Sir Thomas Birkin, 1st Baronet

Sir Thomas Isaac Birkin, 1st Baronet JP DL (15 February 1831 – 16 January 1922) was a Nottingham lace manufacturer.

Sir Thomas Birkin Bt JP DL
Born	Thomas Isaac Birkin 15 February 1831
Died	16 January 1922 (aged 90)
Resting place	Wilford Hill Cemetery, West Bridgford, Nottingham
Nationality	British
Occupation	Lace manufacturer
Board member of	Great Northern Railway
Spouse(s)	Harriet Tebbutt ​ (m. 1856)​
Children	9
Parent(s)	Richard Birkin
Relatives	Freda Dudley Ward (granddaughter)

Early life

He was born on 15 February 1831, the second son of Richard Birkin (1805–1870), who founded the family lace-making business.[1][2]

Career

After his father retired in 1856, his sons Richard Jr and Thomas took over, until Richard Jr retired in 1862, and Thomas was in sole charge.[2]

By 1898, the business had been split into two companies, Birkin and Co (fancy lace), and T. I. Birkin and Co (lace curtains), both headquartered at Broadway, Nottingham.[2] They had expanded internationally, with large factories in Saxony and Chester, Pennsylvania, US.[2]

Birkin was a magistrate, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, of which he was the High Sheriff in 1892.[2] He was a director of the Great Northern Railway.[2]

Personal life

He married Harriet Tebbutt, on 9 October 1856, and they had nine children:

• Sir Thomas Stanley Birkin, 2nd Baronet (1857–1931)
• Sir Alexander Russell Birkin, 4th Baronet (1861–1942)
• Lt-Col Richard Leslie Birkin (1863–1936)
• Harriet Maud Birkin (1864–1951)
• Colonel Charles Wilfred Birkin (1865–1932); married American Claire Lloyd Howe. One of their daughters was English socialite Freda Dudley Ward, who was the mistress of the Prince of Wales prior to his meeting Wallis Simpson.
• Hilda Mary Birkin (1868–1926)
• Major Philip Austen Birkin (1869–1951)
• Major Harry Laurence Birkin (1872–1951)
• Ethel Lillian Birkin (1874–1972)

He died on 16 January 1922,[1] and is buried in the grade II listed Birkin Mausoleum, a small classical temple built in 1921 of Portland stone in Wilford Hill Cemetery, West Bridgford, Nottingham.[3]

References

1. "Birkin (UK Baronet, 1905)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
2. "Nottinghamshire history > Nottingham & Notts Illustrated : "Up-to-Date" Commercial Sketches (1898)". www.nottshistory.org.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
3. dijit.net. "Birkin Mausoleum - Mausolea & Monuments Trust". www.mmtrust.org.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2018.