Albert Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield
Encyclopedia
Albert Henry Stanley, 1st Baron Ashfield, PC, TD
(8 August 1874 – 4 November 1948), born Albert Henry Knattriess, was a British-American who was managing director, then chairman of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London
(UERL) from 1910 to 1933 and chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board
(LPTB) from 1933 to 1947.
Although born in Britain, his early career was in the United States, where at a young age, he held senior positions in the developing tramway systems
of Detroit and New Jersey. In 1898, he served in the United States Navy
during the short Spanish–American War.
In 1907, his management skills led to his recruitment by the UERL, which was struggling through a financial crisis that threatened its existence. He quickly integrated the company's management and used advertising and public relations
to improve profits. As managing director of the UERL from 1910, he led the take-over of competing underground railway companies and bus and tram operations to form an integrated transport operation known as the Combine.
He was Member of Parliament
for Ashton-under-Lyne
from December 1916 to January 1920 and was President of the Board of Trade
between December 1916 and May 1919, reorganising the board and establishing specialist departments for various industries. He returned to the UERL and then chaired it and its successor the LPTB during the organisation's greatest period of expansion between the two World Wars, making it a world-respected organisation considered an exemplar of the best form of public administration.
, England, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Knattriess (née Twigg). His father worked as a coachbuilder
for the Pullman Company
. In 1880, the family emigrated to Detroit
in the United States, where he worked at Pullman's main factory. During the 1890s, the family changed its name to "Stanley".
In 1888, at the age of 14, Stanley left school and went to work as an office boy at the Detroit Street Railways Company
, which ran a horse-drawn tram
system. He continued to study at evening school and worked long hours, often from 7.30 am to 10.00 pm. His abilities were recognised early and Stanley was given responsibility for scheduling the services and preparing the timetables when he was 17. Following the expansion and electrification
of the tramway, he became General Superintendent of the company in 1894.
Stanley was a naval reservist
and, during the brief Spanish–American War of 1898, he served in the United States Navy as a landsman
in the crew of alongside many others from Detroit. In 1903, Stanley moved to New Jersey to become assistant general manager of the street railway department of the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey
. The company had been struggling, but Stanley quickly improved its organisation and was promoted to general manager of the department in January 1904. In January 1907, he became general manager of the whole corporation, running a network of almost 1,000 route miles and 25,000 employees.
In 1904, Stanley married Grace Lowrey (1878–1962) of New York. The couple had two daughters: Marian Stanley (born 1906) and Grace Stanley (born 1907).
, managing director of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London
(UERL), appointed Stanley as its general manager. The UERL was the holding company
of four underground railways in central London. Three of these (the Metropolitan District Railway
, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway
and the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway
) were already in operation and the fourth (the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway) was about to open. The UERL had been established by American financier Charles Yerkes
and much of the finance and equipment had been brought from the United States, so Stanley's experience of managing urban transit systems in that country made him an ideal candidate for the position. The cost of constructing three new lines in just a few years had put the company in a precarious monetary position and income was not sufficient to pay the interest on its loans. Stanley's responsibility was to restore its finances.
Only recently promoted to general manager of the New Jersey system, Stanley had been reluctant to take the position in London and took it for one year only, provided he would be free to return to America at the end of the year. He told the company's senior managers that the company was almost bankrupt and got resignation letters from each of them post-dated by six months. Through better integration of the separate companies within the group and by improving advertising and public relations, he was quickly able to turn the fortunes of the company around, while the company's chairman, Sir Edgar Speyer
, renegotiated the debt repayments. In 1908, Stanley joined the company's board
and, in 1910, he became the managing director.
With Commercial Manager Frank Pick
, Stanley devised a plan to increase passenger numbers: developing the "UNDERGROUND" brand and establishing a joint booking system and co-ordinated fares throughout all of London's underground railways, including those not controlled by the UERL. In July 1910, Stanley took the integration of the group further, when he persuaded previously reluctant American investors to approve the merger of the three tube railways into a single company. Further consolidation came with the UERL's take-over of London General Omnibus Company
(LGOC) in 1912 and the Central London Railway
and the City and South London Railway on 1 January 1913. Of London's underground railways, only the Metropolitan Railway
(and its subsidiaries the Great Northern & City Railway and the East London Railway) and the Waterloo & City Railway remained outside of the Underground Group's control. The LGOC was the dominant bus operator in the capital and its high profitability (it paid dividends of 18 per cent compared with Underground Group companies' dividends of 1 to 3 per cent) subsidised the rest of the group. Stanley further expanded the group through shareholdings in London United Tramways
and Metropolitan Electric Tramways
and the take-over of bus builder AEC. The much enlarged group became known as the Combine. On 29 July 1914, Stanley was knighted
in recognition of his services to transport.
