HULL RAILWAYS. BY G. G. MACTURK. .A. HISTORY OF THE PPoICE PI^LIF-Y^-CP^O'W'PT. ZE rOMiXj: HULL PACKET OFFICE, 22, WHITEFSIAEGATE. THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY 7>&OA2 W\Voh / ♦ .A. HISTORY OF THE HULL RAILWAYS. BY G. G. MACTURK. PRICE HALF-A-CROWIT. id. UHL : HULL JACKET OFFICE, 22, WHITEFEIAPGATE. ^33^^ ****** 385 . 4a TO CHRISTOPHER SYKES, Esq., OF BRANTINGHAMTHORPE, M.P. FOR THE EAST RIDING, Ac., Ac., CHAIRMAN OF THE HULL SOUTH AND WEST JUNCTION RAILWAY COMPANY, 1872, AND A PROMOTER OF THE HULL AND BARNSLEY RAILWAY, 1880, I DEDICATE THIS BOOK. G. G. MACTURK. i dr Ry eland Hill, South Cave, November 29th, 1879, 832658 --o ’ * . > ' § ' ■ O O 2sT T 1C IN" T S . Chapter. I. — Early Approaches to Hull IT. — The Leeds and Selby Railway III.— The Hull and Selby Railway IY. — The Lease to the York and North Midland ... Y. — The Railway Mania, as it Aeeected Hull YI. — Tnu Hull and Barnsley Junction Railway YTI. — Admission oe the Leeds and Manchester Company as Joint Lessees oe the Hull and Selby Railway . VIII. — Hull and Bridlington Branch IX. — The Paragon Station X. — Hull and Market Weighton Railway, yia Brough XI. — Hull and Holderness Railway ... ... XII. — Hull, Goole, and Doncaster XIII— The Hull and Hornsea Railway XIY. — On Recent Eeeoiits to Open the Port... ... ... XY. — Hull, South and West Junction Railway XYI. — Conclusion Page. i 17 36 78 89 92 109 113 130 131 137 141 145 146 151 165 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https ://arch i ve . o rg/d etai Is/h i sto ryof h u 1 1 rai 00 m act CHAPTER I. indent ta H ULL owes its birth, growth, and development to its situation at the junction of the Rivers Hull and Humber. At the Norman Conquest, Gamel Fitz-Quetal, who had come from Meux, in France, with a troop of men of the same town, took a certain portion of land on the banks of the Humber, where he fixed his abode and that of his companions. They, wishing to attach to their new habitation a remembrance of their native town, gave it the name of Meux, and some years later Meux Abbey was built there. The first mention of Hull is in a grant of land to the monks of Meux in 1160. Hull was probably the landing place or port for the Norman soldiers and monks of Meux. At that time the River Hull ran from near the Charter House and emptied into the Humber at Limekiln Creek. I fancy its course can be traced in slight hollows in the present surface in various places — for instance, in Grimston Street, Bond Street, and Waterhouse Lane. The present channel through the Old Harbour was formed in the 13th century, probably in 1256. In 1269 the River Hull was made navigable for ships as well as boats between Beverley and the Humber. In 1293 Hull became the property of King Edward I. by exchange with the monks of Meux. In 1297 Hull was constituted one of the few ports in the kingdom, from which alone the great native commodities of the country might be legally exported, and was assigned as the sole port of exportation for the whole of Yorkshire. Goods came by boats from York, and were transhipped into proper vessels at Hull. 2 HISTOBY OF BAIL WAYS INTO HULL, In 1299 two markets were appointed by Charter of Edward I. to be held in Hull on Tuesdays and Fridays, and the time of holding the annual fair was extended to 30 days, shewing its importance both as a town and place of trade. “ The canons of Bolton Abbey made yearly purchases there to a considerable extent of wine, cloth, and other articles.” — Whitaker’s Craven. “ Wines were very largely imported there in the 13th century, and this town furnished the greater part of Yorkshire and the adjoining counties with wine.” — Bay. The chief exports were wool, leather, and lead, and a large trade was carried on with the Italian merchants of Florence and Lucca. In the month of April, 1300, King Edward I. set out for the North, and taking his route through Lincolnshire, he crossed the Humber with his retinue on the 26th of May by the Boyal Ferry between Barton and Hessle. The high-road northward (Via Begia) lay at that time (as it does now) in a direct line from Hessle to Beverley, but the King took a circuitous route solely for the purpose of viewing the state of his newly-created Borough of Hull. It is probable the King only stayed one day in Hull, but the effect of his visit was soon visible in various improvements, and particularly in the pavement of the streets. # An extensive traffic had for more than a century before the King’s visit been carried on by water, but there was little facility of access to the town by land, the roads — such as they