Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale explained

Albert Ernest Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale (7 October 1863 – 11 March 1944) was a British peer. He was inter alia a director of Midland Bank.

Family

Kitson was the son of James Kitson, an iron and steel manufacturer in Leeds. He was educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained a BA, before following his father into the family business.[1]

On 23 January 1890, at Mill Hill Chapel in Leeds, Kitson married Florence Schunck (1868–1942), the daughter of Edward, Baron von Schunck and his wife Kate Lupton.[2] [3]

The Kitsons had seven daughters.

Kitson's father was elevated to the peerage in 1907. Albert Kitson succeeded to the titles of 2nd Baron Airedale of Gledhow and 2nd Baronet Kitson on his father's death on 16 March 1911.[4] As peers of the realm, the Kitsons were invited to the coronation of George V at Westminster Abbey on 22 June 1911.[5]

Career, politics and interests

Kitson was a director of Midland Bank. He was president of the Yorkshire and Leeds Liberal Federations. Prime Minister H. H. Asquith was his guest at Gledhow Hall in November 1913.[6] [7]

Kitson was chairman of the finance committee and hon vice-president of the Iron and Steel Institute.[8] [9]

Like his father, Lord Airedale was a music-lover and supported the Leeds Triennial Musical Festival; in 1922, Kitson and his sister Hilda, were guarantors of the festival.[10] [11]

He owned one the country's finest collections of Leeds pottery and regularly competed in golf at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.[12] [13]

When the Prime Minister's wife, Margaret Lloyd George, visited Leeds in December 1920 for a reception for women supporters of the Liberal Coalition, she stayed at Gledhow Hall.[14] [15]

Gledhow Hall

Kitson inherited Gledhow Hall in 1911. During the First World War, he offered the hall for use as a Voluntary Aid Detachment hospital. The hospital was managed by the Headingley Company of the St John Ambulance Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD). On 22 May 1915, 50 patients were moved to the hall from the 2nd Northern General Hospital at Becketts Park. Kitson's cousin, Edith Cliff, was the Commandant and his daughter Doris and her cousin Olive Middleton were VAD nurses.[16] [17] Kitson's family maintained an interest in nursing after the Great War.[18]

The Kitson's London home, 3 Cadogan Square, was damaged by a bomb during the Second World War and they moved to Stansted in Essex.[19]

Death

Albert Kitson died on 11 March 1944 at Stansted and the barony was inherited by his younger brother Roland.[20] His wife had died on 8 July 1942.[21]

Arms

Escutcheon:Or on a pale Azure a pike haurient of the first a chief of the second thereon an annulet between two millrinds erect of the field.
Crest:Issuant from park pales Proper a demi-unicorn Argent gorged with an annulet Azure.
Supporters:On either side an owl close and affronteé Argent gorged with a collar Gules pendent therefrom an escutcheon of the arms.
Motto:Palmam Qui Meruit Ferat [22]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: Obituary: Lord Airedale. The Times . 13 March 1944. 6. The Times Digital Archive. 3 August 2013-->.
  2. News: Death of Lady Airedale . 29 September 2021 . Herts and Essex Observer. 11 July 1942.
  3. News: Marriage of Mr Albert Kitson . 8 October 2021 . Leeds Times . 25 January 1890 .
  4. Book: Iron & Steel Trades Journal and Iron Trade Circular. 88. 1911. 264.
  5. News: Rayner. Gordon. 'Middle-class' Duchess of Cambridge's relative wore crown and attended George V's coronation. Daily Telegraph. 13 September 2013. 20 August 2015.
  6. Book: Packer. I. Liberal Government and Politics, 1905–15. Springer. 27 April 2006 . 184. 9780230625440. 2 October 2017.
  7. News: Premier in Leeds...Premier and Mrs. Asquith leave Leeds. 27–29 November 1913 . Leeds Mercury. 2 October 2017.
  8. Book: The_Journal_of_the_Iron_and_Steel_Institute . 1912 . Iron and Steel Institute . 3, 389, 391, 392 . 28 December 2020.
  9. Web site: Grace's Guide – 1927 Iron and Steel Institute: Council . 2020 . 28 December 2020. Graces's Guide.
  10. Web site: Musical Kitsons . Leeds Mercury. 20 September 1922 . 10 December 2018.
  11. Web site: The Outlook: A Weekly Review of Politics, Art, Literature, and Finance, Volume 26. The Outlook Publishing Company . 1910 . 523. 2 October 2017.
  12. News: Leeds Triennial Music Festival. Yorkshire Evening Post. 7 October 1925. 2 October 2017.
  13. News: Lord Airedale at St Andrews . 31 December 2023 . The Evening Telegraph . 26 August 1937 . ...enthusiastic golfer and rarely misses the autumn meetings at St Andrews...He has a family link with Fife,....
  14. Book: Lloyd George. David. The Lloyd George Liberal Magazine 1920–1923, Volume 1, Issues 1–6. Harvester Press (re-print). 1973 . 246–385. 9780855274221. 31 March 2016.
  15. News: Lady Airedale. 31 March 2016. Leeds Mercury . 9 December 1920.
  16. News: Gutteridge . N. . PICTURED: Kate's great grandmother and her own extraordinary contribution to Britain's war . 10 November 2023 . UK Express . 13 July 2016 . Olive volunteered as a nurse with her relatives Baroness Airedale, left, and Lady Bullock, right....
  17. Web site: The Gledhow Hall scrapbook . Leeds Libraries. 25 July 2014. 25 August 2017.
  18. Book: Miller. J. A.. Not The Purser's Daughter. 2008. Strathmore Publishing Ltd. 978-0955088766. 23, 25, 27, 28, 47, 67–70. 23 November 2017.
  19. Web site: Albert Ernest Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale of Gledhow . NPG, London . 10 November 2023 . Having been bombed out their home in Cardigan Square, London in 1940, Lord and Lady Airedale had lived at Stansted, Essex where they both died; Baroness ....
  20. Book: Edward, Baron von Schunck. 2696. Burke's Peerage. 1939. 2nd World War . 3 August 2013.
  21. News: Local News – Wills. Yorkshire Evening Post. West Yorkshire, England . 15 October 1942. 19 August 2015. 8 July: The Right Hon. Florence, Baroness Airedale .
  22. Book: Burke's Peerage . 1949.

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