Robert Kay (politician)
Sir Robert Newbald Kay (6 August 1869 – 24 February 1947) was an English solicitor and politician, based in York. He was also Liberal Member of Parliament for Elland from 1923 to 1924, and Lord Mayor of York in 1925.
The second of five children of William Kay and his wife Ann (née Newbald) of Bossall,[1] Kay passed his final Law Society examinations in 1892 and the next year he founded the law firm of Newbald Kay in York which had its offices at Lendal adjacent to the Mansion House, where he lived as Lord Mayor.
Along with his wife Alice May, daughter of the Wesleyan minister, , Kay was a prominent Methodist, being for a time a member of the Methodist Conference and funded the construction of a chapel in Acomb, North Yorkshire.[2][3]
For his wartime services as Sheriff of York, 1914–1915, and chairman of the local recruiting committee, he was knighted in the 1920 New Year Honours.[4]
He was Lord Mayor of York in 1924/25, and his sheriff was , headmaster of Elmfield College.
Elmfield College and Kay's property speculation[]
Around 1929 he became a governor of Elmfield College and was instrumental in closing the college down during the Great Depression. He bought the college estate, demolished the buildings, and sold off the estate off as building plots, having previously worked with H. B. Workman on managing the school's merger and decline.
He did something similar regarding the in South Bank, York, and the streets on that estate are actually named after his children and grandchildren.
Kay's maiden speech in the House of Commons also indicated Kay's interest in encouraging people to own their own houses.[5]
His brother (1871–1919) was the Wesleyan minister of Hoyland.
Footnotes[]
- ^ Re: William Lambert KAY, Bedale at genforum.genealogy.com
- ^ Yorkshire Gazette, 1 June 1934
- ^ Tillott, P M, ed. (1961). "Protestant Nonconformity". A History of the County of York: the City of York. Victoria County History. British History Online. pp. 404–418. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- ^ "No. 31712". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1919. p. 3.
- ^ <ll#S5CV0169P0_19240222_HOC_96
References[]
External links[]
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Robert Kay
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- Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
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