Kenneth Irwin Crossley

From Mobberley

Kenneth Crossley is one of Mobberley’s more interesting residents. He was born at Dunham Massey in 1877 and
moved to Mobberley New Hall (Now Barclay Hall/Sunrise Living) around 1910. He was the son of S ir William John Crossley Sir William John Crossley, Bart. was born at Dunmurry, near Lisburn, County Antrim, Ireland, on 22nd April 1844, being the second son of the late Major Francis Crossley, formerly in the service of the East India Company. He received his early education in Ireland, and from there he went to Bonn, in Prussia; at the age of nineteen he entered the Elswick Works of Sir William Armstrong, where he received a four year s' course of training. In 1867 Francis William Crossley, with help from his uncle, bought the engineering business from John M Dunlop & Co at Great Marlborough Street in Manchester City Centre. The business included the manufacture of pumps, presses and small steam engines. William joined his brother Francis, concentrating on the business side while Frank provided the engineering expertise. The brothers were committed Christians and strictly teetotal, refusing to supply their products to companies such as breweries, whome they did not approve of. They adopted the early Christian symbol of the Coptic Cross as the emblem to use on the road vehicles they later manufactured. The business was carried on for some years, but without much success; indeed, it almost ended disastrously. They also devoted some of their energies to improvements in flax-scutching machinery. In spite of their temporary failure, however, the brothers stood together, and their determination met with reward, for soon afterwards — in 1876 — the English patent rights of the Otto gas-engine were secured by them. They set themselves to improve upon Dr. Otto's designs, and succeeded in their business to such an extent that more extensive premises had to be found. Land was acquired in Openshaw, and extensions were made from time to time until, at the present day, the works cover an area of about nine acres. In 1881 the business was converted into a private company, and at the death of Francis Crossley in 1897, it was formed into a public company. Sir William and his brother devoted much of their leisure and wealth to philanthropic work in Manchester, and for a long period he was chairman of the Manchester Hospital for Consumption. At his own cost he extended the accommodation of the Convalescent Home at Bowdon, in Cheshire, and his interest in the work was further proved by his gift of £70,000 for the erection of the Sanatorium in Delamere Forest for the reception of consumptive patients from Manchester and other Lancashire towns. In 1901 he was elected is member of the Cheshire County Council, and devoted much useful work to the improvement of technical education under the County Authority. He was one of the promoters of the Manchester Ship Canal, and afterwards became a director of this undertaking. In 1903 the Corporation of Manchester conferred upon him the freedom of the city; and in 1906 he was elected Member of Parliament for the Altrincham Division of Cheshire. He, however, lost the seat at the election in December 1910. He was a Justice of the Peace for Manchester and Cheshire. In 1906 Crossley Motors was registered as the vehicle manufacturing arm of Crossley Brothers. In 1909 he received a Baronetcy, in which he is succeeded by the eldest of his three sons—Mr. Kenneth Irwin Crossley. His death took place after an operation, in Manchester, on 12th October 1911, at the age of sixty-seven. He became a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1875. He married Mabel Gordon eldest daughter of the late Surgeon Francis Anderson, Inspector general, Hospitals India. Sir Kenneth Irwin Crossley inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1911. He was appointed a JP in Cheshire and served as High Sherriff 1919. He became Chairman of Crossley Brothers Ltd and Crossley Motors Ltd and also served as a Director of William Deacon’s Bank Ltd. In 1901 he married Florence Josephine daughter of Joseph Nash Field, Chicago USA at Dunham Massey. Eton (Biology & Physiology prize 1895). He went to Magdalen College Oxford where he rowed bow in the Magdalen eight and was awarded his BA in 1898. He travelled extensively and made shooting expeditions in Ceylon, India, Nepal and America and later in Canada, British East Africa, Uganda, Upper Nile. During their stay in Mobberley, Sir Kenneth and Lady Crossley were involved in village life. In a selection of reports in the Knutsford Guardians of 1914 to 1916, Lady Crossley organised a children’s concert in aid of war relief and accompanied on piano. Sir Kenneth donated a £10 prixe to the newly formed miniature rifle range and was a member of the recruiting committee for the WW1 volunteers. And it was Sir Kenneth who in 1919 mooted the idea the idea of constructing the Victory Hall. Kenneth and Florence had a son Anthony Crimmelin Crossley born 13th August 1903 and three daughters, Fidelia born in 1905, Ruth in 1909 and Catherine in 1913 after the family had moved to Mobberley Hall. At the 1911 census Kenneth was alone at Mobberley Hall with their seven servants while his wife and children were visiting friends in Falmouth. Florence died in 1954 and Kenneth married Elizabeth Joyce Shenton, daughter of E. Shenton, of Boxmoor, Hertfordshire. Kenneth died in 1957 leaving an estate valued at £111,000. Elizabeth died on 29th July 2005 at the age of 92. In 1918 Sir Kenneth bought Combermere Abbey near Whitchurch in Shropshire. He took up flying in 1931, buying a De Havilland Gipsy Moth registered G -AAKC (personalised registrations are nothing new!). Four more aircraft followed, the last being a De Havilland Hornet Moth (G -ADKC) which he kept until the War. Sir Kenneth had an airstrip in the field and a shed in which to house his plane. His flying lessons were based at Woodford aerodrome, and he may have used it fly to the factories in Gorton. One of his three daughters, Fidelia, also became a pilot at the same time, and took part in the 1931 King's Cup Air Race. Combermere Abbey is still in the Crossley family