Transcript

of

William Henry Kitson [Obituary]

Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol.  XXXVII, (1905), p. 34.

by

J. Brooking-Rowe (Ed.).

Prepared by Michael Steer

The obituary was read at the Association’s July 1905 Princetown meeting. The Mallock Memorial is an ornate clock tower standing at the junctions of the Strand, Torwood Street and Victoria Parade in Torquay. It was completed in 1902 and transferred to the ownership of Torquay Corporation on Saturday March 7th 1903. Its purpose was to commemorate the life and works of Richard Mallock who died suddenly in Scotland while on holiday in 1900. His family owned Cockington Village and lived at Cockington Court so he was very much a local figure. Mallock represented Torquay in Parliament from 1886 to 1895 and was a magistrate for many years - see M.E. Brine’s page on the Devon Heritage website. The Memorial was paid for from subscriptions raised from his constituents. A memorial committee, headed by William Henry Kitson laid a foundation stone for the tower in May 1902. A Wikipedia entry with photographs of the Memorial Clock, is available in Wikipedia. The obituary, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

William Henry Kitson. William Henry Kitson, who died on 25 August, 1904, at the age of 71, will be greatly missed at Torquay. He took an active interest in everything connected with the place of his residence, more especially in relation to philanthropic work and the Conservative cause. He was President of the Torbay Hospital, and a generous benefactor to its funds. He was Chairman of the Torquay Gas Company and a justice of the peace. He was one of our oldest members, having joined in 1865.