James Kershaw

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Use British English|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox person | name = James Kershaw | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Manchester, England | birth_date =  | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = Manor House, [[Streatham]] | body_discovered = | death_cause = | resting_place = [[West Norwood Cemetery]], London | resting_place_coordinates =  | monuments = Grade II listed, West Norwood, by [[Alfred Waterhouse]] | citizenship = | other_names = | known_for = Member of the [[Anti-Corn Law League]] and founder of the Borough of Manchester, 1838 | television = | education = | alma_mater = | employer = | organization = | notable_works = | style = | agent = | occupation = | years_active = | height = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | political_party = [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] | movement = | opponents = | boards = | criminal_charge = | criminal_penalty = | criminal_status = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | relatives = | callsign = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = | module = }}

'''James Kershaw''' (1795–1864) was a [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]] [[cotton mill]] owner and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]], associated with the [[Anti-Corn Law League]].

He rose from being a clerk for the cotton-spinning company of Lees, Millington & Cullender, of Manchester, to a partner and then head of Kershaw, Lees & Sidebottom, mill owners of Manchester.

He was instrumental in obtaining the municipal franchise of Manchester as a borough in 1838, and was its Mayor between 1842 and 1843, and later became the MP for Stockport from 1847 until his death.

Elected to membership of the [[Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society]] on 24 January 1854<ref> Complete List of the Members & Officers of the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society. From its institution on February 28th 1781 to April, 1896. </ref>

He died at his home in Streatham, and was buried in [[West Norwood Cemetery]] where his ornate Gothic tomb by [[Alfred Waterhouse]] (architect of the [[Natural History Museum, London]] and [[Manchester Town Hall]]) is listed Grade II, and in such poor condition as to be on the English Heritage at risk register. There is currently no plan from Lambeth council to improve the situation.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Martin |first1=Elizabeth |title=HERITAGE AT RISK REGISTER |url=http://risk.english-heritage.org.uk/register.aspx?id=50186 |website=English Heritage |accessdate=5 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714220218/http://risk.english-heritage.org.uk/register.aspx?id=50186 |archivedate=14 July 2014 }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== Sources == * Obituary, The Times 28 April 1864

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kershaw, James}} [[Category:Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]

[[Category:Mill owners]] [[Category:Councillors in Manchester]] [[Category:UK MPs 1847–1852]] [[Category:UK MPs 1852–1857]] [[Category:UK MPs 1857–1859]] [[Category:UK MPs 1859–1865]] [[Category:1795 births]] [[Category:1864 deaths]] [[Category:Burials at West Norwood Cemetery]] [[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stockport]] [[Category:19th-century English businesspeople]]