Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale

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

Background

Kitson was the son of James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale, 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]

Marriage and wife's family background

On 23 January 1890 at the Unitarian Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds, Kitson married Florence von Schunck (1868–1942), daughter of Edward, Baron von Schunck (1816–1889) and Kate Lupton (1832–1913).

As reported in The Yorkshire Post, wedding guests included Herbert Gladstone, son of Prime Minister William Gladstone.^[2]

Kate was the daughter of Darnton Lupton of Potternewton Hall.^[3] He was Mayor of Leeds in 1844/45.^[4] Kate's first cousin, politician Francis Martineau Lupton, and his wife were guests at the wedding. Francis Martineau Lupton was the great great grandfather of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.^[5][6] British Pathé newsfilm shows the brothers of Francis Martineau Lupton, Hugh and Sir Charles Lupton - both of whom were Lord Mayor of Leeds - playing host to Princess Mary in 1927.^[7][8][9] Another of Kate's cousins, Elinor Lupton was Leeds Lady Mayoress suo jure in 1943;^[10] her Lord Mayor being Albert Kitson's first cousin, Miss Jessie Beatrice Kitson.^[11]

Kate Lupton was sent to the school conducted by her relative Rachel Martineau.^[12]

Kate's husband, Edward, Baron von Schunck (1816–1889) was born in Leipzig; the couple marrying in 1867.^[13] By 1871, Edward had become a naturalised British subject.^[14]

Edward's great great grandfather had been raised to the Barony of the Holy Roman Empire in 1719. As Peter H. Wilson's book, titled War, State and Society in Württemberg, 1677-1793 (Cambridge University Press, 1995), points out, Johann Nathanael, Baron von Schunck (1687–1742), was the Duchy of Württemberg's Ambassador to Great Britain in the early 18th century. Johann Nathanael, Baron von Schunck's wife was Anne Marie von Schutz (d.1750) and her family were also involved in politics; Wilson's book states that in 1717, Baron von Schunck's brother-in-law, J.H. von Schutz, was a fellow Privy Council member.^[15]

Another of Johann Nathanael, Baron von Schunck's grandsons was Major Johann Carl, Freiherr (Baron) von Schunck, (died 1800) and another descendant was the composer Christian Darnton, (died 1981).^{[16][17][18][19][20][15]}

Title

Kitson succeeded to the titles of 2nd Baron Airedale, of Gledhow, and 2nd Baronet Kitson on 16 March 1911. As Peers of the Realm, both Lord and Lady Airedale were invited to pay homage to King George V at his coronation at Westminster Abbey on 22 June of that year. Lady Airedale's mother, Baroness von Schunck (née Kate Lupton), was also invited but she "may have been too frail to attend as she died in 1913".^[21]

Later life

Following his father's death, Lord and Lady Airedale acquired Gledhow Hall, which had been painted by J.M.W. Turner in 1816. Lord Airedale was a director of Midlands Bank, now HSBC.^[5][22]

The couple had seven daughters but no sons.

A music-lover, Lord Airedale was reported in 1928 as being a supporter of the Leeds Triennial Musical Festival.^[23] His nephew was composer Christian Darnton.

On 8 December 1920, the wife of the British Prime Minister, Dame Margaret Lloyd George, visited Leeds and stayed with Lady Airedale at Gledhow Hall. It was reported that Baroness Airedale "expressed her great pleasure at the presence of Dame Margaret Lloyd George at the very successful reception at Leeds, to which over 150 prominent ladies of Coalition Liberal sympathies were invited from all parts of Yorkshire".^[24][25]

Lady Airedale died on 8 July 1942.^[26] Lord Airedale died on 11 March 1944 at Stansted, Essex, and the barony was inherited by his younger brother Roland.^[27]