were — not being Boyal highways — were unsafe and incommodious, and a presentment was made to Parliament, which set forth that no one could approach or leave the town either with horses or carts. Upon this a Commission was issued in 1302 to William de Carlton, Bector of the Church of North Cave, and Galfrid de Flotham, authorising them to set out roads leading to Hull. Their inquiries terminated in their appointing the three great roads now in use — one of which leads directly to Beverley, another through Anlaby to the Via Begia from Hessle to Beverley, and the third into Holderness. The first- mentioned roads left the Biver Hull by Scale Lane and Whitefriargate (then called Aldegate) and Carr Lane ; the road to Beverley * In 1121 Lincoln was made a port by Henry I., who cut a channel from Torkescy to Lincoln, and by joining it to the Trent made a passage for ships. * It is on record that paving-stones, many of which are probably still in use, were imported in Dutch vessels from Amsterdam and Dordrecht as ballast in 1400. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS IHTO HULL. 3 branching off by way of Chariot Street, Carlisle Street, and Prospect Street ; the road into Holderness crossed the Biver Hull at or near the present North Bridge and went to Bilton Brig. There was no direct ferry from Hull into Lincolnshire, the route being by the Boyal Ferry between Barton and Hessle, but complaints were made of the exorbitant charges, and a ferry from Hull to Barton was founded by King Edward II. The fare was for every man on foot and Id. for a man and horse. It was styled the “ South Ferry,” in contradistinction to the “ North Ferry ” over the Biver Hull. In 1320 the yearly value was 40s. ; in 1356 it was 53s. 4d. ; and in 1829 it produced to the Corporation £600 a year. In 1377 the population of Hull was about 2,000. For many of these particulars I am indebted to “ Frost’s Early History of Hull” and “ Thierry’s History of the Norman Conquest.” It was the custom, after having prepared their stock of salted meat, to shut tie gates of the town for the winter months, and re-open them at the approach of spring. Communication, however, by water would be kept up with York, Selby, Lincoln,* Beverley, and foreign ports. Up to about 100 years ago there were few wheeled vehicles. People of humble rank travelled on foot, and those of a higher station on horseback. Our grandmothers rode behind our grandfathers on a pillion seat.* When accompanying their husbands, brothers, or lovers they put their right arm round their waists. When riding with a groom they grasped the strong leather belt, which still survives as part of a groom’s livery, though the original use is gone. About 90 years ago the Turnpike and Inclosures Acts were passed, and the roads were improved, and carriages and carts began to be more general. The London and South Mails went by the ferry to Barton water-side, and thence by coach to London. A daily coach was established to run to Selby, in connection with coaches to Leeds and Manchester. A coach also ran to Doncaster, crossing the Ouse at Booth Ferry. The following is a memoranda of the fare and expenses of a journey from Hull to London : — * I have in my possession tlic pillion scat on which my grandmother used to ride from South Cave to Hull once a year to buy groceries and dress* 4 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. £ s. d. Rare to London 3 3 0 Coachman 0 8 0 Guard 0 5 0 Living Up 0 6 0 £4 2 0 The Hull coaches star bed from the Land-of-Green-Ginger, the Post-office being there — but before this I think the Post-Office was at an old hostelry called the Reindeer, on the site of which now stand Nos. 61 and 62, Market Place. In 1802 a steam packet was placed on the Forth and Clyde canal, with a single paddle-wheel in the stern, but was withdrawn through fear of the undulation injuring the banks, and in 1811 “ The Comet” was started at Glasgow to run to Helensburg. The progress of steam navigation was afterwards rapid. But at first only on the rivers and estuaries, until between 1818 and 1830 steam packets came gradually into use as sea-going vessels. Steam packets were run from Hull to London and to Selby and York, and one for a time started from Leeds Bridge and ran to Hull in connection with the London boats. In 1815 “ The Caledonia ” was started to run from Hull to Selby. More than 50 years ago Mr. William John Hall (a friend of the late Alderman Brownlow) was the proprietor of a fleet of sailing vessels trading between Hull and London. In the spring of 1821 there was issued from his house, Custom House