George Herbert Strutt (21 April 1854 – 17 May 1928), was a cotton mill owner and philanthropist from

Belper Belper () is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. Along with Belper, the parish includes the village of Milford and the hamlets ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. Strutt became a High Sheriff. He was a descendant of

Jedediah Strutt Jedediah Strutt (1726 – 7 May 1797) or Jedidiah Strutt – as he spelled it – was a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper, England. Strutt and his brother-in-law William Woollat developed an attachment to the stocking frame that allowed ...

. The Strutt family made themselves, and Britain, rich with their cotton business. Strutt bought the Scottish Glensanda estate where his son was lost and was found as a clothed skeleton five years later.

Biography

George Herbert Strutt was born on 21 April 1854 in Belper. He was from the well known Strutt family whose fortune came from cotton mills and the inventions of the Strutt ancestors back to

. His father was

George Henry Strutt George Henry Strutt DL (14 September 1826 – 14 April 1895) was an English cotton manufacturer and philanthropist. Strutt was born at Belper, Derbyshire, the son of Jedediah Strutt (1785–1854) and his wife Susannah Walker. The Strutt family ...

and his mother was Agnes (born Ashton). He was the youngest child and only son. His two elder sisters were Susan Agnes and Lucy Frances Strutt. A third sister, Clara, was born in 1861, but died in 1863. Strutt was educated at Harrow and at Magdalen College, Oxford. He married firstly Edith Adele Balguy on 2 April 1876 at Dartford in Kent. The marriage produced five daughters and two sons. In 1898 he married secondly Mary Emily Charlotte Hind, daughter of Robert Hind of the Royal Navy. This marriage produced four daughters and one son. In 1902, Strutt, and his second wife Emily, bought the Glensanda and Kingairloch estates on the Morvern Peninsula in Scotland.Undiscovered Scotland
/ref> At these estates he built cottages and pony paths, enlarged the existing house and a dam in Glen Galmadale to hold water that could be used to keep the River Galma in flow (and fish) when there was a drought. The Strutt family were able to take cruises to

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

and nearby islands on the 150 ton steam ship, ''Sanda'', Strutt kept there.Patricia Strutt
Obituary, Telegraph, accessed December 2009 Given the inaccessibility of the estate, a boat of some form was essential. He was appointed a deputy lieutenant of

in 1901, and was

High Sheriff of Derbyshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Derbyshire from 1567 until 1974 and High Sheriffs since. The ancient Sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around ...

in 1903.

In 1907, he completed a long debate with the education authorities and was able to fund an elementary school for the children of Belper and its surrounding Derbyshire villages. The school was opened on 7 May 1909 by the Duke of Devonshire.Strutts
, accessed December 2009 The ''Herbert Strutt School'' cost Strutt £20,000 and included large playing fields and stained glass in the library showing the Strutt coat of arms. In 1910, he funded a public swimming pool in Belper
and within four years he gave an additional £5,000 to expand the school's facilities. The school went on to become a Grammar school before it merged with two secondary modern schools to create the

Belper School Belper School and Sixth Form Centre is a foundation secondary school located in the north-east of Belper, Derbyshire, England. In October 2019, Ofsted reported that its overall effectiveness is 'Needs Improvement'. It has received Healthy Scho ...

. The school's name and Strutt's gift are remembered in the name of a primary school in Belper. The school building is now a community centre. In 1921, Strutt again contributed to Derbyshire's Belper community. This time he gave land which was used to create the ''Memorial Gardens'' to remember those who had died in the First World War.Belper Town Council
, accessed December 2009 He died of pneumonia, aged 74, at Ballater in Scotland on 17 May 1928. After Strutt's death, the estate at Glensanda was inherited by his son Arthur and then shared, in 1930, with Arthur's New Zealand wife, Patricia. Arthur died in odd circumstances. He went out one morning in 1977 and never returned; five years later he was presumed to be dead. On the Monday following his memorial service his body was found. His clothed skeleton was discovered half a mile from his home by forestry workers, but it was too late to ascertain his cause of death."The Killer Lady of Kingairloch"
''The Independent'', accessed December 2009 Portraits of Strutt and "Mrs George Strutt", both by Frank Ernest Beresford, are owned by Belper Town Council and Derby Art Gallery respectively.Beresford
Art UK, accessed August 2011

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Strutt, George Herbert People from Belper 1854 births 1928 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford High sheriffs of Derbyshire English philanthropists Deputy lieutenants of Derbyshire Deaths from pneumonia in Scotland