Sir James Knott, 1st Baronet


Sir James Knott, 1st Baronet was a shipping magnate and Conservative Party politician in the north-east of England.
Several institutions in the north-east of England are named after him, such as the Knott Memorial Hall in Heddon-on-the-Wall.

Career

He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1906 general election in the Tyneside division of Northumberland.
At the January 1910 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament for the two-seat constituency of Sunderland, along with Samuel Storey. Storey was an "Independent Tariff Reform" candidate, but his candidacy had the full support of the local Conservative association and his return of election expenses was made jointly with Knott, who was the official Conservative candidate. They both stood down because of ill-health at the general election in December 1910.
He was made a baronet in 1917, of Close House, Northumberland.

Family

Two of his three sons died at young age in the Great War, Henry in 1915 followed by James in 1916.
He was succeeded at his death by his surviving son, Sir Thomas Garbutt Knott, as 2nd Baronet and who died without children.

Samarès Manor

In 1924, he moved to Jersey, purchased Samarès Manor and became the Seigneur of Samarès.

Death duties

On 13 November 1934, John Stourton, MP for Salford South, asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether an agreement had been reached over payment of death duties on Knott's £5m estate. Neville Chamberlain replied that he "was not prepared to disclose information as to the position in regard to taxation in a particular case.".