Stanley also planned extensions of the existing Underground Group's lines into new, undeveloped districts beyond the central area to encourage the development of new suburbs and new commuter traffic. The first of the extensions, the Bakerloo line
to Queen's Park
and Watford Junction
, opened between 1915 and 1917. The other expansion plans were postponed during World War I.
. In 1916, he was selected by Prime Minister David Lloyd George
to become President of the Board of Trade
. Lloyd George had previously promised this role to Sir Max Aitken
(later Lord Beaverbrook), Member of Parliament
for Ashton-under-Lyne
. At that time, a member of parliament taking a cabinet post for the first time had to resign and stand for re-election in a by-election
. Aitken had made arrangements to do this before Lloyd George decided to appoint Stanley to the position instead. Aitken, a friend of Stanley, was persuaded to continue with the resignation in exchange for a peerage so that Stanley could take his seat. Stanley became President of the Board of Trade and was made a Privy Counsellor on 13 December 1916. He was elected to parliament
unopposed on 23 December 1916 as a Conservative Unionist. At 42 years old he was the youngest member of Lloyd George's coalition government
.
At the 1918 general election
, Stanley was opposed by Frederick Lister
, the President of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers
, in a challenge over the government's policy on war pensions. With the backing of Beaverbrook, who visited his former constituency to speak on his behalf, Stanley won the election.
Stanley's achievements in office were mixed. He established various specialist departments to manage output in numerous industries and reorganised the structure of the Board. However, despite previous successes with unions, his negotiations were ineffective. Writing to Leader of the House of Commons
and future Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law in January 1919, Lloyd George described Stanley as having "all the glibness of Runciman
and that is apt to take in innocent persons like you and me ... Stanley, to put it quite bluntly, is a funk, and there is no room for funks in the modern world." Stanley left the Board of Trade
and the government in May 1919 and returned to the UERL.
. In the 1920 New Year Honours, he was made Baron Ashfield, of Southwell in the County of Nottingham, ending his term as an MP. He and Pick reactivated their expansion plans, and one of the most significant periods in the organisation's history began, subsequently considered to be its heyday and sometimes called its "Golden Age".
The Central London Railway was extended to Ealing Broadway
in 1920, and the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway was extended to Hendon
in 1923 and to Edgware
in 1924. The City and South London Railway was reconstructed with larger diameter tunnels to take modern trains between 1922 and 1924 and extended to Morden
in 1926. In addition, a programme of modernising many of the Underground's busiest central London stations was started; providing them with escalators to replace lifts
. New rolling stock was gradually introduced with automatic sliding doors along the length of the carriage instead of manual end gates. By the middle of the 1920s, the organisation had expanded to such an extent that a large, new headquarters building was constructed at 55 Broadway
over St. James's Park station
.
Starting in the early 1920s, competition from numerous small bus companies, nicknamed "pirates" because they operated irregular routes and plundered the LGOC's passengers, eroded the profitability of the Combine's bus operations and had a negative impact on the profitability of the whole group. Ashfield lobbied
the government for regulation of transport services in the London area. Starting in 1923, a series of legislative initiatives were made in this direction, with Ashfield and Labour
London County Council
lor (later MP and Minister of Transport) Herbert Morrison
, at the forefront of debates as to the level of regulation and public control under which transport services should be brought. Ashfield aimed for regulation that would give the UERL group protection from competition and allow it to take substantive control of the LCC's
tram system; Morrison preferred full public ownership. After seven years of false starts, a bill was announced at the end of 1930 for the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board
(LPTB), a public corporation
that would take control of the UERL, the Metropolitan Railway and all bus and tram operators within an area designated as the London Passenger Transport Area. As Ashfield had done with shareholders in 1910 over the consolidation of the three UERL controlled tube lines, he used his persuasiveness to obtain their agreements to the government buy-out of their stock.
The Board was a compromise – public ownership but not full nationalisation
– and came into existence on 1 July 1933. Ashfield served as the organisation's chairman from its establishment in 1933 on an annual salary of £12,500 (approximately £ today), with Pick as Chief Executive.
The opening of extensions of the Piccadilly line
to Uxbridge
, Hounslow
and Cockfosters
followed in 1933. On the Metropolitan Railway, Ashfield and Pick instigated a rationalisation of services. The barely used and loss-making Brill
and Verney Junction
branches beyond Aylesbury
were closed in 1935 and 1936. Freight services were reduced and electrification of the remaining steam operated sections of the line was planned. In 1935, the availability of government-backed loans to stimulate the flagging economy allowed Ashfield and Pick to promote system-wide improvements under the New Works Programme for 1935–1940
, including the transfer of the Metropolitan line
's Stanmore
services to the Bakerloo line
in 1939, the Northern line
's Northern Heights project and extension of the Central line
to Ongar
and Denham
.Much of the works were interrupted by World War II
. After the War, changed priorities, funding shortages and the creation of London's Metropolitan Green Belt
led to much of the Northern line expansion plan being cancelled and delays in completing other plans.
