This listing is for the original Sir James Kitson (1835-1911) signed notecard pictured above.

Kitson was an industrialist, locomotive builder, Liberal Party politician and a Member of Parliament for the Holme Valley. He was known as Sir James Kitson from 1886, until he was elevated to the peerage in 1907. Lord Airedale was a prominent Unitarian in Leeds, Yorkshire.

In 1854, when Kitson was aged nineteen, his father bought the ironworks at Monk Bridge and put him and his elder brother, Frederick, in charge. Monkbridge was amalgamated with their father's Airedale Foundry in 1858. In 1886 the business was a limited liability company under family control with £250,000 in capital. Frederick Kitson withdrew from the business because of ill health several years before his death in 1877. Their father retired in 1876 but James Kitson in reality ran the firm from 1862. The Airedale Foundry built nearly 6,000 locomotives for use in Britain and abroad from when it was founded until the end of the 19th century. The company diversified into manufacturing stationary engines for agricultural use and steam engines for tramways. From the 1880s, the Monkbridge works made steel using the Siemens–Martin open-hearth process. The Airedale Foundry and Monkbridge Works both employed about 2000 workers in 1911.

In connection with his business interests Kitson was a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers from 1859 and was president of the Iron Trade Association. He was president of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1889 and was awarded the institute's Bessemer gold medal in 1903. Between 1899 and 1901, he was a member of the council of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Kitson's other interests included the London and Northern Steamship Company and the Yorkshire Banking Company. He was a director of the London City and Midland Bank and president of the Baku Russian Petroleum Company. He was also a director of the North Eastern Railway Company and president of the Leeds Chamber of Commerce from 1880 to 1881.

Financial success allowed Kitson time, money and influence to pursue other interests including politics. He was president of the Leeds Liberal Association and ran the election campaign for William Ewart Gladstone. In 1880, Kitson was a committee member of the Leeds Trained Nurses Institution. He was elected MP for Colne Valley from 1892 until 1907, supporting education, Irish Home Rule, and the provision of old age pensions.

Kitson was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He supported the Mechanics' Institute and the Yorkshire College, the forerunner of the University of Leeds, which awarded him an honorary doctorate, DSc in 1904. Kitson was never a member of Leeds Council but was the city's first lord mayor in 1896–7. He was created a baronet in 1886 and was sworn of the Privy Council in 1906. On 17 July 1907 Kitson was raised to the peerage as the first Baron Airedale of Gledhow in the West Riding of the County of York.

The notecard is held in a ledger page at corners (not glued).

The notecard measures 3 inches tall by 5 1/2 inches wide.

A rare signature from an important 19th century business magnate! Guaranteed to be genuine.

Provenance:

From the estate of a descendant of Charles W. Dailey (1862-1927) from Philadelphia, PA. Dailey’s career was in the banking and brokerage industry, but he shared another passion - autograph collecting. Utilizing both his family’s political connections and his own business connections, Dailey reached out to hundreds of senators, authors, generals, statesman and other famous individuals, amassing a large autograph collection mostly during the 1880's - 1890's. This entire collection was recently discovered inside of one ledger book at an estate. The collection contained autographs of Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, U.S. Supreme Court members, President Benjamin Harrison's Cabinet and many others.

Feel free to ask any questions.