Acworth, Sir William Mitchell (1850–1925), railway economist, was born at Rothley, Leicestershire, on 22 November 1850, the third son of the Revd William Acworth, vicar of Rothley, and his wife, Margaret Dundas, daughter of Andrew Mitchell of Maulside, Beath, and Blythswood Place, Glasgow...
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C. E. R. Sherrington
revised by T. A. B. Corley
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Adams, William Bridges (1797–1872), railway engineer, was born in Westminster, London, on 26 May 1797, the son of William Adams, a coach builder, and his wife, Ann. He showed an early aptitude for engineering. On 30 November 1818 he married Elizabeth, daughter of the radical ...
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Allport, Sir James Joseph (1811–1892), railway manager, was born at Birmingham on 27 February 1811, the third son of William Allport (d. 1823) of Birmingham and his wife, Phoebe, daughter of Joseph Dickinson of Woodgreen, Staffordshire. His father was a manufacturer of small arms, and for a time prime warden of the ...
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Ronald M. Birse
Armstrong, Joseph (1816–1877), locomotive engineer, was born on 21 September 1816 at Bewcastle, Cumberland, the son of Thomas Armstrong (1785–1844), yeoman and later farm bailiff, and his wife. Joseph and his three older brothers went with their parents in 1817 to Canada where his brother ...
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Philip Carter
Axon, John (1900–1957), railwayman, was born on 4 December 1900 at 38 Providence Street, Heaton Norris, Stockport, Lancashire, the fourth of the six children (four daughters and two sons) of William Henry Axon (b. 1869/70), a renderer and later an electric wireman, and ...
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Gregory P. Marchildon
Beatty, Sir Edward Wentworth (1877–1943), railway entrepreneur in Canada, was born at Thorold, Ontario, on 16 October 1877, the third son and fourth child of Henry Beatty, shipowner, and his wife, Harriett M. Powell. He was educated at Upper Canada College and at the ...
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Sir Edward Wentworth Beatty (1877–1943) by Howard Coster, 1939 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Iain McLean
Beckett, Sir Edmund [known as Edmund Denison], fourth baronet (1787–1874), railway promoter and politician, was born at Gledhow Hall, Leeds, on 29 January 1787, the sixth son of the banker Sir John Beckett, first baronet (1743–1826), and his wife, Mary, daughter of ...
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George Bennie (1891–1957) by unknown photographer, 1928 reproduced courtesy of Glasgow University Archive Services (DC85/3/9)
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Iain F. Russell
Bennie, George (1891–1957), inventor, was born on 29 August 1891 in Auldhousefield, Harriet Street, Pollokshaws, near Glasgow, the second of four children of John Bennie of John Bennie Ltd, general and hydraulic engineers, and his second wife, Elizabeth Gillespie. His father, who owned the ...
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Betts, Edward Ladd (1815–1872), railway contractor, was born on 5 June 1815 at Buckland, near Dover, the eldest son of William Betts (d. 1867), contractor's agent, of Sandown, Kent, and his first wife, Elizabeth Hayward, daughter of Edward Ladd of Buckland. Betts...
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Thomas Seccombe
revised by M. W. Kirby
Blenkinsop, John (1783–1831), developer of the steam locomotive, was born near Leeds and became the principal agent of the Brandling family, who owned the extensive Middleton collieries in that district. On 10 April 1811 he obtained a patent for a new type of locomotive, developing some of the ideas embodied in the engine constructed by ...
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Isabelle Lescent-Giles
Blount, Sir Edward Charles (1809–1905), banker and railway promoter, was born on 16 March 1809 at Bellamour, near Rugeley, Staffordshire, the second son of Edward Blount (1769–1843), banker and politician, and his wife, Frances (d. 1859), daughter of Francis Wright of Fitzwalters, Essex...
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Terry Gourvish
Bonsor, Sir (Henry) Cosmo Orme, first baronet (1848–1929), brewer and railway manager, was born on 2 September 1848 at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey. He was the son of Joseph Bonsor (1807–1873) of Polesden Lacey, Surrey, a partner from 1852 in the London...
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Booth, Henry (1789–1869), railway projector and manager, was born at 34 Rodney Street, Liverpool, on 4 April 1789, the son of Thomas Booth (1749–1832), a corn merchant, and his wife, Esther, née Noble (d. 1826), of Lancaster. He was privately educated at the ...
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George Bradshaw (1801–1853) by Richard Evans, 1841 © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Bradshaw, George (1801–1853), compiler of railway guides, only son of Thomas Bradshaw and his wife, Mary Rogers, was born at Windsor Bridge, Pendleton, Salford, Lancashire, on 29 July 1801. His parents, although of limited means, gave him a good education, placing him under the care of a ...
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Frederick Archibald Vaughan Campbell, third Earl Cawdor (1847–1911) by Elliott & Fry © National Portrait Gallery, London
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Rhodri Williams
Campbell, Frederick Archibald Vaughan, third Earl Cawdor (1847–1911), politician and railway administrator, was born on 13 February 1847 at St Leonard's Hill, Windsor, the eldest child of John Frederick Vaughan Campbell, second Earl Cawdor (1817–1898) and his first wife, Sarah, daughter of the ...