Following a reorganisation of public transportation by the Labour government of Clement Attlee
, the LPTB was scheduled to be nationalised along with the majority of British railway, bus, road haulage and waterway concerns from 1 January 1948. In advance of this, Ashfield resigned from the LPTB at the end of October 1947 and joined the board of the new British Transport Commission
which was to operate all of the nationalised public transport systems. At nationalisation, the LPTB was to be abolished and replaced by the London Transport Executive
. Lord Latham
, a member of the LPTB and the incoming chairman of the new organisation, acted as temporary chairman for the last two months of the LPTB's existence.
and brief political career, Ashfield held many directorships in transport undertakings and industry. He helped establish the Institute of Transport
in 1919/20 and was one of its first presidents. He was a director of the Mexican Railway Company and two railway companies in Cuba and a member of the 1931 Royal Commission on Railways and Transportation in Canada. He was one of two government directors of the British Dyestuffs Corporation
, its chairman from 1924 and was involved in the creation of Imperial Chemical Industries
in 1926, of which he was subsequently a non-executive director. Ashfield was a director of the Midland Bank
, Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries and chairman of Albany Ward Theatres, Associated Provincial Picture Houses, and Provincial Cinematograph Theatres.
During World War I, he was Colonel
of the Territorial Force
Engineer and Railway Staff Corps and was Honorary Colonel of the Royal Artillery
's 84th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment during World War II.
, South Kensington
. During his near forty-year tenure as managing director and chairman of the Underground Group and the LPTB, Ashfield oversaw the transformation of a collection of unconnected, competing railway, bus and tram companies, some in severe financial difficulties, into a coherent and well managed transport organisation, internationally respected for its technical expertise and design style. Transport historian Christian Wolmar
considers it "almost impossible to exaggerate the high regard in which LT was held during its all too brief heyday, attracting official visitors from around the world eager to learn the lessons of its success and apply them in their own countries." "It represented the apogee of a type of confident public administration ... with a reputation that any state organisation today would envy ... only made possible by the brilliance of its two famous leaders, Ashfield and Pick."
A memorial to Ashfield was erected at 55 Broadway in 1950 and a blue plaque
was placed at his home, 43 South Street, Mayfair
in 1984. A large office building at London Underground's Lillie Bridge Depot is named Ashfield House in his honour. It stands to the south of the District line
tracks a short distance to the east of West Kensington station
and is also visible from West Cromwell Road (A4).
Territorial Decoration
The Territorial Decoration was a medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army...
(8 August 1874 – 4 November 1948), born Albert Henry Knattriess, was a British-American who was managing director, then chairman of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London
Underground Electric Railways Company of London
The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited , known operationally as The Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a circular tunnel by the use...
(UERL) from 1910 to 1933 and chairman of the London Passenger Transport Board
London Passenger Transport Board
The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...
(LPTB) from 1933 to 1947.
Although born in Britain, his early career was in the United States, where at a young age, he held senior positions in the developing tramway systems
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
of Detroit and New Jersey. In 1898, he served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during the short Spanish–American War.
In 1907, his management skills led to his recruitment by the UERL, which was struggling through a financial crisis that threatened its existence. He quickly integrated the company's management and used advertising and public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
to improve profits. As managing director of the UERL from 1910, he led the take-over of competing underground railway companies and bus and tram operations to form an integrated transport operation known as the Combine.
He was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne (UK Parliament constituency)
Ashton-under-Lyne is a constituency centred on the town of Ashton-under-Lyne that is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
from December 1916 to January 1920 and was President of the Board of Trade
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. Its secondary title is the President of the Board of Trade...
between December 1916 and May 1919, reorganising the board and establishing specialist departments for various industries. He returned to the UERL and then chaired it and its successor the LPTB during the organisation's greatest period of expansion between the two World Wars, making it a world-respected organisation considered an exemplar of the best form of public administration.
Early life and career in United States
Stanley was born on 8 August 1874, in New Normanton, DerbyshireDerbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, England, the son of Henry and Elizabeth Knattriess (née Twigg). His father worked as a coachbuilder
Coachbuilder
A coachbuilder is a manufacturer of bodies for carriages or automobiles.The trade dates back several centuries. Rippon was active in the time of Queen Elizabeth I, Barker founded in 1710 by an officer in Queen Anne's Guards, Brewster a relative newcomer , formed in 1810. Others in Britain included...
for the Pullman Company
Pullman Company
The Pullman Palace Car Company, founded by George Pullman, manufactured railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the early decades of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Pullman developed the sleeping car which carried his name into the 1980s...