References

1. "Obituary: Lord Airedale". The Times (London, England). 13 March 1944. p. 6 – via The Times Digital Archive.
2. "Marriage of Mr Albert Kitson". The Yorkshire Post. 24 January 1890. Retrieved 18 May 2013 – via Genes Reunited.
3. Aspland, Robert, ed. (1843). "West Riding (York) Meeting of Ministers". The Christian reformer; or, Unitarian magazine and review 10: 659. Retrieved 15 February 2016. Darnton Lupton Esq., of Potternewton Hall...
4. Drinkall, Margaret (31 January 2013). "Leeds Book of Days". The History Press. Retrieved 15 February 2016. February 8 1845.... Darnton Lupton Esq. Mayor of Leeds
5. Rayner, Gordon (13 September 2013). "'Middle-class' Duchess of Cambridge's relative wore crown and attended George V's coronation". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
6. "Marriage of Mr Albert Kitson". The Yorkshire Post. 24 January 1890. Retrieved 18 May 2013 – via Genes Reunited.
7. "Black and white footage reveals Duchess of Cambridge's great great great uncle greeting royalty". Daily Mail (UK). 10 July 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
8. "Ancestors of Kate Middleton found on film - greeting Princess Mary". British Pathé. Retrieved 17 October 2015. Another film called ‘Princess Mary’ is from 1927 and it shows Kate Middleton’s great-great-great uncle the Lord Mayor of Leeds Hugh Lupton and his wife Lady Mayoress Isabella Lupton greeting Princess Mary who had arrived in Leeds to inaugurate the Girls Week Campaign of Hunslet Young Women’s Christian Association. Princess Mary was King George VI’s sister and therefore is Prince William’s great-great-aunt.
9. "Footage found of Duchess of Cambridge's ancestors - meeting royalty". Evening Standard (London). 9 July 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
10. "Duchess of Cambridge’s ancestors linked to Leeds area and Samantha Cameron". Royal Central. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2016. The Luptons were a very distinguished family. Olive (Middleton, née Lupton, who was Kate Lupton's first cousin once removed had) two uncles (who) were both Lord Mayors of Leeds and her cousin (Elinor Lupton d.1979) was Lady Mayoress in 1943...
11. "Paul Jones Flag". Leodis – A Photographic Archive of Leeds. UK: City of Leeds. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
12. Lupton, C.A. (1965). The Lupton Family in Leeds. Wm. Harrison and Son.
13. Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1929). "Armorial families : a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour (Volume 1)". London: HURST ftf BLACKETT, LTD. p. 130. Retrieved 28 February 2015. Only son of Edward Schunck, Gentleman, of Gledhow Wood, Leeds, b. 1816; d. 1889; m. 1867, Kate, dau. of Darnton Lupton, of The Harehills, Leeds
14. "James Kitson" (PDF). UK 1871 Census (Fretwell – page 9). Retrieved 28 February 2015. UK census 1871 – Edward Schunck – Yarn and Stuff Merchant – age 55 – Born Saxony – nat. Brit. Sub.
15. Wilson, Peter (1995). War, State and Society in Württemberg, 1677-1793. Cambridge University Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780521483315.
16. Edward Darnton, John (1933). The Von Schunck family : a history of the Hanau branch and connections. J. E. Darnton – Printed in England by Simpson and Co. pp. 20 and 176. Retrieved 26 February 2015. Von Schunck Family Tree (page 176) details that Kate Lupton's husband – Edward von Schunck – was the great great grandson of Johann Nathanael Shunck; created Baron von Schunck in 1719. Page 20 "the heirs of his (J.N. Schunck) body and the heirs of their heirs shall be named and.....acknowledged as honourably born baron and baronesses (von Schunck)
17. Petitpierre, Jaques (1947). The romance of the Mendelssohns. D. Dobson. p. 57. Retrieved 26 February 2015. Johann Nathaniel Schunck was raised to the barony in 1719. His grandson was Major Johann Carl Schunck whose daughter, Henrietta, married (into the) Souchay family..the (wool manufacturing) firm of Schunck-Souchay and Co. was in Manchester ...
18. Wiechert, Gabriele (2011). "Der doppelte Johann Nathanael Schunck" [The double Johann Nathanael Schunck] (PDF). Hessian Family Customer (in German) 34 (3). Retrieved 3 August 2013. Please Note: The grandson of Baron von Schunck (d.1749) was his namesake, Johann Nathanael Schunck (b.1741). The issue listed for the grandson is incorrect. Unlike his grandfather, there is no evidence that this particular grandson had issue, (see John Edward Darnton's "The Von Schunck family : a history of the Hanau branch and connections." Published 1933 for correct lineage)
19. Great Britain, Composer's Guild - (1981). "Composer, Issues 72–74" (Music). British Music Information Centre. p. 127. Retrieved 26 February 2015. Christian's father, John Edward Darnton, formerly von Schunck (1869–1940), landowner, had renounced the title Baron von Schunck in the years prior to 1914 and changed his name to Darnton; according to the entry for Christian Darnton in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, the change of name was effected in 1913 in response to the will of Christian Darnton's paternal grandmother, Kate Schunck
20. Plant, Andrew (2004). "Christian Darnton". Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography. Retrieved 26 February 2015. Darnton, (Philip) Christian (1905–1981), composer and writer, was born on 30 October 1905 in Leeds, the third son and third among the three children of John Edward Darnton, formerly von Schunck (1869–1940), landowner, and his wife, Mary Gertrude (1871–1952), daughter of Henry Illingworth and his wife, Mary. In the eighteenth century the von Schuncks had been raised to a barony of the Holy Roman empire, but the change of name was effected in 1913 in response to the will of Darnton's paternal grandmother, Kate (von) Schunck
21. Rayner, Gordon (13 September 2013). "'Middle-class' Duchess of Cambridge's relative wore crown and attended George V's coronation". Daily Telegraph (UK). Retrieved 20 August 2015.
22. "Supplement to the London Gazette" (PDF). The London Gazette. 27 September 1911. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
23. "Works Performed". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer (West Yorkshire, England). 4 October 1928. Retrieved 2 October 2015. .... (attending were) the Countess of Harewood, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop Kensington (Dr. Maud)....Lord Airedale...(also)Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer - 8 October 1928: "Lord Airedale is the possessor of one the finest collections of Leeds pottery in the country. He combines with this hobby his enthusiasm for music...(also Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 22 September 1928)...TO-DAY’S REHEARSALS To-day at three o’clock and again the evening, Sir Thomas Beecham (conductor of the Leeds Triennial Musical Festival) will rehearse the full chorus...
24. Lloyd George, David. "The Lloyd George Liberal Magazine 1920-1923, Volume 1, Issues 1-6". (re-print) Harvester Press 1973 Great Britain - Pages 246-385. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
25. "Lady Airedale" (Leeds Mercury 9 December 1920). Retrieved 31 March 2016. Lady Airedale, with whom Mrs (Dame Margaret) Lloyd George has been staying on her Leeds visit, was the daughter (of the late Edward, Baron von Schunck and Kate Lupton)...
26. "Local News – Wills". Yorkshire Evening Post (West Yorkshire, England). 15 October 1942. Retrieved 19 August 2015. 8 July: The Right Hon. Florence, Baroness Airedale, of Crown Cottage, Essex, and formerly of Gledhow Hall, Leeds, wife of Baron Airedale and daughter of the late Edward, Baron von Schunck, had left £2,445 (net personalty, £3,397)...
27. Edward, Baron von Schunck (2nd World War ed.). Burke's Peerage. 1939. p. 2696. Retrieved 3 August 2013.