Saltaire Collection

Items

• Mitchell, Hannah

  Hannah Mitchell was appointed Matron of Sir Titus Salt’s Hospital in 1899. She had trained at Kings College Hospital, London and worked at Bradford Royal Infirmary. Her 'job description' covered not just medical matters but all aspects of the hospital’s operation and management including fund raising. Hannah was an extremely competent, ambitious and progressive woman, a strong advocate of women’s rights as evidenced by her numerous letters in the local press. She was a committed Catholic and for many years, president of the local branch of the Catholic Women’s League. During World War One the hospital was designated a War Hospital. Hannah was extremely popular with the convalescent soldiers, raising money and organising activities for their entertainment. As with all women at that time, on her marriage in 1918 Hannah had to leave her job. Having stated she didn’t want any gifts the soldiers clubbed together and bought her a case of silver spoons. She died in 1936. In her will she left £10 (approximately £900 today) to the hospital
• Morrell, George

  George arrived in Saltaire in 1860 to be an assistant teacher in the Factory School that provided part-time education for some of the children working in Salts Mill. By the early 1870s he was the headmaster, later moving to be head of the nearby Shipley Central School. George was a member of the Saltaire Congregational Church and long-serving Superintendent of its magnificent Sunday School. A life-long teetotaller, George promoted responsible drinking and was one of the founders of the Shipley Temperance Union in 1892, becoming President in 1902. He finally retired after 45 years of service. He was obviously fondly thought of and well respected. A magnificent illuminated presentation book was given to him on retirement, paid for by public subscription and to which Sir James Roberts and many eminent past-students contributed.
• Muschamp, Ivy

  Born in 1918, Ivy was the youngest of four children. She attended Salts Girls’ High School and later became an invoice clerk for a local gown manufacturer, also volunteering as a factory first aider. Ivy went on to run a grocer’s shop with her husband on Victoria Road, Saltaire, while raising four children. Ivy was an active member of Bethel Baptist Church - performing in, organising and hosting groups. In 1957 she offered accommodation to a member of the Jamaican delegation visiting the World Scout Jamboree. Ivy’s story, like that of many women, is a quiet one but shows how her commitment to helping others plays an important part of community life.
• Nazran, Govinder

  Govinder Nazran was an artist based in Saltaire. He was known for his paintings of cats and dogs, and also of horses, elephants and people. The paintings were often done in a style of blocks of colour reminiscent of Mark Rothko. Govinder was born in Birmingham and moved to the Bradford district as a child. In the 1980s he studied graphic design at Bradford College and then at Lincoln Art College. After working in London and Cambrdige, he came back to the Bradford district and settled in Saltaire. Working as a graphic designer and then a photographic art director, he also pursued his own artwork designs. In 1999 Govinder approached the fine art publishers Washington Green who promoted his work until his untimely death in 2008.
• Ordnance Survey

  The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for the United Kingdom.
• Pace Micro Technology

  Pace Microtechnology Ltd was a Bradford-based company that originally sold software for early Apple personal computers. During the 1980s the company began designing and manufacturing data communication modems and later satellite TV receivers and video recorders. By the late 1990s and into the 21st century, PACE collaborated with major, well-known tech giants such as BSkyB and Amstrad. This local business had become an international multi-million-pound enterprise and put Pace at the front of the digital revolution. From the late 1980s Pace based its business in Salts Mill. They became the first major tenant of local entrepreneur Jonathan Silver who purchased Salts Mill in the late 1980s following its closure as a working textile mill. The huge success of Pace and the company's presence in Salts Mill played an important role in the transformation of Saltaire from an old, decaying industrial mill and village into a thriving modern enterprise and desireable place to live.
• Parsons, Lawrence, Earl of Rosse

  Member of the Irish peerage, famed amateur astronomer, and large landholder in the Shipley area.
• Pickles, Carrie

  For the first time, in 1928, women were taking part in the gymnastics section of the Olympic games. A young woman from Shipley, Carrie Pickles, was among those chosen, not because of any special gym education at school, but because she had joined the Bradford Gymnastics Club in 1919 and worked hard to gain Yorkshire and British championships. The Olympic team competed with five other women’s teams and gained a bronze medal. They could not afford to stay on for an extra day to receive it, so it was sent after them. Carrie then retired and moved to teaching and coaching within the community, chiefly at the Saltaire Ladies’ Gymnastic Club. She trained other champions, including her own daughter, Lilian.
• Rae, Henry Norman, Sir