. In 1880, the family emigrated to Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in the United States, where he worked at Pullman's main factory. During the 1890s, the family changed its name to "Stanley".
In 1888, at the age of 14, Stanley left school and went to work as an office boy at the Detroit Street Railways Company
Detroit United Railway
The Detroit United Railway was a transport company which operated numerous streetcar and interurban lines in southeast Michigan. Although many of the lines were originally built by different companies, they were consolidated under the control of the Everett-Moore syndicate, a Cleveland-based group...
, which ran a horse-drawn tram
Horsecar
A horsecar or horse-drawn tram is an animal-powered streetcar or tram.These early forms of public transport developed out of industrial haulage routes that had long been in existence, and from the omnibus routes that first ran on public streets in the 1820s, using the newly improved iron or steel...
system. He continued to study at evening school and worked long hours, often from 7.30 am to 10.00 pm. His abilities were recognised early and Stanley was given responsibility for scheduling the services and preparing the timetables when he was 17. Following the expansion and electrification
Electrification
Electrification originally referred to the build out of the electrical generating and distribution systems which occurred in the United States, England and other countries from the mid 1880's until around 1940 and is in progress in developing countries. This also included the change over from line...
of the tramway, he became General Superintendent of the company in 1894.
Stanley was a naval reservist
Reservist
A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is usually a former active-duty member of the armed...
and, during the brief Spanish–American War of 1898, he served in the United States Navy as a landsman
Landman (rank)
Landman was a military rank given to naval recruits.-United Kingdom:In the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom in the middle of the 18th century , the term Landman referred to a seaman with less than a year's experience at sea...
in the crew of alongside many others from Detroit. In 1903, Stanley moved to New Jersey to become assistant general manager of the street railway department of the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey
Public Service Railway
The Public Service Railway, owned by the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, operated most of the streetcar lines in New Jersey by the early 20th century. Public Service lines stretched from northeast New Jersey to Trenton, and then south to Camden and its suburbs...
. The company had been struggling, but Stanley quickly improved its organisation and was promoted to general manager of the department in January 1904. In January 1907, he became general manager of the whole corporation, running a network of almost 1,000 route miles and 25,000 employees.
In 1904, Stanley married Grace Lowrey (1878–1962) of New York. The couple had two daughters: Marian Stanley (born 1906) and Grace Stanley (born 1907).
Rescue of the Underground Electric Railways Company
On 20 February 1907, Sir George GibbGeorge Gibb
Sir George Stegmann Gibb was a Scottish transport administrator who served as the general manager of the North Eastern Railway, managing director of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, and as chairman of the former British Road Board.-Early life:George Gibb was born in Aberdeen,...
, managing director of the Underground Electric Railways Company of London
Underground Electric Railways Company of London
The Underground Electric Railways Company of London Limited , known operationally as The Underground for much of its existence, was established in 1902. It was the holding company for the three deep-level "tube"A "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a circular tunnel by the use...
(UERL), appointed Stanley as its general manager. The UERL was the holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
of four underground railways in central London. Three of these (the Metropolitan District Railway
Metropolitan District Railway
The Metropolitan District Railway was the predecessor of the District line of the London Underground. Set up on 29 July 1864, at first to complete the "Inner Circle" railway around central London, it was gradually extended into the suburbs...
, the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway
Baker Street and Waterloo Railway
The Baker Street and Waterloo Railway , also known as the Bakerloo tube, was a railway company established in 1893 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London...
and the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway
Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway
The Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway , also known as the Piccadilly tube, was a railway company established in 1902 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London. The GNP&BR was formed through a merger of two older companies, the Brompton and Piccadilly Circus...
) were already in operation and the fourth (the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway) was about to open. The UERL had been established by American financier Charles Yerkes
Charles Yerkes
Charles Tyson Yerkes was an American financier, born in Philadelphia. He played a major part in developing mass-transit systems in Chicago and London.-Philadelphia:...
and much of the finance and equipment had been brought from the United States, so Stanley's experience of managing urban transit systems in that country made him an ideal candidate for the position. The cost of constructing three new lines in just a few years had put the company in a precarious monetary position and income was not sufficient to pay the interest on its loans. Stanley's responsibility was to restore its finances.
Only recently promoted to general manager of the New Jersey system, Stanley had been reluctant to take the position in London and took it for one year only, provided he would be free to return to America at the end of the year. He told the company's senior managers that the company was almost bankrupt and got resignation letters from each of them post-dated by six months. Through better integration of the separate companies within the group and by improving advertising and public relations, he was quickly able to turn the fortunes of the company around, while the company's chairman, Sir Edgar Speyer
Edgar Speyer
Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet was an American-born financier and philanthropist. He became a British subject in 1892 and was chairman of Speyer Brothers, the British branch of his family's international finance house, and a partner in the German and American branches...
