James Pride (c1814 - 1 June 1877) was a shipowner, businessman and local Conservative politician who became Mayor of Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales in 1864.  He was also an alderman, a member of the Board of Guardians of the Cardiff Union,  and a director of the Cardiff Gas Company.[1]

Early Life

edit

Born in Hurst[2] near Lydney, Gloucestershire the son of a local landholder named Thomas Pride.  At an early age the family relocated to Llanvihangel Rogiet in Monmouthshire, Wales where he was baptized.

Business Interests

edit

He later relocated to Cardiff and worked with his cousin Matthew Pride in a shipping business that took freight between Cardiff and Bristol under the company name of J & M Pride Shipping.  At the death of his cousin Matthew in 1843[3] he inherited the business and re-named it Pride & Co.  The company ran up to four ships on regular schedules between Cardiff and Bristol and was still active in the 1850s.

Other business interests included being an original shareholder, as well as a promotor and director of the Cardiff Gas Company.[1] He was also the governor of the Cardiff Savings Bank from 1855 until his death in 1877.

Political and Public Service Career

edit

In 1846 Pride was elected, without contest, to the Cardiff Municipal Council. He was one of three councilmen representing the South Ward of Cardiff.[4] He represented the South Ward until he was defeated in the 1852 municipal election when he was defeated by John Owen, primarily on the issue what type of sewers (either pipe or brick) would the council chose to build in Cardiff.[5]

He was re-elected as Councilman in 1855, this time representing the North Ward of Cardiff where he replaced Alderman Charles Vachell. In 1859 he was raised  aldermanic rank and was subsequently re-elected on 1861 as Alderman for the North Ward.  He was also on the Cardiff magisterial bench and tried many cases as a justice of the peace.

In 1864 he was elected as Mayor of Cardiff[6] and was mayor until November 1865.  He was further elected Deputy Mayor in 1865 and 1867.[7]

He was also on the Board of Guardians for the Cardiff Union,  a body of the Cardiff Poor Law Union that was established in 1836.  He was a member from the early 1850s until his death in 1877.[8]

Personal

edit

In 1850 he married Hannah Thomas.[9]  They had one daughter,  Sarah Jane.

He was the brother-in-law of Henry Jones, the inventor of self-rising flour, who was married to his older sister Ann.  Henry was a witness at the wedding  of James and his wife Hannah.[10]

Posthumously sources attributed James Pride as being a descendant of Col. Thomas Pride,  an officer in the army of Oliver Cromwell and also directly connected with the death of King Charles I of England.[11]

Death

edit

After a long illness lasting several months, James Pride died at his residence at 14 Charles Street in Cardiff on the afternoon of June 1, 1877.  He had made a journey to London looking for a cure to his illness,  but his diagnosis was the "reverse of favorable".[1] He was buried June 6, 1877[12]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "Death of Alderman Pride of Cardiff". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  2. ^ "England and Wales Census, 1861". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  3. ^ "Pride & Co, Old and Established Traders Cardiff and Bristol Traders". www.findmypast.com. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  4. ^ "Cardiff Municipal Election". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  5. ^ "Municipal Election". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  6. ^ "Cardiff Corporation Annual Meeting". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  7. ^ Matthews, John Hobson (1903). CARDIFF RECORDS BEING MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF THE COUNTY BOROUGH FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES. London: ORDER OF THE CORPORATION AND SOLD BY HENRY SOTHERAN & Co. pp. 441–445.
  8. ^ "Cardiff Board of Guardians". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  9. ^ "Wales, Glamorganshire, Parish Registers". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  10. ^ "Wales, Glamorganshire, Parish Registers". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  11. ^ "The Late Mr. Alderman Pride of Cardiff". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  12. ^ "The Funeral of the Late Mr. Alderman Pride". newspapers.library.wales. Retrieved 2024-08-23.