Titus Salt Jnr

Oh, let's have a change from snow pictures....!

Titus Salt Jnr was the seventh child of Caroline and Sir Titus Salt (the founder of Saltaire), born in August 1843. He married Catherine Crossley in March 1866. She was the daughter of Sir Francis Crossley MP, a Halifax textile baron. They had four children, sons named Gordon, Harold and Lawrence and a daughter, Isobel. Initially, they lived at Baildon Lodge but Sir Titus bought land overlooking Saltaire and in 1873 a large house called Milner Field was built for Titus Jnr and his family.

Titus Jnr was, by all accounts, a quiet, reserved man but he was an able public speaker and active in local politics (as a Liberal). As his father, Sir Titus Salt, grew increasingly infirm, plagued among other things by gout, Titus Jnr became deeply involved in the textile business. Of the five sons, it was he who most closely resembled his father and he seems to have been a key figure in the community of Saltaire. He lived in some style and moved among grand circles, entertaining the Prince of Wales at Milner Field in 1882.

Titus Jnr travelled extensively and had many interests. He was a skilled wood and metal turner, grew orchids in the glasshouses at his home and eagerly took up the innovations of the day, such as the new telephone system and 'magic lantern' slideshows. He died prematurely in 1887 (only 10 years after his father), aged only 44.