James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale

Who was James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale?

James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale PC, DSc was a British politician of the Liberal Party, first a Member of Parliament and then a peer. He was known as Sir James Kitson, Bt from 1886, until he was elevated to the peerage in 1907. He was a prominent Unitarian in Leeds.

He was the younger son of James Kitson, a locomotive manufacturer who founded Kitson and Company, and his wife Ann. He went to school in Wakefield and studied chemistry and natural sciences at University College London. With his elder brother, Frederick, he developed an iron foundry into a large company, Monkbridge iron and steel works. This gave him the time, money and influence to pursue other interests including politics, becoming President of the Leeds Liberal Association, and running the election campaign for William Ewart Gladstone. He became an MP himself in 1892, continuing to 1907, supporting education, Irish home rule, and old age pensions. He was a member of both the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He supported local education, notably the Mechanics' Institute and the Yorkshire College, the forerunner of the University of Leeds, which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1904. He was also the first Lord Mayor of Leeds.