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George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 - 14 December 1871), English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 railway financier, known as the "Railway King", was born in Howsham, in the parish of Scrayingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire

The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan district with unitary authority status, and is a ceremonial counties of England of England....
, north of Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire

Stamford Bridge is a village and civil parish on the River Derwent, Yorkshire in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, approximately east of York....
, east of York
York

York is a walled city, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire and River Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city status in the United Kingdom is noted for its rich heritage and it has played an important role throughout much of its almost 2,000 year existence....
.






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George Hudson Project Gutenberg Etext 17293
George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 - 14 December 1871), English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 railway financier, known as the "Railway King", was born in Howsham, in the parish of Scrayingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire

The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan district with unitary authority status, and is a ceremonial counties of England of England....
, north of Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire

Stamford Bridge is a village and civil parish on the River Derwent, Yorkshire in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, approximately east of York....
, east of York
York

York is a walled city, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire and River Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city status in the United Kingdom is noted for its rich heritage and it has played an important role throughout much of its almost 2,000 year existence....
. He is buried in Scrayingham. Aged 15 he fled his home village in disgrace after fathering a child, the year being 1815.

Career

Apprenticed to a firm of linen-drapers in York, he soon became a successful merchant, and in 1837 was elected lord mayor of York. Having inherited, in 1827, a sum of £30,000, he invested it in North Midland Railway
North Midland Railway

The North Midland Railway was a Great Britain railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham and Leeds in 1840.At Derby it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Derby Midland railway station....
 shares, and was shortly afterwards appointed a director. In 1833 he had founded and for some time acted as manager of the York Banking Company.

Railways

He had for long believed in running a railway to York, and he took an active part in securing the passing of the York and North Midland Railway
York and North Midland Railway

The York and North Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which opened in 1839, connecting York, with the Leeds and Selby Railway and in 1840 with the North Midland Railway at Normanton railway station near Leeds....
 Bill, and was elected chairman of the new company with the line being opened in 1839. From this time he turned his attention to the proliferation of railways. In 1841 he initiated the Newcastle and Darlington line. With George Stephenson
George Stephenson

George Stephenson was an England civil engineer and mechanical engineering who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam engine locomotives and is known as the "Father of Railways"....
 he planned and carried out the extension of the Midland to Newcastle, and by 1844 had over a thousand miles of railway under his control. In this year the mania for railway speculation was at its height, and no man was more courted than the "railway king". The name was conferred upon him by Sydney Smith
Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith , was an England writer and Anglican clergyman....
.

Member of Parliament

Despite his personal wealth, he was presented with a tribute of £20,000. Deputy-lieutenant for Durham
Durham

Durham is a city in North East England. It lies at the heart of the City of Durham local government district. It is the county town of County Durham....
, and thrice lord mayor of York, he was elected the Conservative MP
Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators....
 for Sunderland
Sunderland

Sunderland is a city in Tyne and Wear, England. It was formerly a county borough but now forms part of the City of Sunderland. It is situated at the mouth of the River Wear....
 between 1849 and 1851 ; , the event being judged of such public interest that the news was conveyed to London by a special train, which travelled part of the way at the rate of 75 miles an hour.

Fraud and ruin

Full of rewards and honours, he was suddenly ruined by the disclosure of fraud in the Eastern Railway, along with the discovery of his bribery of MPs. Sunderland clung to her generous representative till 1859, but on the bursting of the bubble he had lost influence and fortune. His later life was chiefly spent on the continent. Some friends gave him a small annuity a short time before his death, which took place in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
.

His name has been used to point the moral of vaulting ambition and unstable fortune, Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle was a Scotland satire writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics the "dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator....
 calling him the "big swollen gambler" in one of the Latter-Day Pamphlets
Latter-Day Pamphlets

Latter-Day Pamphlets was a series of "pamphlets" published by Thomas Carlyle in 1850, in vehement denunciation of what he believed to be the political, social, and religious imbecilities and injustices of the period....
.

He built the estate Baldersby Park, often referred to as the first palladian villa in England, between the small towns of Ripon and Thirsk. The mansion is now home to Queen Mary's School
Queen Mary's School

Queen Mary's School is a girls' school for day and boarding students ages 3–16 in Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, England. Established in 1925, the school is set on of landscaped grounds and houses approximately 300 students....
, a girls' independent school.

Memorials

Hudson House, on the site of the former York and North Midland Railway
York and North Midland Railway

The York and North Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which opened in 1839, connecting York, with the Leeds and Selby Railway and in 1840 with the North Midland Railway at Normanton railway station near Leeds....
 terminus in York
York

York is a walled city, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire and River Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city status in the United Kingdom is noted for its rich heritage and it has played an important role throughout much of its almost 2,000 year existence....
, is named after him, as is George Hudson Street in the City of York
City of York

City of York may refer to:*York, a city in North Yorkshire, England*City of York , a constituency represented in the British House of Commons...
 running parallel to North Street.

Further reading

  • A.J. Peacock and David Joy, George Hudson of York, Dalesman, 1971.
  • A. J.Arnold, and S. M. McCartney, George Hudson: The Rise and Fall of the Railway King, London and New York: Hambeldon and London, 2004
  • Lambert, Richard S. The Railway King 1800-1871, a study of George Hudson and the Business Morals of his Times, George Allen and Unwin, 1964.


See also

  • Railway Mania
    Railway Mania

    Railway Mania is the term given to the Stock market bubble in United Kingdom in the 1840s. It followed a common pattern: as the price of railway shares increased, more and more money was poured in by speculators, until the inevitable collapse....


External links

  • , bibliography and more