Quay, London, the prospectus of the “ General Steam Navigation Company.” At that time there were only 80 steamers afloat in England. The “ General Steam Navigation Company ” purchased four of the best existing steamers, built on the Clyde — the “ Lord Melville,” the “Earl of Liverpool,” the “ Boyal Sovereign,” and the “ City of London ” — to run between London and Hull and London and Ramsgate. These steamers were not large, the tonnage being about 240 with 40-horse power. They subsequently employed Mr. David Napier, of Glasgow and London, to build larger steamers, and amongst others he produced the “ United Kingdom,” styled by enthusiastic newspaper reporters “ the wonder of the age.” The “ United Kingdom ” was 160 feet long and 27 feet in breadth at the paddles, with engines of 200-liorse power, and was placed on the new line between London and Leith, and excited public attention so much that crowds flocked from all parts to sec her, The “United Kingdom” had put into Hull for HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 5 coal, and was lying off tlie port when the “ Graham,” a small steamer running between Hull and Grimsby, was coming up from Grimsby. The passengers were very anxious to see the “ United Kingdom.” The “ Graham ” was brought up alongside, and the passengers and engineers crowded on deck, leaving the valve uncared for. A fearful explosion was the result, and much loss of life. This was in 1828. But a more disastrous explosion was that in 1837 of the “ Union,” the particulars of which are given from the Hull Packet : — “ This dreadful occurrence took place on Wednesday morning, June 7tli, , soon after six o’clock. It had been announced that the Union would leave Hull for Gainsborough at a quarter-past six, by which time a great many passengers were assembled on board the vessel— the number being larger than usual, on account, probably, of Retford Fair, which is much famed, being held this week. The steamer, at this time, was laying in the Humber Dock-basin, close alongside the East Pier. The morning was beautiful ; the passengers, in all the buoyancy of expectation, were anticipating their voyage ; preparations were being made for quitting the shore, when, with one loud crash, the deck of the quivering vessel was rent to shivers, while devastation and death were spread thickly around. One moment put an end for ever to the bright hopes of numbers, and rendered many a father childless. For some moments after the explosion, a dense white vapour prevented the eye from beholding the full extent of the awful calamity, but when the partial mist had cleared away a most distressing sight was presented. Numbers of human beings were struggling in the water, endeavouring to escape a threatening death — -others were stretched, mangled and bleeding corpses, on the quay and vessels in the neighbourhood — while some were shrieking in agony, having received wounds and scalds of the most dreadful nature. The water rushed into the opened seams of the ill-fated vessel, and, in a few minutes after the explosion, she went down. Boats were, fortunately, near at hand, and they put off and afforded immediate assistance to those individuals who were immersed in the Basin. Information of the calamity was carried to the Station-house, and a number of the police force were 02 the spot in a few minutes, and afforded assistance to the unfortunate sufferers, while they preserved peace and order among the crowds who immediately assembled. When the momentary paralysation caused by the explosion had subsided, it was observed that the body of a man was laying on the top of the house of Mr. Westerdale, mast and block maker — a distance of sixty yards from the Union. Ladders were immediately procurel, and with some difficulty the body was lowered into the street. It was then recognised to be the shattered and disfigured corpse of Joseph Matthews, the foreman of a crane on the quay, a few feet from the “ berth :1 in which the Union was laying. Matthews had been observed, just before the accident, standing on the quay near the vessel, and the tremendous force of the explosion had hurled him to the situation in which he was observed. As a proof of the immense impetus with which the corpse of the unfortunate man had been impelled on the building, it may be mentioned that the slating of the roof, for a space of several feet in extent, was completely dislodged, and in one place the roof was broken through, The body was conveyed to the Station-house. Immediately after the explosion the body of Mr. Chatterton, a respectable brewer, living in the