, renegotiated the debt repayments. In 1908, Stanley joined the company's board
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
and, in 1910, he became the managing director.
With Commercial Manager Frank Pick
Frank Pick
Frank Pick LLB Hon. RIBA was a British transport administrator. After qualifying as a solicitor in 1902, he worked at the North Eastern Railway, before moving to the Underground Electric Railways Company of London in 1906...
, Stanley devised a plan to increase passenger numbers: developing the "UNDERGROUND" brand and establishing a joint booking system and co-ordinated fares throughout all of London's underground railways, including those not controlled by the UERL. In July 1910, Stanley took the integration of the group further, when he persuaded previously reluctant American investors to approve the merger of the three tube railways into a single company. Further consolidation came with the UERL's take-over of London General Omnibus Company
London General Omnibus Company
The London General Omnibus Company or LGOC, was the principal bus operator in London between 1855 and 1933. It was also, for a short period between 1909 and 1912, a motor bus manufacturer.- Overview :...
(LGOC) in 1912 and the Central London Railway
Central London Railway
The Central London Railway , also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a deep-level, underground "tube" railway that opened in London in 1900...
and the City and South London Railway on 1 January 1913. Of London's underground railways, only the Metropolitan Railway
Metropolitan railway
Metropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
(and its subsidiaries the Great Northern & City Railway and the East London Railway) and the Waterloo & City Railway remained outside of the Underground Group's control. The LGOC was the dominant bus operator in the capital and its high profitability (it paid dividends of 18 per cent compared with Underground Group companies' dividends of 1 to 3 per cent) subsidised the rest of the group. Stanley further expanded the group through shareholdings in London United Tramways
London United Tramways
London United Tramways Company Limited was an operator of trams and trolleybuses in the western and southern suburbs of London, UK, from 1894 to 1933, when it passed to the London Passenger Transport Board.-Origins:...
and Metropolitan Electric Tramways
Metropolitan Electric Tramways
The Metropolitan Electric Tramways Company Limited operated electric tram services in suburban areas of Middlesex and Hertfordshire from 1904 to 1933, when its services passed to the London Passenger Transport Board....
and the take-over of bus builder AEC. The much enlarged group became known as the Combine. On 29 July 1914, Stanley was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in recognition of his services to transport.
Stanley also planned extensions of the existing Underground Group's lines into new, undeveloped districts beyond the central area to encourage the development of new suburbs and new commuter traffic. The first of the extensions, the Bakerloo line
Bakerloo Line
The Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from Elephant and Castle in the south-east to Harrow & Wealdstone in the north-west of London. The line serves 25 stations, of which 15 are underground...
to Queen's Park
Queen's Park station
Queen's Park station is a station served by London Underground and London Overground. It is in West Kilburn at the southern end of Salusbury Road, near the public park from which it takes its name...
and Watford Junction
Watford Junction railway station
On 23 January 1975, an express train from Manchester to Euston derailed just south of Watford Junction after striking some stillages that had fallen on to the track. It then collided with a sleeper service from Euston to Glasgow. The driver of the Manchester train was killed, and eight passengers...
, opened between 1915 and 1917. The other expansion plans were postponed during World War I.
Government
In 1915, Stanley was given a wartime role as Director-General of Mechanical Transport at the Ministry of MunitionsMinister of Munitions
The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort...
. In 1916, he was selected by Prime Minister David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
to become President of the Board of Trade
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills is a cabinet position in the United Kingdom government. Its secondary title is the President of the Board of Trade...
. Lloyd George had previously promised this role to Sir Max Aitken
Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...
(later Lord Beaverbrook), Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne (UK Parliament constituency)
Ashton-under-Lyne is a constituency centred on the town of Ashton-under-Lyne that is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
. At that time, a member of parliament taking a cabinet post for the first time had to resign and stand for re-election in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
. Aitken had made arrangements to do this before Lloyd George decided to appoint Stanley to the position instead. Aitken, a friend of Stanley, was persuaded to continue with the resignation in exchange for a peerage so that Stanley could take his seat. Stanley became President of the Board of Trade and was made a Privy Counsellor on 13 December 1916. He was elected to parliament
Ashton-under-Lyne by-election, 1916
The Ashton-under-Lyne by-election, 1916 was a by-election held on 23 December 1916 for the British House of Commons constituency of Ashton-under-Lyne....
unopposed on 23 December 1916 as a Conservative Unionist. At 42 years old he was the youngest member of Lloyd George's coalition government
Coalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
.
At the 1918 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
, Stanley was opposed by Frederick Lister
Frederick Lister
Sir Thomas Frederick Lister CBE was the first chairman of the British Legion. Along with Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, Lister was a leading advocate for the foundation of the British Legion in the aftermath of the First World War.-Early life:Lister was born in Manchester...
