William James (railway promoter)
Encyclopedia
William James was an English lawyer, surveyor, land agent and pioneer promoter of rail transport. "He was the original projector of the Liverpool & Manchester and other railways, and may with truth be considered as the father of the railway system, as he surveyed numerous lines at his own expense at a time when such an innovation was generally ridiculed."
in Warwickshire
, and educated at The King's School, Warwick
, near Birmingham
and at Lincoln’s Inn in London
, James joined the law practice of his father, William senior, in his home town before setting out as a land agent in which capacity he supervised estates in the West Midlands
and beyond for, amongst others, the Dewes family of Wellesbourne
Hall, Warwickshire; the Earl of Warwick
, of Warwick Castle
(but with property widely distributed); the Yates family of Lancashire
; the Earl of Dartmouth at Sandwell
Park, West Bromwich
; the Archbishop of Canterbury
at Lambeth
in London; and the Agar family of Lanhydrock House
in Cornwall
. James sought unsuccessfully for coal in East Sussex
but successfully operated coal mines in his own right in south Staffordshire
. Having an understanding of geology
, James invariably advised his clients to concentrate on realising the mineral wealth of their estates and it was in this connection that he first began to propose railways, including, in 1802/03, an early version of the Bolton and Leigh Railway
.
’s steam locomotive
Catch me who can
in London; certainly at this time he began to consider the long-term development of this means of transport, although he recognised that something more durable than cast iron
would be needed for the rails themselves. For example, at the time of the Napoleonic Wars
of 1815, he wrote to the Prince Regent
proposing a railway link between the two principal naval dockyards at Chatham
and Portsmouth
which in peacetime could be used for passenger traffic; and in 1820/21 he promoted a Central Junction Railway from Stratford-upon-Avon
to Paddington
in London. In 1821 he made several trips to inspect railway developments in the Northumberland
coalfield and met George Stephenson
of Killingworth
Colliery, his son Robert
and the ironfounder William Losh
. This resulted in an agreement for James to market the Stephenson/Losh patent locomotive (which James branded as the Land-Agent type) in England south of the Humber-Mersey line, with a supplementary agreement for Stephenson and Losh to use the patent for multitubular locomotive boiler
s taken out by William Henry James, William James’s son.
In 1822 James, with his brother-in-law Paul Padley as chief surveyor, began on behalf of Joseph Sandars, a Liverpool
businessman, and others to survey a route for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
in Lancashire; and in 1823-4 he surveyed three possible routes for the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway
in Kent
. He was also during this period advocating railways as an extension to the Grand Surrey Canal
and as an alternative to the (never-built) London and Cambridge Junction Canal; and steam locomotives for the Surrey Iron Railway
. Stephenson, however, was never prepared to produce locomotives for James to demonstrate to potential clients and no sales were made through his agency.
in Southwark
for debt
(during which time he wrote a scheme for a network of railways in the south of England) and later in 1823 he was adjudged bankrupt
. The distractions caused by this, by his involvement in so many projects simultaneously, and by bouts of illness, tended to prevent James from personally bringing to fruition any of the railway projects he had helped to initiate. In 1824, George Stephenson, assisted by Padley, was appointed surveyor to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, largely utilising the route projected by James, and in the following year Stephenson was made engineer of the Canterbury and Whitstable, using James’s least preferred route. James’s visionary steam-worked 100 mi (160.9 km) Central Junction Railway emerged as the 16 mi (25.7 km) horse-worked Stratford and Moreton Tramway
opened in 1826 with John Urpeth Rastrick
as surveyor and Robert Stephenson senior (George’s brother) in an engineering capacity.
, seeing it through to completion in 1816, including the money-saving proposal to construct the Edstone Aqueduct in cast iron; and he also held shares in the Upper Avon Navigation
.
in Cornwall primarily to improve the estates of Anna-Maria Agar of Lanhydrock. He had plans to develop the ports of Devoran and Truro
and build a railway from Fowey
to Padstow
, none of which came to fruition under his management. Following a winter journey by mail coach
he contracted pneumonia
of which he died at Bodmin early in 1837.
, a member of the Royal Society of Arts, and, during the Napoleonic Wars, had been an officer in the Warwickshire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry
. He married his first wife, Dinah Tarleton, in 1793 and they had eight children. Following her death in 1830, he married Elizabeth Butt, 36 years his junior, in 1832, and they had two more daughters. It was said of him that "though corpulent, his manners were elegant and easy." William James and his eldest son William Henry James (1796–1873) were patentees of a number of inventions related to the improvement of transport.
for financial help both by himself around 1826 and, after his death, on behalf of his children in 1846 were abandoned. Annoyed by her father’s treatment in Samuel Smiles
’s biographies of Stephenson one of James’s daughters, Ellen Paine, wrote a defence of him in which, as even a sympathetic historian, L. T. C. Rolt
, concludes, she "defeats her own object by overstating her case" and it was not until 2007 that a substantive biography appeared. He is commemorated by a plaque
on a former residence in Henley-in-Arden and a scheme to restore a Stratford and Moreton Tramway wagon in Stratford. He also has a road named after him in the David Wilson 'Henley Point' Development in Henley in Arden, named William James Way
Land Agent
Born at Henley-in-ArdenHenley-in-Arden
Henley-in-Arden is a small town in Warwickshire, England. The name is a reference to the former Forest of Arden. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 2,011....
in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, and educated at The King's School, Warwick
Warwick School
Warwick School is an independent school with boarding facilities for boys in Warwick, England, and is reputed to be the third-oldest surviving school in the country after King's School, Canterbury and St Peter's School, York; and the oldest boy's school in England...
