ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. He devoted most of his energy in Parliament to the reform of railway freight rates, but served only two years as MP, resigning by becoming

Steward of the Manor of Northstead The office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead functions as a procedural device to allow a member of Parliament (MP) to resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. As members of the House of Commons are forbidde ...

in 1894. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

, the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

, and a member of the International Peace Association and the

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club, owned and controlled by its members, on the south side of Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it had an all-male membership for ...

. His papers are held by the archives of the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. The baronetcy has since passed down to Sir Phillip Whitehead, 6th Baronet.

References

The Whitehead Papers 1826-1953
held by

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

The History of Wilmington Hall
Andrew Connell, '"I feel I am placed at a great disadvantage". Sir James Whitehead: the parliamentary travails of a Liberal meritocrat' Journal of Liberal History Issue 91 (Summer 2016)

External links

* * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, James 1834 births 1917 deaths People from Sedbergh British merchants Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1892–1895 1 Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Fellows of the Royal Statistical Society Sheriffs of the City of London 19th-century lord mayors of London 19th-century English politicians High sheriffs of the County of London People educated at Appleby Grammar School 19th-century British businesspeople