Sir James Roberts, 1st Baronet
His parents were illiterate but determined that their children would receive an education[3] Roberts attended the local school at Haworth,[1] where he learnt to read and write.
In 1873 he set up a wool and top merchant company with his cousin Joe Feather at premises in Palmerston buildings, Manor Row Bradford and soon achieved commercial success.
His youngest son (John Edward) died aged 11 years when he was swept into the sea whilst fishing on a family holiday at Port Rush, Ireland.
His only remaining son (Joseph Henry) was refused exemption from army service during World War One and was seriously injured in France in 1917.
[6] In 1892 the well-known firm of Sir Titus Salt, Sons and Co went into voluntary liquidation and Roberts was one of a consortium of local businessmen who purchased the concern.
Rhodes remained as a director until 1901, resigning after a protest about increased salaries awarded to James and Bertram Forster Roberts, who became sole owners of the business.
From 1901 the bank balance sheets for the company increased exponentially from around £20,000 to over £130,000 after Roberts and his son Bertram had become sole owners of the business.
He was active in many aspects of public affairs in Saltaire and sustained annual payments to all the charitable bodies founded by Sir Titus Salt.
Roberts' 'Salts Company' business had suffered throughout World War One, due to supplies of dye products from Germany being cut off and loss of trade with Russia from 1917.
He managed to continue to achieve healthy profits at Salts Mil when, worn out with family troubles and business difficulties, he put the company up for sale.
The business then experienced a serious downturn in profit after 1920, due in part to the worldwide economic collapse, but recovered well after a flotation as Salts (Saltaire) Ltd.
Its managing director from this point in time was Robert Whyte Guild and in 1957 the company reported record profits of £1,208,261.
His philanthropy extended beyond Saltaire, for example - he purchased a large house in Harrogate for the Barnardo’s charity and subscribed generously to the Prince of Wales Fund.
