Sir Joseph Cockfield Dimsdale, 1st Baronet (19 January 1849 – 9 August 1912) was a

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 ...

in the coronation year 1902, and a Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of London from 1900 to 1906.

Early life

Dimsdale was born in Cornhill on 19 January 1849, the eldest son of Joseph Cockfield Dimsdale of Cleveland Square, London, and educated at Eton. His father was from an old Quaker family with roots in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, and he was related to the physician and politician

Thomas Dimsdale Baron Thomas Dimsdale (29 May 1712 – 30 December 1800) was an English medical doctor, banker and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1780 to 1790. He was created Baron Dimsdale of the Russian Empire by Catherine the Great after i ...

(1712-1800).

Civic career

Dimsdale was the Managing Director of Prescott, Dimsdale and Co, bankers. He was a leading member of the

Grocers' Company The Worshipful Company of Grocers is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London, ranking second in order of precedence. Established in 1345 for merchants engaged in the grocery trade, it is one of the Great Twelve City Livery Compan ...

, of which he was for a time Master. He was

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 ...

of Cornhill from 1891 to 1902, was elected

Sheriff of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

for 1893, and

in September 1901 (serving November 1901 to November 1902). In the 1900 general election, he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for 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 ...

, and served one term until 1906. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1894, in commemoration of the opening of the

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...

and birth of an heir to the Throne while he was Sheriff. In 1902 he carried the Crystal Sceptre of the

in front of King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

at his

Coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

. The ceremony was rescheduled from June to August, due to the King's illness, but the

1902 Coronation Honours The 1902 Coronation Honours were announced on 26 June 1902, the date originally set for the coronation of King Edward VII. The coronation was postponed because the King had been taken ill two days before, but he ordered that the honours list shou ...

list was released on the intended coronation day on 26 June 1902, and announced that Dimsdale would receive 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 ...

cy. He was created Baronet, of Goldsmiths, Langdon Hills, in the County of Essex and of Lancaster Street in the Borough of Paddington in the County of London, on 24 July 1902. Later that year he was invested by the King as a Knight Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

(KCVO) on 24 October 1902 (gazetted in the November 1902 Birthday Honours list.). In June 1902 he received the 2nd class of the Japanese

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

from

Prince Komatsu Akihito was a Japanese career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, who was a member of the Fushimi-no-miya, one of the ''shinnōke'' branches of the Imperial Household of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan, which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysant ...

, who was received formally at Mansion House as part of his visit to the United Kingdom to attend the coronation. Another coronation guest who was formally received by the city was Ras Makonnen, the special envoy of the

Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia (, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse (, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor w ...

. After his departure from the United Kingdom in August 1902, it was announced that Dimsdale received the 2nd class of the

Order of the Star of Ethiopia The Order of the Star of Ethiopia was established as an order of knighthood of the Ethiopian Empire, founded by the Negus of Shewa and later Emperor of Ethiopia Menelik II in 1884–1885. It is currently awarded as a house order by the Crown ...

, and the city a gift of a silver mounted shield, a silver-gilt mounted sword, and an Abyssinian spear to mark the visit. During his year as Lord Mayor, he also paid official visits to English cities. He visited

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

in July 1902, where he received the honorary freedom of the borough in a ceremony attended by the two Sheriffs of the City of London and 20 Mayors from boroughs in the Midlands. In September that year, the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs visited

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. A Past Grand Warden of the Freemasons of England, he was also an active member of the Primrose League. He died on 9 August 1912, whilst in the office of Chamberlain of the City of London, a position he had held since being elected unanimously in November 1902. A portrait of Dimsdale, in his robes of Lord Mayor holding the crystal scepter which he carried at the 1902 coronation, was unveiled at

Grocers' Hall The Worshipful Company of Grocers is one of the 111 livery companies of the City of London, ranking second in order of precedence. Established in 1345 for merchants engaged in the grocery trade, it is one of the Great Twelve City Livery Compan ...

in October 1902.

Family

Dimsdale married, in 1873, Beatrice Eliza Bower Holdsworth, daughter of Robert Hunt Holdsworth, of London, and had three children. The eldest son, John Holdsworth Dimsdale (1874-1923), succeeded as 2nd Baronet.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dimsdale, Joseph Cockfield 1849 births 1912 deaths People educated at Eton College UK MPs 1900–1906 Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Sheriffs of the City of London 20th-century lord mayors of London 19th-century English politicians Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the City of London Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Ethiopia Knights Bachelor