Sir Thomas Birkin, 1st Baronet

He was born on 15 February 1831, the second son of Richard Birkin (1805–1870), who founded the family lace-making business.[1][2]

After his father retired in 1856, his sons Richard Jr and Thomas took over, until Richard Jr retired in 1862, and Thomas was left in sole charge.[2]

By 1898, the business had been split into two companies, Birkin and Co (fancy lace), and T. I. Birkin and Co (lace curtains), both headquartered at Broadway, Nottingham.[2] They had expanded internationally, with large factories in Saxony and Chester, Pennsylvania, US.[2]

Birkin was a magistrate, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, of which he was the High Sheriff in 1892.[2] He was a director of the Great Northern Railway.[2]

He married Harriet Tebbutt (1835-1921), on 9 October 1856, and they had nine children:

• Sir Thomas Stanley Birkin, 2nd Baronet (1857–1931)
• Sir Alexander Russell Birkin, 4th Baronet (1861–1942)
• Lt-Col Richard Leslie Birkin (1863–1936)
• Harriet Maud Birkin (1864–1951)
• Colonel Charles Wilfred Birkin (1865–1932); married American Claire Lloyd Howe. One of their daughters was English socialite Freda Dudley Ward, who was the mistress of the Prince of Wales prior to his meeting Wallis Simpson.
• Hilda Mary Birkin (1868–1926)
• Major Philip Austen Birkin (1869–1951)
• Major Harry Laurence Birkin (1872–1951); married Olive Russell (1882-1960). Grandfather of Jane Birkin and David Birkin. Great-grandfather of Kate Barry, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon.
• Ethel Lillian Birkin (1874–1972)

He died on 16 January 1922,[1] and is buried in the grade II listed Birkin Mausoleum, a small classical temple built in 1921 of Portland stone in Wilford Hill Cemetery, West Bridgford, Nottingham.[3]