Graves, was observed on beard the Albatross steamer, on the opposite side of the pier from the Union, and at a distance of about twenty yards. He was dreadfully injured, and life being entirely extinct, the body was conveyed to the Station-house. In the bustle and confusion which first ensued after this awful occurrence, several persons who were severely injured were conveyed to the neighbouring inns and public-house?. After the arrival of the police, however, all the dead bodies discovered were conveyed to the Station-house in Blanket-row, those persons who were seriously hurt were carried to the Infirmary, and those who had sustained only slight injuries were conveyed to inns in the neighbourhood or to their own houses. A large bale of goods, weighing about 2 cwt., was carried, by the violence of the explosion, over the roof of Mr. Wester dale’s house, and fell in the timber-yard. The top of the boiler, in an almost entire state, was deposited in the open space in front of the Minerva Terrace, 15 or 20 yards fiom the vessel. The safety-valve was HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. e carried as far as Wellingt on-street, a distance of about 80 yards, where it struck, and severely damaged, the booking-office of the York Steam Packet Company. The weight which had been attached to the safety-valve was found in Humber-streot, where it had alighted on the steps of Mr. Veltmann’s house, several of which were broken. Sacks of flour, casks of damp blue, &c., were lying about in all directions ; indeed, for some time after the accident, the ground was literally strewed with them. In a short time after the accident, Inspector Stephenson, an active and intelligent officer, who is the senior inspector of police, arrived upon the spot, and stationed the force so as to prevent the approach of crowds to the wreck of the steam boat. In the course of the day Inspectors Cudworth, Vickerman, Boltwood, O’Hara, Freeman, and Potten were present, with Sergeants Tracey and Butler, and a large force, comprising the greatest portion of the men. Inspector Stephenson was paiticuRrly noticed for his activity ; he had been on night ducy, and was evidently much fatigued, but he remained present the whole day, and afterwards attended upon the Coroner until the adjournment of the inquest. The police force behaved themselves remarkably well. Several attempts to pilfer were discovered by them, and the booty was rescued from the grasp of the plunderers. About nine o’clock the quay in the vicinity of the east pier presented a most distressing appearance. At the time of the occurrence it was nearly high water, but the tide was now receding, leaving the hull of the vessel more exposed, and the quay was strewed with articles which had been picked up by the boats in the Basin. Broken furniture, splinters of the deck, hats, bonnets, table-covers, blankets, and various articles of clothing were heaj)ed promiscuously together, and it was truly heart-rending to witness the distress and anxiety with which many, who had had friends on board the vessel, endeavoured to find some trace of them. Rumours of the dreadful calamity had now spread over the town, and crowds were hastening to the scene of desolation. The populace generally behaved in a very becoming manner. At the time the accident took place, other steam vessels for Leeds, Thorne, &c., were preparing to leave the Basin on their respective voyages, and several persons on these vessels sustained injuries. A woman named Dinsdale, on board the Don, which was laying alongside the Union, was killed. A gentleman who was stood on the fore-part of the Leeds steamer was struck by a splinter, which cut his cheek severely ; he was knocked down and stunned, but after being removed on shore, a surgeon attended him, who sewed up the wound, and he was afterwards able to walk about. A “ gold-dusterman ” who was in his boat in the Basin, near the Union, stated that two dead bodies were thrown into his boat. The search for the bodies was carried on with the utmost activity during the morning. It was reported that there were thirty or forty persons in the best cabin when the occurrence took place. However, when the tide had receded so as to permit the cabin to be searched, only two or three bodies were found in it. The body of Mr. Richard Tomlinson, a publican, living in High-street, who was missing in the morning, was found near the long jetty about noon. Th.5 body of a man of respectable appearance was also cast upon the mud nearly opposite the patent slip at one o’clock. The most distressing case appears to be that of