, the President of the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers
National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers
The National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers was a British veterans organisation.The organisation was founded in January 1917 by various London-based veterans groups opposed to the Review of Exceptions Act, which made it possible for people invalided out of the armed...
, in a challenge over the government's policy on war pensions. With the backing of Beaverbrook, who visited his former constituency to speak on his behalf, Stanley won the election.
Stanley's achievements in office were mixed. He established various specialist departments to manage output in numerous industries and reorganised the structure of the Board. However, despite previous successes with unions, his negotiations were ineffective. Writing to Leader of the House of Commons
Leader of the House of Commons
The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Commons...
and future Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law in January 1919, Lloyd George described Stanley as having "all the glibness of Runciman
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford PC was a prominent Liberal, later National Liberal politician in the United Kingdom from the 1900s until the 1930s.-Background:...
and that is apt to take in innocent persons like you and me ... Stanley, to put it quite bluntly, is a funk, and there is no room for funks in the modern world." Stanley left the Board of Trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
and the government in May 1919 and returned to the UERL.
Return to the Underground
Back at the Underground Group, Stanley returned to his role as managing director and also became its chairman, replacing Lord George HamiltonLord George Hamilton
Lord George Francis Hamilton GCSI, PC, JP was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Background:...
. In the 1920 New Year Honours, he was made Baron Ashfield, of Southwell in the County of Nottingham, ending his term as an MP. He and Pick reactivated their expansion plans, and one of the most significant periods in the organisation's history began, subsequently considered to be its heyday and sometimes called its "Golden Age".
Ealing Broadway station
Ealing Broadway is an east-west National Rail and London Underground station in Ealing in west London. The station is located in Haven Green , at the termination of The Broadway, and is in Travelcard Zone 3.-Services:...
in 1920, and the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway was extended to Hendon
Hendon Central tube station
Hendon Central tube station is a London Underground station in North West London on the A41.The station is on the Edgware branch of the Northern Line, between Colindale and Brent Cross stations, and is on the boundary between Travelcard Zone 3 and Zone 4. Its postcode is NW4 2TE...
in 1923 and to Edgware
Edgware tube station
Edgware tube station is a London Underground station in Edgware, in the London Borough of Barnet, in North London. The station is the terminus of the Edgware branch of the Northern Line and the next station towards central London is . Edgware is in Travelcard Zone 5.-Location:The station is in...
in 1924. The City and South London Railway was reconstructed with larger diameter tunnels to take modern trains between 1922 and 1924 and extended to Morden
Morden tube station
Morden is a London Underground station in Morden in the London Borough of Merton. The station is the southern terminus for the Northern line and is the most southerly station on the Underground network. The next station north is...
in 1926. In addition, a programme of modernising many of the Underground's busiest central London stations was started; providing them with escalators to replace lifts
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
. New rolling stock was gradually introduced with automatic sliding doors along the length of the carriage instead of manual end gates. By the middle of the 1920s, the organisation had expanded to such an extent that a large, new headquarters building was constructed at 55 Broadway
55 Broadway
55 Broadway is a notable building overlooking St. James's Park in London. It was designed by Charles Holden and built between 1927 and 1929, and in 1931 the building earned him the RIBA London Architecture Medal...
over St. James's Park station
St. James's Park tube station
St James's Park is a London Underground station near St James's Park in the City of Westminster. It is served by the District and Circle Lines and is between Victoria and Westminster stations. It is in Travelcard Zone 1....
.
Starting in the early 1920s, competition from numerous small bus companies, nicknamed "pirates" because they operated irregular routes and plundered the LGOC's passengers, eroded the profitability of the Combine's bus operations and had a negative impact on the profitability of the whole group. Ashfield lobbied
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
the government for regulation of transport services in the London area. Starting in 1923, a series of legislative initiatives were made in this direction, with Ashfield and Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
lor (later MP and Minister of Transport) Herbert Morrison
Herbert Morrison
Herbert Stanley Morrison, Baron Morrison of Lambeth, CH, PC was a British Labour politician; he held a various number of senior positions in the Cabinet, including Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister.-Early life:Morrison was the son of a police constable and was born in...
, at the forefront of debates as to the level of regulation and public control under which transport services should be brought. Ashfield aimed for regulation that would give the UERL group protection from competition and allow it to take substantive control of the LCC's
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
tram system; Morrison preferred full public ownership. After seven years of false starts, a bill was announced at the end of 1930 for the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board
London Passenger Transport Board
The London Passenger Transport Board was the organisation responsible for public transport in London, UK, and its environs from 1933 to 1948...
(LPTB), a public corporation
Government-owned corporation
A government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...
that would take control of the UERL, the Metropolitan Railway and all bus and tram operators within an area designated as the London Passenger Transport Area. As Ashfield had done with shareholders in 1910 over the consolidation of the three UERL controlled tube lines, he used his persuasiveness to obtain their agreements to the government buy-out of their stock.