, near Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and at Lincoln’s Inn 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...
, James joined the law practice of his father, William senior, in his home town before setting out as a land agent in which capacity he supervised estates in the West Midlands
West Midlands (region)
The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
and beyond for, amongst others, the Dewes family of Wellesbourne
Wellesbourne
Wellesbourne is a large village and civil parish in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of the UK. In the 2001 census the parish, which also includes the village of Walton, had a population of 5,691 Wellesbourne is a large village and civil parish in the county of Warwickshire,...
Hall, Warwickshire; the Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick is a title that has been created four times in British history and is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the British Isles.-1088 creation:...
, of Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a bend on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century,...
(but with property widely distributed); the Yates family of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
; the Earl of Dartmouth at Sandwell
Sandwell
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,...
Park, West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
; the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
at Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
in London; and the Agar family of Lanhydrock House
Lanhydrock House
Lanhydrock is a civil parish centred on a country estate and mansion in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The parish lies south of the town of Bodmin and is bounded to the north by Bodmin parish, to the south by Lanlivery parish and to the west by Lanivet parish. The population was 171 in the 2001 census...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. James sought unsuccessfully for coal in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
but successfully operated coal mines in his own right in south Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. Having an understanding of geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, James invariably advised his clients to concentrate on realising the mineral wealth of their estates and it was in this connection that he first began to propose railways, including, in 1802/03, an early version of the Bolton and Leigh Railway
Bolton and Leigh Railway
The Bolton and Leigh Railway was the first public railway in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It opened in 1828 for goods.-History:...
.
Railway work
It seems likely that in 1808 James attended the demonstration running of Richard TrevithickRichard Trevithick
Richard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...
’s steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
Catch me who can
Catch me who can
Catch Me Who Can was the fourth and last steam railway locomotive created by Richard Trevithick, . Built in 1808 by Rastrick and Hazledine at their foundry in Bridgnorth, England...
in London; certainly at this time he began to consider the long-term development of this means of transport, although he recognised that something more durable than cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
would be needed for the rails themselves. For example, at the time of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
of 1815, he wrote to the Prince Regent
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
proposing a railway link between the two principal naval dockyards at Chatham
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
and Portsmouth
HMNB Portsmouth
Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...
which in peacetime could be used for passenger traffic; and in 1820/21 he promoted a Central Junction Railway from Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
to Paddington
Paddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
in London. In 1821 he made several trips to inspect railway developments in the Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
coalfield and met George Stephenson
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
of Killingworth
Killingworth
Killingworth, formerly Killingworth Township, is a town north of Newcastle Upon Tyne, in North Tyneside, United Kingdom.Built as a planned town in the 1960s, most of Killingworth's residents commute to Newcastle, or the city's surrounding area. However, Killingworth itself has a sizeable...
Colliery, his son Robert
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...
and the ironfounder William Losh
William Losh
William Losh was a chemist and industrialist who is credited with introducing the Leblanc process for the manufacture of alkali to the United Kingdom....
. This resulted in an agreement for James to market the Stephenson/Losh patent locomotive (which James branded as the Land-Agent type) in England south of the Humber-Mersey line, with a supplementary agreement for Stephenson and Losh to use the patent for multitubular locomotive boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s taken out by William Henry James, William James’s son.
In 1822 James, with his brother-in-law Paul Padley as chief surveyor, began on behalf of Joseph Sandars, a Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
businessman, and others to survey a route for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Liverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives. The line opened on 15 September 1830 and ran between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in North...
in Lancashire; and in 1823-4 he surveyed three possible routes for the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway
Canterbury and Whitstable Railway
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, sometimes referred to colloquially as the Crab and Winkle Line, was an early British railway that opened in 1830 between Canterbury and Whitstable in the county of Kent, England.- Early history :...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. He was also during this period advocating railways as an extension to the Grand Surrey Canal
Grand Surrey Canal
The Grand Surrey Canal was a canal constructed in south London, England during the early 19th century. It opened to the Old Kent Road in 1807, to Camberwell in 1810, and to Peckham in 1826. Its main cargo was timber. It closed progressively from the 1940s, with all but the Greenland Dock closing in...
and as an alternative to the (never-built) London and Cambridge Junction Canal; and steam locomotives for the Surrey Iron Railway
Surrey Iron Railway
The Surrey Iron Railway was a horse drawn plateway whose width approximated to a standard gauge railway that linked the former Surrey towns of Wandsworth and Croydon via Mitcham...
