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It is surprising that of Sir Titus Salt’s 11 children only two of them went on to have offspring of their own during his lifetime, the two in question being his sons William Henry and Titus Jr. By the time the building of Saltaire was completed, each of the two sons had fathered two children, and so we find a total of four streets named after Salt’s grandchildren. Gordon Terrace, on the southern boundary of our UNESCO World Heritage site, is one of those four.

Gordon Locksley Salt (1866 – 1938) was born in Baildon, the first child of Titus Jr and his wife Catherine (nee Crossley). He was two years old when the building of the terrace of shops and improved overlooker houses bearing his name was completed in 1868.

Following a public school education at Winchester, Gordon graduated from Cambridge University. In addition to being a skilled photographer (recognised by Bradford Photographic Society with a medal awarded in 1887) he was also renowned for his knowledge of organs – not only playing, but also building and registering these complex instruments. At the funeral service for his mother Catherine, who died in 1934, Gordon played the organ in Saltaire Church. He outlived his mother by only four years before he in his turn died. His widow Florence lived on until 1959.

The 1903 marriage of Gordon and Florence is likely to prove pivotal in the evolving story of the Salt dynasty. It is through their (male) descendants that the Salt baronetcy is likely to be preserved in the coming decades.

© Barlo & Shaw