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Sir John Kirk

(1847-1922), Philanthropist; Director of the Shaftsbury Society and Ragged School Union

Sitter in 7 portraits

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Sir John Kirk, by Bassano Ltd - NPG x79834

Sir John Kirk

by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 13 March 1911
NPG x79834

Sir John Kirk, by Bassano Ltd - NPG x79835

Sir John Kirk

by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 13 March 1911
NPG x79835

Sir John Kirk, by Bassano Ltd - NPG x79836

Sir John Kirk

by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 13 March 1911
NPG x79836

Sir John Kirk, by Bassano Ltd - NPG x79837

Sir John Kirk

by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 13 March 1911
NPG x79837

Sir John Kirk, by Bassano Ltd - NPG x75147

Sir John Kirk

by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 23 August 1920
NPG x75147

Sir John Kirk, by Bassano Ltd - NPG x75148

Sir John Kirk

by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 23 August 1920
NPG x75148

Sir John Kirk, by Bassano Ltd - NPG x75149

Sir John Kirk

by Bassano Ltd
whole-plate glass negative, 23 August 1920
NPG x75149

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Leonie Jarrett

06 February 2021, 15:45

I am the great granddaughter of Sir John Kirk and have a lot of his memorabilia and letter from his wife.

Tim Stafford

03 June 2020, 16:58

I am also a Great Great Grandson of Sir John Kirk and have a large portrait of him on my wall. I hope that Peter might see this message and get in touch.

Mrs P.E. Jessop

27 May 2020, 11:33

There is an oil painting of Sir John Kirk's birthplace in the Kegworth Heritge Centre by my grandfather George Frederick Hudson.

For more information contact the KHC

Peter Mitchell

15 February 2019, 12:18

My name is Peter Mitchell and I am Sir John Kirk's great, great grandson. Born in London, I was raised in Canada where I bumbled my way through a moderately successful career in journalism. A few years ago, I began gathering research on Sir John with the aim of writing a new biography to complement the ones previously written in 1907 by James Stuart, and 1922 by David Williamson. In 2017 I moved back to London to complete this project and through a horrific series of unfortunate events found myself homeless and at the dehumanizing mercy of the same forces and, sadly, the charities, Sir John himself dedicated his life to fighting. Though horrific, it has added a unique element to my project, and I am slowly taking steps to renew my work on "A Knight in the Slums".

A few years ago the National Portrait Gallery was kind enough to send me .pdf's of these portraits when they were first digitized, and I am currently arranging to see them .... in the flesh -photographically speaking. I am happy to (slowly -I have thousands of pages of research) share information with the Portrait Gallery; and happy to begin by pointing out that Sir John Kirk was never the President of the Ragged School Union, nor the Shaftesbury Society. His main role was as Director.

The Presidency was held by the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury from 1844 until his death until 1885; by Lord Aberdeen from 1886 until 1892 (when he was appointed Governor General of Canada); by Lord William Compton (later the 5th Marquesse of Northampton) from 1893 until his death in 1913; and by the 9th Earl of Shaftesbury from 1914 until well after Sir John Kirk's death in 1922.

Hope that helps.