  Rae was a highly successful textile businessman, Liberal politician and philanthropist. Rae did an apprenticeship in the woollen trade and went into partnership with William Pickles as Pickles and Rae, woolcombers in Laisterdyke, Bradford. Rae was a good business man and the firm flourished and opened offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. He even bought some land in Australia and called it Greenhill Farm. Due to this Norman Rae and his wife travelled in Australia regularly. Rae gave supported many charitable causes and provided some large donations. He supported the opening of the 'Norman Rae Nursing Home', and donated land for a new public park, the 'Norman Rae Playing Fields' both on the outskirts of Saltaire.
• Rhodes, John

  John Rhodes was a Bradford businessman. He was a member of a consortium with James Roberts, Isaac Smith and John Maddocks who purchased Sir TItus Salt Bart. and Sons Limited from the Salt family in 1892/93.
• Roberts, Alice

  Daughter of Sir James Roberts
• Roberts, Bertram Foster

  Bertram Foster Roberts was the second son of industrialist Sir James Roberts. He was actively groomed to succeed his father in managing Salts Mill and the Saltaire estate, but his promising career was tragically cut short by his premature death at the age of 36. Bertram was appointed a company director of Sir Titus Salt Bart. and Sons Co. Ltd. in July 1898, following a reorganization of the firm's board. In 1902, when his father became the sole proprietor, Bertram and his mother Elizabeth joined Sir James as the exclusive owners and managers of Salts Mill and the Saltaire estate. As his father aged, Bertram took on increasingly significant responsibilities for the day-to-day operations of the mill, and was positioned to lead the business into the next generation. Berrtram played an exceptionally prominent role in the civic, educational, and political life of the local community. He served as the President of the Shipley Board of Health. He sat on the Shipley Education Committee and was a governor for both the **Salt Schools** and the Bradford Royal Infirmary. In 1903, Bertram married Eliza Gertrude Denby, the only daughter of Ellis Denby, a prominent local figure from Shipley. In 1910, Bertram began suffering from severe back pain and was diagnosed with 'serous neuritis'. He suffered a complete physical breakdown in November 1911 and passed away shortly after, on January 11, 1912, at the age of 36. He was buried in a local cemetery alongside his older brother Willy, who had died of tuberculosis in 1898. Bertram's death was a massive blow to his father, who lost three of his four sons to early deaths. In 1920, Sir James Roberts gifted Saltaire's 14-acre public park to the Bradford Council to hold in trust for the community. As his only request for this grand donation, Sir James asked that the park be renamed Roberts Park in memory of Bertram. A commemorative plaque honouring Bertram still stands in the park today.
• Roberts, James Denby

  Son of Bertram Foster Robert, grandson of Sir James Roberts
• Roberts, James, Sir

