The Imperial Tramways Company Ltd (1878 to 1930) was created to bring under common management a number of street tramways. Originally based in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, its headquarters moved to Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 in 1892 and from then on it shared its senior management with Bristol Tramways

Bristol Omnibus Company

The Bristol Omnibus Company is the former name of the dominant bus operator in Bristol, one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. The company once ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties. The name was in operational use until 1985...

 under the chairmanship of George White.

History

In 1878 Imperial acquired the street tramway systems in Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...

 and Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in north east England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority and borough of Stockton-on-Tees. For ceremonial purposes, the borough is split between County Durham and North Yorkshire as it also incorporates a number of smaller towns including...

, Dublin (Southern District), Gloucester

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

 and Reading

Reading Transport

Reading Transport Ltd is a bus operator serving the towns of Reading, Newbury and the surrounding area in the English county of Berkshire. The company is wholly owned by Reading Borough Council and operates under the brands Reading Buses, Newbury Buses and Goldline Travel...

, plus the Corris Railway

Corris Railway

The Corris Railway is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire and Montgomeryshire in Mid-Wales....

 in Wales. The Gloucester system was sold in 1881, the Dublin system in 1898, and Reading was taken over by the town council in 1901. The Darlington

Darlington

Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...

 system was added in 1898 and taken over by its local council in 1902.

In 1894, Imperial formed 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:...

 to develop the moribund West Metropolitan system and, under the energetic leadership of Clifton Robinson

Clifton Robinson

Sir Clifton Robinson was known as the "Tramway King", having involvement in the building and operating of street tramways in New York, London, Liverpool, Dublin, Cork, Bristol, Edinburgh and Los Angeles...

, much of the system was electrified. Control of LUT passed away from Imperial in the 1900s (it was later acquired by 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...

 in 1933), and thereafter Imperial served more as an investment vehicle for the White family than as a developer of tramway systems.

The Middlesbrough system was taken over by the local council in 1921, and with the sale of the Corris Railway to the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

 in 1930 the Imperial company had outlived its purpose and was wound up.

Directors

• Rowland Blennerhassett
  Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet
  Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet PC , JP was an Irish baronet and Liberal Party politician from County Kerry....
  
  , from 1878 to 1879
• John Marshall Gillies, from 1878 to 1881
• Joseph William Greig, from 1878 to 1881
• Thomas Miller Mackay, from 1878 to 1880
• Alfred James Lambert, from 1878 to 1891
• Walter Rathbone Bacon, from 1879 to 1883
• William Ward, from 1882 to 1892
• Edward Temperley Gourley
  Edward Temperley Gourley
  Sir Edward Temperley Gourley, VD was a coal fitter, shipowner and politician born in Sunderland, England. He was knighted for his political work.-Early life:...
  
  , from 1883 to 1892
• George White, from 1892 to 1916
• Hugh Charles Godfray, from 1892 to 1918
• Clifton Robinson
  Clifton Robinson
  Sir Clifton Robinson was known as the "Tramway King", having involvement in the building and operating of street tramways in New York, London, Liverpool, Dublin, Cork, Bristol, Edinburgh and Los Angeles...
  
  , from 1892 to 1910
• Samuel White, from 1902 to 1928
• Hugh Greenfield Doggett, from 1910 to 1915
• James Henry Howell, from 1915 to 1926
• William George Verdon Smith, from 1917 to 1930
• George Stanley White, from 1917 to 1930
• Sydney Ernest Smith, from 1926 to 1930
• Sidney Edgar Baker, from 1929 to 1930