Titus's great grandson - a friend of Saltaire
Denys Salt was the Great-grandson of Sir Titus Salt, Grandson of Titus Salt Jr and Son of Harold Salt.
For more than 50 years, Denys was the member of the Salt family who did most to sustain the family’s links with Saltaire. His encouragement to generations of historians, his contributions to local archives, libraries and museums, and his support of activities in Saltaire were of invaluable benefit to the local community.
Education, war and work
Denys’s father Harold had been born, and lived his young life, at Milner Field, the purpose-built home of his parents, Titus Salt Junior and Catherine Salt. But as the family’s fortunes changed in the 1890s, he had moved south, eventually settling in Cheltenham with his wife (Denys’ mother), Grace.
Denys Geoffrey Crossley Salt was born in 1918. Denys’s early schooling was at Marlborough School, but this ended prematurely due to a further change in the family’s fortunes, and Denys completed his secondary education at the local college in Cheltenham.
Winning a place at Oxford University, Denys succeeded in graduating, notwithstanding the intervention of the Second World War, in which he served overseas with the Army for several years in both Egypt and the Balkan states.
At the end of the war, Denys served in the Allies’ peace-time administration of Austria, where his language skills were put to good use; this time was to later play a major part of Denys’ life.
Returning to England in the late 1940s, Denys joined the BBC, which became the mainstay of his professional life. Based in London, he maintained his interest in Austria and the Balkan region. Active in the London-based Anglo-Albanian Association, Denys was also an authoritative writer on the subject of Austria, being the author of “Austria (World Bibliographical Series)”, an exhaustive compendium of publications relating to Austria published by ABC-Clio Inc, 1986.
Denys found himself returning to Austria on visits, and it was during one of these visits that he met his future wife Eva. Eva, in turn, became Denys’ most steadfast supporter, always there quietly giving her support to all of Denys’ interests.
Saltaire's heritage
While never having lived in Saltaire, Denys’ interests in the village, and the roles played by his grandfather and great grandfather, became a major part of Denys’ adult life. He took it upon himself to study not only the history of Saltaire, but of the West Riding textile trade in general. His knowledge of the Salt family structure and history proved of great help to local historians, with Denys always putting himself at their disposal.
Health issues led Denys and Eva to relocate from London to Graz, Austria in 2005, but the move didn’t break the link with the village, with Denys and Eva continuing to visit Saltaire for annual events such as the Saltaire Festival, and – despite by now moving into his 90s – with Denys maintaining extensive internet contact.
Denys was naturally drawn to the many activists in Saltaire’s community, wanting to learn from them and at the same time encouraging them. His motives were simple – he enjoyed people, and wanted to share and celebrate Saltaire’s heritage with everyone else.
For someone who was never able to live here permanently, Denys’ local involvements were extensive – with Saltaire United Reformed Church; Shipley College; Salts School; the Mill; the Saltaire History Club; the Village Society; Saltaire Festival; Bradford Industrial Museum; West Yorkshire Archives; Bradford Central Library; he loved to learn of the endeavours of the Hammonds Saltaire Band, and the Friends of Roberts Park…even Don’t Tell Titus (a pub opened within Saltaire) got his support.
Legacy
The simple truth is that Denys was a very exceptional man. Many in Saltaire knew Denys personally as a good friend, and will recall how he conducted himself – remembering the charm, the smile, the wisdom, the knowledge, the good humour, the mischief, the enthusiasm, and his willingness to support all the endeavours that safeguarded Saltaire’s heritage and history and helped its community.
Denys was mindful that Saltaire doesn’t belong solely to those born here, or those who live here; it belongs to us all, to be celebrated equally by all, be we residents, workers, trades people, students, or visitors.
Denys’s legacy lives on, through our shared memories of him, and through the great many items of Salt family archives, photos, artefacts that he bequeathed to the Saltaire Collection and other local institutions.
With thanks to local historian Dave Shaw who knew Denys Salt and has allowed us to use this Biography.
Denys Salt Collection
Denys donated an important set of documents, photographs and other objects to the Saltaire Collection, most concerning the Salt family.
There are business and legal documents, including the wills of Sir Titus Salt and Titus Junior; letters to and from family members; items from Sir Titus Salt’s early education in Kent; many painted and photographic portraits of family members; and many items related to the Royal Yorkshire Exhibition of 1887, ranging from photographs of the welcome arch, through a signed photograph of Princess Beatrice who opened the event, to pieces of the dining set used to serve Princess Beatrice when she stayed at Titus Junior’s home of Milner Field.
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