The Board was a compromise – public ownership but not full nationalisation
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
– and came into existence on 1 July 1933. Ashfield served as the organisation's chairman from its establishment in 1933 on an annual salary of £12,500 (approximately £ today), with Pick as Chief Executive.
The opening of extensions of the Piccadilly line
Piccadilly Line
The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the fifth busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line, running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
to Uxbridge
Uxbridge tube station
Uxbridge is a London Underground station in Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, north-west London. The station is the terminus of the Uxbridge branches of both the Metropolitan Line and the Piccadilly Line. The next station towards London is Hillingdon. The station is 15.5 miles west of...
, Hounslow
Hounslow West tube station
Hounslow West is a London Underground station in Hounslow in west London. The station is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly Line, between Hatton Cross and Hounslow Central stations. The station is located on Bath Road about 600m from the junction of Bath Road, Great West Road and Great...
and Cockfosters
Cockfosters tube station
Cockfosters is a London Underground station on the Piccadilly Line for which it is the northern terminus. The station is located on Cockfosters Road approximately 9 miles from central London and serves Cockfosters in the London Borough of Barnet although it is actually located a short distance...
followed in 1933. On the Metropolitan Railway, Ashfield and Pick instigated a rationalisation of services. The barely used and loss-making Brill
Brill Tramway
The Brill Tramway, also known as the Quainton Tramway, Wotton Tramway, Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad and Metropolitan Railway Brill Branch, was a six-mile rail line in the Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire, England...
and Verney Junction
Verney Junction railway station
Verney Junction was a railway station at a junction serving four directions between 1868 and 1968 and from where excursions as far as Ramsgate could be booked...
branches beyond Aylesbury
Aylesbury railway station
Aylesbury railway station is a railway station in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England and is a major stop on the London to Aylesbury Line from Marylebone station via Amersham. It is 37.75 miles from Aylesbury Station to Marylebone Station...
were closed in 1935 and 1936. Freight services were reduced and electrification of the remaining steam operated sections of the line was planned. In 1935, the availability of government-backed loans to stimulate the flagging economy allowed Ashfield and Pick to promote system-wide improvements under the New Works Programme for 1935–1940
New Works Programme
The "New Works Programme, 1935 - 1940" was the major investment programme delivered by the London Passenger Transport Board , commonly known as London Transport, which had been created in 1933 to coordinate underground train, tram, trolleybus and bus services in the capital and the surrounding areas...
, including the transfer of the Metropolitan line
Metropolitan Line
The Metropolitan line is part of the London Underground. It is coloured in Transport for London's Corporate Magenta on the Tube map and in other branding. It was the first underground railway in the world, opening as the Metropolitan Railway on 10 January 1863...
's Stanmore
Stanmore tube station
Stanmore tube station is a London Underground station at Stanmore. It is the northern terminus of the Jubilee Line; the previous station is Canons Park. It is in Travelcard Zone 5...
services to the Bakerloo line
Bakerloo Line
The Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from Elephant and Castle in the south-east to Harrow & Wealdstone in the north-west of London. The line serves 25 stations, of which 15 are underground...
in 1939, the Northern line
Northern Line
The Northern line is a London Underground line. It is coloured black on the Tube map.For most of its length it is a deep-level tube line. The line carries 206,734,000 passengers per year. This is the highest number of any line on the London Underground system, but the Northern line is unique in...
's Northern Heights project and extension of the Central line
Central Line
The Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and, at , has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...
to Ongar
Ongar tube station
Ongar tube station is a former London Underground station in the town of Chipping Ongar, Essex. Until its closure in 1994, it was the easternmost point of the Central line, and from 1961 until closure, it held the distinction of being the London Underground station farthest from Central...
and Denham
Denham railway station
Denham railway station is in Buckinghamshire, England, on the Chiltern Main Line north west of Marylebone towards High Wycombe.-History:The station was built just to the north of Denham village as part of the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway from Grendon Underwood junction to...
.Much of the works were interrupted by World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After the War, changed priorities, funding shortages and the creation of London's Metropolitan Green Belt
Metropolitan Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt is a statutory green belt around London, England. It includes designated parts of Greater London and the surrounding counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey in the South East and East of England regions.-History:The...
led to much of the Northern line expansion plan being cancelled and delays in completing other plans.
Following a reorganisation of public transportation by the Labour government of Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
, the LPTB was scheduled to be nationalised along with the majority of British railway, bus, road haulage and waterway concerns from 1 January 1948. In advance of this, Ashfield resigned from the LPTB at the end of October 1947 and joined the board of the new British Transport Commission
British Transport Commission
The British Transport Commission was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain...
which was to operate all of the nationalised public transport systems. At nationalisation, the LPTB was to be abolished and replaced by the London Transport Executive
London Transport Executive
The London Transport Executive was the organisation responsible for public transport in the Greater London area, UK, between 1948-1962. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.-Creation:On 1...