. Stephenson, however, was never prepared to produce locomotives for James to demonstrate to potential clients and no sales were made through his agency.
Misfortunes
In 1822-3, James spent time in the King’s Bench PrisonPrison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
in Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
for debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
(during which time he wrote a scheme for a network of railways in the south of England) and later in 1823 he was adjudged bankrupt
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. The distractions caused by this, by his involvement in so many projects simultaneously, and by bouts of illness, tended to prevent James from personally bringing to fruition any of the railway projects he had helped to initiate. In 1824, George Stephenson, assisted by Padley, was appointed surveyor to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, largely utilising the route projected by James, and in the following year Stephenson was made engineer of the Canterbury and Whitstable, using James’s least preferred route. James’s visionary steam-worked 100 mi (160.9 km) Central Junction Railway emerged as the 16 mi (25.7 km) horse-worked Stratford and Moreton Tramway
Stratford and Moreton Tramway
The Stratford and Moreton Tramway was a 16-mile long horse-drawn wagonway from the canal basin at Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire to Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour....
opened in 1826 with John Urpeth Rastrick
John Urpeth Rastrick
John Urpeth Rastrick was one of the first English steam locomotive builders. In partnership with James Foster, he formed Foster, Rastrick and Company, the locomotive construction company that built the Stourbridge Lion in 1829 for export to the Delaware and Hudson Railroad in America.-Early...
as surveyor and Robert Stephenson senior (George’s brother) in an engineering capacity.
Waterways
Although recognising that railways were the coming mode of transport, James inherited inland waterways interests from his father. He was on the managing committee of the Stratford-upon-Avon CanalStratford-upon-Avon Canal
The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England.The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal...
, seeing it through to completion in 1816, including the money-saving proposal to construct the Edstone Aqueduct in cast iron; and he also held shares in the Upper Avon Navigation
River Avon, Warwickshire
The River Avon or Avon is a river in or adjoining the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in the Midlands of England...
.
Later career
In 1827 James moved to BodminBodmin
Bodmin is a civil parish and major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the centre of the county southwest of Bodmin Moor.The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character...
in Cornwall primarily to improve the estates of Anna-Maria Agar of Lanhydrock. He had plans to develop the ports of Devoran and Truro
Truro
Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...
and build a railway from Fowey
Fowey
Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273.-Early history:...
to Padstow
Padstow
Padstow is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately five miles northwest of Wadebridge, ten miles northwest of Bodmin and ten miles northeast of Newquay...
, none of which came to fruition under his management. Following a winter journey by mail coach
Mail coach
In Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries, from 1784. In Ireland, the first mail coach began service from Dublin in 1789. The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside. Further passengers were later allowed...
he contracted pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
of which he died at Bodmin early in 1837.
Personal life
James was a freemasonFreemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, a member of the Royal Society of Arts, and, during the Napoleonic Wars, had been an officer in the Warwickshire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry
Warwickshire Yeomanry
The Warwickshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as a cavalry and dismounted infantry regiment in the First World War and as a cavalry and an armoured regiment in the Second World War, before being amalgamated into The Queen's Own...
. He married his first wife, Dinah Tarleton, in 1793 and they had eight children. Following her death in 1830, he married Elizabeth Butt, 36 years his junior, in 1832, and they had two more daughters. It was said of him that "though corpulent, his manners were elegant and easy." William James and his eldest son William Henry James (1796–1873) were patentees of a number of inventions related to the improvement of transport.
Reputation
Partly because he was never acknowledged by George Stephenson (although the younger Robert and other engineers remained sympathetic), James received little recognition for his work and written memorials to ParliamentParliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
for financial help both by himself around 1826 and, after his death, on behalf of his children in 1846 were abandoned. Annoyed by her father’s treatment in Samuel Smiles
Samuel Smiles
-Early life:Born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, the son of Samuel Smiles of Haddington and Janet Wilson of Dalkeith, Smiles was one of eleven surviving children. The family were strict Cameronians, though when Smiles grew up he was not one of them...
’s biographies of Stephenson one of James’s daughters, Ellen Paine, wrote a defence of him in which, as even a sympathetic historian, L. T. C. Rolt
L. T. C. Rolt
Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt was a prolific English writer and the biographer of major civil engineering figures including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Telford...
, concludes, she "defeats her own object by overstating her case" and it was not until 2007 that a substantive biography appeared. He is commemorated by a plaque
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...
on a former residence in Henley-in-Arden and a scheme to restore a Stratford and Moreton Tramway wagon in Stratford. He also has a road named after him in the David Wilson 'Henley Point' Development in Henley in Arden, named William James Way
External links
- Transport Visionary: William James William James memorial website