View source for Roland Kitson, 3rd Baron Airedale

{{Short description|British businessman (1882-1958)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2021}}
[[File:Photographic portrait of Roland Kitson, vice-chairman of Dorman Long, in Sydney for the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, taken by Monte Luke, published in The Home (2 May 1932).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Portrait of Kitson taken in 1932 during his visit to Sydney, Australia.]]
Captain '''Roland Dudley Kitson, 3rd Baron Airedale''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|DSO|MC}} (19 July 1882 – 20 March 1958), businessman, was born in Leeds, son of [[James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale|Sir James Kitson, 1st Baron Airedale]] and his second wife, Mary Laura, daughter of Edward Fisher Smith. Roland's elder half-brother was [[Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale]].
==Career==
Born in [[Leeds]], Kitson's family had a long association with Yorkshire. His father and grandfather both served as Lord Mayor of Leeds. His father was MP for Colne Valley 1892–1907. Kitson was educated at [[Westminster School|Westminster]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
As "the Hon. R. D. Kitson", he is recorded in April 1913  as working as  a  Leeds [[magistrate]] alongside [[Lupton family|Alderman Francis Martineau Lupton]], whose first cousin (once removed) was [[Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale|Florence, Baroness Airedale]], Kitson's sister-in-law.<ref>{{cite news |title=Skyrack Courier Yorkshire |url=https://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=r%20d%20kitson%20f%20m%20lupton&county=yorkshire%2c%20england&from=1912&to=1914 |access-date=22 July 2022 |work=The Magistrates |publisher=Skyrack Courier Yorkshire |date=18 April 1913 |quote=Magistrates at this Court on Tuesday were...the Hon. R. D. Kitson, Messrs F. M. Lupton, J. R. Cross...}}</ref>
He served in the 1914–1918 war with the [[West Yorkshire Regiment]] winning a [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]]<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30718/supplements/6495 London Gazette] Issue 30718 published on 31 May 1918. Page 3</ref> and the [[Military Cross]].<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30111/supplements/5481 London Gazette] Issue 30111 published on 1 June 1917. Page 29</ref>
His grandfather [[James Kitson (businessman)|James]] had founded [[Kitson and Company|Airedale Foundry]] in Hunslet in 1835. Under Roland's father, also James Kitson and uncle, Frederick Kitson, and known as [[Kitson and Company|Kitsons of Leeds]], this business became the manufacturer of about 5,400 locomotives in its first century.
He worked for a time in the Airedale Foundry and in the Monk Bridge Iron and Steel Company works.
His directorships included:
* director and deputy chairman of [[Dorman Long]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article180054606 |title=Dorman, Long's Good Wishes |newspaper=[[Telegraph (Brisbane)|The Telegraph]] |location=Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |date=19 March 1932 |accessdate=10 March 2023 |page=11 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
* director of the [[Bank of England]] 1923–1947
* director of [[Ford of Britain|Ford Motor Company Limited]] from its incorporation in 1928, <br>he succeeded [[Percival Perry, 1st Baron Perry|Lord Perry]] as chairman in 1948, until 1954
* director of [[North Eastern Railway (UK)|North-Eastern Railway]] before its amalgamation
* director of [[RSA Insurance Group#History|London Assurance Corporation]]
* director of [[John Dickinson Stationery|John Dickinson and Company Limited]]
He succeeded to the titles of 3rd [[Baron Airedale]], of [[Gledhow]], and 3rd Baronet on the death of his elder half-brother, 11 March 1944.<ref>''The Times'', 21 March 1958; pg. 13; Issue 54105 Lord Airedale. A Former Chairman Of Ford's</ref>
He was living in the 1940s until his death in 1958 at [[Ufford Hall, Cambridgeshire|Ufford Hall]], Cambridgeshire.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dod |first1=C R |title=Dods [Peerage] Directory |date=1948 |publisher=C R Dod |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8MlAQAAMAAJ&q=roland+Kitson+ufford+Hall |access-date=23 July 2022 |quote=FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 5 AIREDALE (3rd Baron, U.K.), Roland Dudley Kitson ; cr . 1907 ; 3rd Bt ., 1886 ; D.S.O., 1918 ; M.C. S. ...) ; Ufford Hall, Stamford,  [Cambridgeshire]...}}</ref>
==Family==
He married Sheila Grace, daughter of  F E Vandeleur in 1913. They had a daughter and a son:
*[[Oliver Kitson, 4th Baron Airedale|Oliver James Vandeleur Kitson]] (1915–1996); Oliver assumed the additional name of Vandeleur by deed poll in 1935.
After the death of his first wife in 1935 he married Dorothy Christabel Rowland Pelly, widow of Capt H M Rowland, on 16 September 1937.
He died in London, aged 75.
==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|centre|150px]][[File:Airedale Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|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<ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=1949}}</ref>}}
==References==
{{Commons category|Roland Kitson, 3rd Baron Airedale}}
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hon}}
{{s-bef |before=[[William Plender, 1st Baron Plender|Sir William Plender, Bt]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[High Sheriff of the County of London]] |years=1928–1929}}
{{s-aft |after=[[Sir Albert Gladstone, 5th Baronet|Albert Gladstone]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-bef |before=[[Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale|Albert Kitson]]}}
{{s-ttl |title=[[Baron Airedale]] |years=1958–1996}}
{{s-aft |after=[[Oliver Kitson, 4th Baron Airedale|Oliver Kitson]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Airedale, Roland Kitson, 3rd Baron}}
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1958 deaths]]
[[Category:Barons Airedale|3]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of the County of London]]
[[Category:People educated at Westminster School, London]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:West Yorkshire Regiment officers]]