  Sir James Roberts was a prominent industrialist and philanthropist who is widely credited with 'saving Saltaire' and preserving its industrial heritage after the Salt family business faced financial collapse in the early 1890s. He rose from humble origins to become the sole owner of Salts Mill and the Saltaire estate, shepherding the village through the challenges of the early 20th century. Early Life and Business Rise Born in Oakworth to a weaver, Roberts came from a family with few resources. Neither of his parents were literate. He began working part-time in a spinning mill at age 11. Roberts eventually became a successful wool merchant. He gained a significant competitive advantage through his extensive knowledge of and frequent travels to Russia to source merino wool, eventually becoming fluent in the Russian language. Ownership and Management of Saltaire In 1893, after the Salt family business entered voluntary administration, Roberts joined a four-man consortium to purchase the mill and the village. By 1902, he became the sole owner of Salts Mill and the Saltaire estate. Under his leadership, the business returned to high profitability. He oversaw a major extension of Salts Mill, increasing its size by approximately one-third through the addition of a new spinning block and dyeing areas. In 1903, he purchased the **Milner Field** estate, the former home of Titus Salt Junior, from Salt's widow, Catherine. Preserving Salt’s Legacy and Philanthropy Roberts maintained Sir Titus Salt’s principles, sustaining annual payments to Salt’s charities and never changing the name of the business from 'Sir Titus Salt Bart. and Sons Co. Ltd.'. In 1903, to celebrate Saltaire's 50th anniversary, he commissioned the statue of Sir Titus Salt that still stands in the village park. In 1920, he gifted the village park to the Bradford Council for public use, requesting it be renamed Roberts Park in memory of his late son, Bertram. He purchased the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth for the Brontë Society in 1928 to serve as a museum. He also gifted £10,000 to the University of Leeds to create a professorship in Russian language and literature. Public Service and Recognition Roberts served on the Shipley Urban District Council and the West Riding County Council, and was a Justice of the Peace for West Yorkshire. He was also a governor for the Salt Schools. In 1909, he was awarded a baronetcy, becoming Sir James Roberts, First Baronet of Milner Field. To celebrate, he gave his workers a week of paid holiday and established a pension scheme for those over 65. Personal Tragedies and Sale of the Estate Roberts’ tenure of Saltaire was marked by significant personal loss as three of his four sons died prematurely: - His eldest son, Willy, died of tuberculosis in 1898. - His youngest, John Edward, drowned in Ireland in 1904. - His son Bertram, who was being groomed to take over the business, died in 1912. - His remaining son, Harry, was so seriously injured in World War I that he could not continue in the business. Due to these tragedies and his own declining health, Roberts sold the mill and the village in 1918 to a new syndicate. Upon the sale, he gave generous gifts to his employees totaling approximately £20,000 to £30,000. He died in 1935 at the age of 87.
• Roberts, Lily May

  Daughter of Sir James Roberts
• Royal Cafe

  A privately run cafe based in the original Salts Mill Dining Hall on Victoria Road in Saltaire.
• Salt Grammar School

  The successor school to the Salt High Schools following the education reforms of 1944. It subsequently became the comprehensive Sir Titus Salt school and is now located just outside Saltaire on the north side of Roberts Park.
• Salt High School

  The Salt High School opened in 1876. Initially it occupied temporary accommodation, mainly in the Saltaire Club and Institute. In 1878 it moved into the building on Victoria Road that had originally been built to house the Factory School for Salts Mill. The High School was open to both boys and girls although they were educated separately. The High School eventually moved to a new site on the far side of Roberts Park. Today the original buildingis part of Shipley College, a further education institution.
• Salt, Caroline, Lady

  Born Caroline Whitlam, she she married Titus Salt in 1830. Caroline was born into a wealthy family, the youngest daughter of George Whitlam, a prosperous sheep farmer from Grimsby. She married Titus Salt in 1830. In the early years of their marriage, they lived near a highly deprived area of Bradford, which is believed to have helped develop their shared concern for impoverished families. She was the mother of Titus Salt's surviving children: William Henry, George, Amelia, Edward, Herbert, Fanny, and Titus Junior. When her husband was awarded a baronetcy in 1869, she became Lady Caroline Salt Following her husband's death in December 1876, she became the Dowager Lady Salt. She stepped into a highly influential role in administering the village’s charitable institutions. Sir Titus bequeathed the Saltaire Almshouses and the Infirmary (hospital) jointly to Lady Caroline and their youngest son, Titus Salt Junior, along with a £30,000 endowment fund to benefit the sick and aged poor. Under her trusteeship, she and Titus Junior expanded the hospital’s reach to treat patients from Shipley, Windhill, and Baildon free of charge, whereas previously it had only served Saltaire residents. In 1887, Lady Caroline and Titus Junior transferred the management and assets of the hospital, almshouses, and the £30,000 endowment fund to the Governors of the Salt Schools, moving the charity from the private family sphere into public trust.
• Salt, Catherine

  Catherine was born in 1846 into one family of textile magnates, the Crossleys of Halifax, and married into another when Titus Salt Junior became her husband in 1866. In some ways Catherine was quite conventional, raising four children and running her privileged Victorian household, including hosting the Prince of Wales and later his sister Princess Beatrice at her home. But Catherine clearly had deep and wide interests in social and educational issues, particularly the education of girls. She helped found Bradford Girls Grammar School and served for many years on its board, and also the board of the Salt Schools.