. Lord Latham
Charles Latham, 1st Baron Latham
Charles Latham, 1st Baron Latham was a British politician and Leader of the London County Council from 1940 to 1947....
, a member of the LPTB and the incoming chairman of the new organisation, acted as temporary chairman for the last two months of the LPTB's existence.
Other activities
In addition to his management of London UndergroundLondon Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
and brief political career, Ashfield held many directorships in transport undertakings and industry. He helped establish the Institute of Transport
Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport
The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport is a professional body representing the transport and logistics industries worldwide...
in 1919/20 and was one of its first presidents. He was a director of the Mexican Railway Company and two railway companies in Cuba and a member of the 1931 Royal Commission on Railways and Transportation in Canada. He was one of two government directors of the British Dyestuffs Corporation
British Dyestuffs Corporation
British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd was a British company formed in 1919 from the merger of British Dyes Ltd with Levinstein Ltd. The British Government was the company's largest shareholder, and had two directors on the board....
, its chairman from 1924 and was involved in the creation of Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
in 1926, of which he was subsequently a non-executive director. Ashfield was a director of the Midland Bank
Midland Bank
Midland Bank Plc was one of the Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birmingham, England in August 1836...
, Amalgamated Anthracite Collieries and chairman of Albany Ward Theatres, Associated Provincial Picture Houses, and Provincial Cinematograph Theatres.
During World War I, he was Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
of the Territorial Force
Territorial Force
The Territorial Force was the volunteer reserve component of the British Army from 1908 to 1920, when it became the Territorial Army.-Origins:...
Engineer and Railway Staff Corps and was Honorary Colonel of the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
's 84th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment during World War II.
Personality
Biographers of Stanley characterise him as having an "immensely active mind, and a strong sense of public duty" and a "great charm of manner and a sense of humour which concealed an almost ruthless determination" that made him a "formidable negotiator". His "intuitive understanding of his fellow men" gave him "presence, which allowed him to dominate meetings effortlessly" and "inspired loyalty, devotion even, among his staff". He was "a dapper ladies' man, something of a playboy tycoon, who was always smartly turned out and enjoyed moving in high society".Legacy
Ashfield died on 4 November 1948 at 31 Queen's GateQueen's Gate
Queen's Gate is a major street in South Kensington, London, England. It runs from Kensington Road south, intersecting with Cromwell Road, and then on to Old Brompton Road....
, South Kensington
South Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
. During his near forty-year tenure as managing director and chairman of the Underground Group and the LPTB, Ashfield oversaw the transformation of a collection of unconnected, competing railway, bus and tram companies, some in severe financial difficulties, into a coherent and well managed transport organisation, internationally respected for its technical expertise and design style. Transport historian Christian Wolmar
Christian Wolmar
Christian Wolmar is a British journalist, author, and railway historian of Swedish and Russian descent. He is best known for his books and commentary on transport, especially as a pundit on Britain's railway network, and was named Transport Journalist of the Year in the National Transport Awards in...
considers it "almost impossible to exaggerate the high regard in which LT was held during its all too brief heyday, attracting official visitors from around the world eager to learn the lessons of its success and apply them in their own countries." "It represented the apogee of a type of confident public administration ... with a reputation that any state organisation today would envy ... only made possible by the brilliance of its two famous leaders, Ashfield and Pick."
A memorial to Ashfield was erected at 55 Broadway in 1950 and a blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
was placed at his home, 43 South Street, Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
in 1984. A large office building at London Underground's Lillie Bridge Depot is named Ashfield House in his honour. It stands to the south of the District line
District Line
The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels. It is the busiest of the sub-surface lines. Out of the 60 stations served, 25 are underground...
tracks a short distance to the east of West Kensington station
West Kensington tube station
West Kensington is a London Underground District Line station in West Kensington. It is located in North End Road close to the junction of that road and West Cromwell Road/Talgarth Road ....
and is also visible from West Cromwell Road (A4).
External links
- London Transport Museum Photographic Archive
- National Portrait Gallery
- Photograph of Lord Ashfield by Howard Coster, 1936
- http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp07945&rNo=12&role=artCaricature by Anthony Wysard of Lord Ashfield asleep in the lap of Jacob EpsteinJacob EpsteinSir Jacob Epstein KBE was an American-born British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British citizen in 1911. He often produced controversial works which challenged taboos on what was appropriate subject matter...
's controversial statute Night, 1938]
- The Spanish American War Centennial Website, The Crew of the USS Yosemite Lord Ashfield's blue plaque.