Catherine Salt (nee Crossley)

1846-1930 A REMARKABLE WOMAN

➢ Catherine Crossley was born 4 January 1846 in Halifax. She was the oldest surviving daughter of Joseph Crossley, one of the three Crossley brothers, who ran the Halifax based Crossley firm which became the largest carpet manufacturing firm in the world.

➢ The (final) Crossley Family Residence was ‘Broomfield’, a large house situated in Halifax. The Salt family had lived in Crow Nest, (Lightcliffe, near Halifax) from 1843 to 1859, and again from 1867 to 1877. They entertained the Crossley family and It is likely that Catherine and Titus, jnr. met as children. The Crossleys and the Salts were Liberal in their politics and Congregationalists in their religion.

➢ Catherine married jnr., on March 15, 1866 in the Square Chapel, Halifax, to which her father had donated. According to the family they honeymooned in Venice and Switzerland. The young couple returned to live at Baildon Lodge, Station Rd. Baildon, a modest, unpretentious house.

➢ In 1869, Sir Titus Salt bought the old mansion called Milner Field from Admiral Duncombe with its estate. He then sold it on to Titus Salt jnr., his fifth son. By June 1869 Thomas Harris, the architect was advertising for builders and contractors in the Observer. On 11th September 1869, the foundation stone of a new large and impressive mansion, Milner Field, was laid.

➢ The 1871 census reveals the composition of the household at Milner Field as - Titus, Catherine, Gordon, Harold, five female servants and one male servant- also Isabella (Catherine’s sister). Catherine appears to have kept in close touch with her birth family, both in the early days of her marriage and later.

➢ Catherine and Titus Salt jnr. were to have 3 sons and 1 daughter- 17 December 1866, Gordon Locksley Salt; 2 August 1868, Harold Crossley Salt and 8 September 1874, Titus Whitlam Salt (known as Lawrence) and 16th September 1876, Mary Isabel Salt.

➢ Catherine was elegant, beautiful and her ‘day books’ give evidence of the superb management of her household. She was able to entertain royalty on two occasions. From the 22nd June to 24th June 1882 Catherine and Titus Salt jnr. were visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales at Milner Field. On 6 May 1887, Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice, and her consort Prince Henry of Battenberg, stayed overnight at Milner Field whilst attending to open the Royal Jubilee Exhibition in .

➢ Catherine was much more than an able housewife and society hostess however and she played a prominent part in the development of secondary education for girls and young women.

➢ By 1868, there was much national concern about the higher education of girls and women, which was felt to be neglected. In response to this a group of Bradford’s ‘influential ladies’, which included Catherine, was formed for arranging classes and lectures for women. This was known as the Bradford Ladies’ Educational Association, the BLEA.

➢ There were very few non-boarding secondary schools for girls, and certainly none in Bradford or . The women’s aim was to gain some of the endowments from the boys’ school, Bradford Grammar School, to be used to finance a girls’ secondary school in Bradford. They also needed

to get the capital to buy or build a school. As most of the women in the association had wealthy relatives, like Catherine, the money was soon collected.

➢ The 29 September 1875 saw the official opening of Bradford Girls’ Grammar school, by Lady Lucy Cavendish, wife of Lord Frederick Cavendish. Catherine was there together with Titus, members of the Crossley family, and the ladies of the Bradford Ladies Education Association (BLEA).

➢ It was stressed that the school was the first ‘first-grade’ secondary school for girls in the country. This meant that the girls could be prepared for a university education. Scholarships were available for this. In 1875 Catherine was appointed one of the first governors of BGGS. The scheme for BGGS laid down that six of the governors should be women and six men. It was unusual to appoint women governors at this time.

➢ On 11th September 1876 the Girls’ High School in Saltaire was opened. The founding of the Salt Schools in Saltaire had been instigated by Sir Titus Salt. His plan was to have a boys’ high school, a girls’ high school, and schools of Art and Science. It is significant that the girls’ school was opened before the boys’ school, in temporary accommodation. Catherine was one of the first governors of the Salt Schools.

➢ Catherine was not only concerned with educating the daughters of the middle class. In 1872 she was one of the first members of the Ladies’ Council of the Board of Education. In winter 1874 she invited another member, Catherine Buckton to give lectures on elementary physiology to the women of Saltaire.

➢ On November 19, 1887 Titus Salt jnr. died aged 44 years, after suffering from a heart condition for some years. His widow, Catherine continued the Salt legacy of philanthropy for many years after his death.

Records also show that she had been involved in other welfare work in addition to education. She played an important part in the Governance of Salts Hospital and the Alms Houses; She was Lady President of the Salts Mill Nursing Division for many years and worked to raise funds for the Salt schools until the complete take-over of responsibility for the Schools in 1907. She was also a member of the Committee of the Blind Institute, and the Orphans’ Home for Industrial Training.

➢ From 1889 onwards, Catherine’s social life continued (as revealed in her diaries and accounts) She continued to live in Milner Field until 1903. Her engagement diary, which survives lists dinner guests from January 1889 onwards. There are many family occasions, such as tennis parties for the next generation, culminating in a fancy-dress ball for her daughter Isabel’s “coming out” aged nineteen. Isabel played an active part in the campaign for women’s suffrage for many years – as a Suffragist.

➢ In 1903 Catherine moved to Denton Hall near Ilkley and her social engagements continued unabated. Her daughter Isabel, who had accompanied her mother, joined the Wharfedale Board of Guardians. In 1911, Catherine and her family still at home, moved to the Old Rectory at Thorp Arch. In 1925 she moved to an apartment in Harrogate and was to die in that town on the 22 January 1930. TEXT ©Pauline Ford1

PHOTO: courtesy of Saltaire Archive

1 Further reading: P. Ford, ‘Catherine Salt, born Crossley (1846-1930), her life and circle’, Transactions of the Halifax Antiquarian Society, ns vol 24, 2016, pp.100-119