Sir James Roberts, 1st Baronet

Sir James Roberts (1848–1935) was a Yorkshire industrialist and businessman. He was born at Lane Ends in the parish of Oakworth, Yorkshire on 30 September 1848. He was one of eleven children of a weaver who became a tenant farmer. His parents were illiterate but determined that their children would receive an education

Early life and education Roberts attended the local school at Haworth, who was seeing Alice while he was away. At his trial Rutherford was found guilty but insane and sent to Broadmoor. While in Broadmoor he wrote An Outline History of the Great War anonymously.

Business In 1892 the well-known firm of Sir Titus Salt, Sons and Co went into voluntary liquidation and Roberts was one of a consortium of local businessmen who purchased the concern. Within eight years he was the sole owner. The business prospered markedly under his management. The consortium of four local businessmen included Isaac Smith (1832-1909); John Rhodes (1821-1913); John Maddocks (1840-1924) and James Roberts. Rhodes an owner of coal mines in South Yorkshire was the main financier for the purchase of the company.

Smith and Maddocks continued to operate their own textile businesses after the purchase. In 1898, Maddocks sold his shares in the company to Rhodes and Roberts, followed quickly by a transfer of shares by Isaac Smith to Rhodes and Roberts later in the same year. Rhodes remained as a director until 1901, resigning after a protest about increased salaries awarded to James and Bertram Forster Roberts, who became sole owners of the business. From 1901 the bank balance sheets for the company increased exponentially from around £20,000 to over £130,000 after Roberts and his son Bertram had become sole owners of the business.

James Roberts chose not to change the name of the company founded by Sir Titus Salt. He was an admirer of Salt, commissioning Salts Statue in Saltaire Park in 1903. He was instrumental in extending the mill by a third in size and in providing work for 4,000 employees.

He was active in many aspects of public affairs in Saltaire and sustained annual payments to all the charitable bodies founded by Sir Titus Salt. He did not collect rents for Saltaire residencies if workers were placed on short time. He purchased a new cricket pavilion for Saltaire Cricket Club and purchased ‘War Bonds’ for his workers during World war One. The only memorial to him in Saltaire is due to his request to re-name Saltaire Park, when he gifted this to Bradford Council in 1920, as a memorial to his son Bertram Foster Roberts. The park is now named Roberts Park.

The public life of Roberts was also distinguished. In 1897 he became a member of the Urban District Council for Shipley, West Yorkshire, eventually becoming chairman of that council. He was also a member of the County Council for the West Riding of Yorkshire and a Justice of the Peace. In 1909 he was created a baronet in the King's Birthday honours. He was a keen advocate of free trade and was the first chairman of the West Riding Free Trade Federation. He endowed a leaving scholarship at Bingley Grammar School and the chair of Russian at Leeds University. He also bought Haworth Parsonage, which was opened to visitors in 1928 as the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

His philanthropy extended beyond Saltaire, for example - he purchased a large house in Harrogate for the Barnardo’s charity and subscribed generously to the Prince of Wales Fund. There is a Roberts Street in central Bradford and Roberts Park in Saltaire, is named as a memorial to his second son, Bertram Foster Roberts.

Later life In 1910 Sir James Roberts purchased Strathallan Castle from the Earl of Perth. Roberts retired to the south of England, whilst also maintaining Strathallan Castle in Scotland. As of 2021 the Roberts family still has Strathallan Castle which is rented as function and event space. He died in 1935. He was buried in Fairlight in East Sussex.