Cotmania. Vol. IX. 1933-4

{Journal of West Yorkshire Society of Architects}

PAST PRESIDENTS : MR. SYDNEY DECIMUS KITSON, M.A. (Cantab.). F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.

Sydney Dccimus Kitson, M.A., U.S.A., F.R.I.B.A., J.P., youngest son of the late Mr. James Kitson of Elmete Hall, Leeds, founder of the business of Kitson & Co., Locomotive. Manufacturers, of Airedale Foundry, was born in Leeds in 1871. He was educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Cambridge, and served his articles with Mr. E. J. May, F.R.I.B.A., in London. After travelling in Italy and Greece, he served as assistant to Mr. W. D. Caroe (Architect to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners), and acted as Clerk of Works at St. Stephen's Church, Nottingham. He returned to Leeds in 1897 to become Junior Partner to the late Mr. Francis W. Bedford. This association was carried on for several years, until Mr. Bedford left Leeds in order to practice in London. Mr. Kitson continued the practice by himself in Leeds until 1914, when the late Mr. James Parish, for many years his chief assistant, became his partner. Mr. W. A. Ledgard joined the firm in 1919, and Mr. Pyman in 1929.
Mr. Kitson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1906, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1907. He was President of the West Yorkshire Society of Architects from 1910 to 1912, and a Member of the Council of the R.I.B.A. during the same period.
Public Dispensary ; he also obtained the second premium for the Beckett's Park Training College, and erected two Hostels. Among his other important buildings in Leeds are Post Office House, Martin's Bank. Park Row, and the University of Leeds Dental.
In 1903 he married the elder daughter of the late Mr. C. F. Tetley, of Leeds. (Mrs. Kitson died in 1932.)
On the outbreak of War in 1914, Mr. Kitson received a commission in the Yorkshire Hussars, and subsequently became Assistant Provost Marshal, with the rank of Major.
In 1928 he was appointed Hon. Secretary of the R.I.B.A., a position he has held up to the present time.
From 1919 to 1920 Mr. Kitson was President of the Leeds Philosophical Society, and for many years has been a Member of the Council of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society. On the excursions of the Archaeological Society he was frequently the lecturer, when, by his keen sense of humour, he was often able to present the facts in such a way as to make them more interesting to the uninitiated than otherwise they might have been.
Mr. Kitson is a Justice of the Peace for Oxfordshire, and now resides at Kidlington, near Oxford, where he serves on the Diocesan Advisory Board, and also on the District Council.
He is greatly interested in the work of T. S. Cotman, of whose pictures he has a considerable collection. In his younger days he was a very keen follower of the Brain ham Moor Hunt.
His Architectural Works are too numerous for a complete list to be given, but they comprise a large number of alterations and extensions to country houses, including Goldsborough Hall, Dumbleton Hall, Gloucestershire, Arran, Perth, Kirkdale Manor, Yorkshire, and many others. He is responsible for the design of many Bank and Office premises throughout Yorkshire and the North of England for Lloyds' Bank Ltd., The Midland Bank Ltd., and Martins' Bank Ltd. For many years he has carried out work at the General Infirmary at Leeds, including the King Edward Memorial Ward Pavilion, Operating Theatre, Out- Patients' Department and Nurses' Homes. His work for the Leeds Corporation include Dewsbury Road Library and Police Station, and Tramways Depots at Guiseley and Beckett Street, Leeds.

He was successful in several Architectural Competitions, including those for the erection of the Leeds College of Art and the Leeds. School and Clinic. He is also responsible for the design of many hotels and several factories. He was appointed Assessor for the Harrogate Hospital Competition by the President of the R.I.B.A. in 1924.
W. A. L.—N. R. P.

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{Kitson annotation}

from the volume of the [last] Yorkshire Society of Architects: Vol 2- No 6- May 1934-