the two sons of Mr. Hutchinson, the builder, in George Yard. These young men had left home in the morning, intending to leave Hull by one of the packets, but as their bodies could not be discovered it was for some time hoped that they had not been on board this unfortunate vessel. Mr. Hutchinson, their father, sought them, as may be imagined, in a state of the greatest mental distress and anxiety, but for a long time without success. His feelings may better be imagined than described when he found that one of his sons had been conveyed to the Infirmary in a dying state, and had expired before his family was aware of his situation ; and the unhappy parent soon afterwards learned that the corpse of his other son was laying at the Station-house. This case has excited the greatest sympathy and commiseration in the town. We understand the two young men are to be interred at St. James’s Church on Saturday morning. Among the almost miraculous escapes mentioned, it is stated that one gentleman, who was in the after cabin, hearing the noise of the explosion, and finding the water rushing into the vessel, opened the cabin window, leaped out, and was saved. Mr. and Miss Stewart, of Story-street, were thrown into the water, from which they were rescued, and they were not otherwise injured. Mr. Tonge had left his wife and child on board the packet, and was just stepping ashore, when he heard the alarm of the explosion ; he was turning round when the boiler burst ; he was HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 7 not injured. Mr. Smith, of Blackfriargate, was on the steps leading down the pier at the time, going on board the vessel, and he escaped unhurt. It is stated that there were about 100 passengers on board the vessel ; and though the greater portion of them escaped, it is supposed that some of the bodies have been washed out. The Union was built about eighteen months ago ; she was last summer engaged in plying between Grimsby and Gainsbro’ with cattle, and she had only recently been placed on this station. This dreadful occurrence has occasioned a most painful sensation in the town and neighbourhood. We understand that it is the intention of several of the clergymen to improve the subject next Sunday.” In September, 1838, the u Forfarshire ” steamer, from Hull to Dundee, was wrecked on the Fern Islands, and upwards of 50 lives (including the captain and his wife) were lost. Nine of the survivors were saved by Grace Darling and her father in a small boat from the Fern Lighthouse. The particulars of this heroic story are too wen known to need repetition here. On 7th January, 1S39, there was a fearful storm. Many vessels were sunk in the Humber. None of the river steamers arrived or departed on this day. For an hour and a half the Scarboro* mail coach horses could not contend against the wind, and the inside passengers of the Beverley coach had to get out and support the vehicle from being upset. In July, 1843, the Hull steamer “ Pegasus” was wrecked on the Fern Islands, and over 40 lives lost, and in June, 1844, the Hull steamer Manchester ” was wrecked on the coast of Holstein, and 30 lives lost. 8 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. The following Advertisements of Coaches and Steamers given in extenso from the columns of the Hull Packet will serve to show generally the state of locomotion just prior to the advent of Railways : EXPRESS & BRITISH QUEEN, HULL, BRIDLINGTON , AND SCARBRO ’ COACHES. T HE Proprietors of the above Coaches feel themselves called upon to acknowledge to their Friends and the Public the gratitude which they feel for the unlimited Patronage which has been bestowed upon them hitherto, and to state that it is their intention by their unremitted exertions to that effect to merit its continuance. The EXPRESS leaves the Vittoria and Kingston Hotels, the Bull and Sun and George Inns, Hull, every morning (Sundays excepted) at Six o’clock, and arrives at Scarbro’, by way of Beverley, Driffield, Bridlington, the Quay, and Filey, at a Quarter-past Twelve ; proceeds at Four the same day to Whitby, Guisbro’, Stockton, Sunderland, Shields, Durham, Newcastle, and Edinbro’. Seats secured at any time. The above Coach leaves the Talbot and New Inns, Scarbro’, at Six o’clock in the morning, and arrives in Hull at Twelve, goes forward by way of Barton, Lincoln, Peterborough, &c., at One, and reaches London at Twelve at Noon on the following day. Places secured and parcels booked direct from Scarbro’, Bridlington and the Quay, Driffield, and Beverley, to London, by this conveyance only. Performed by WARDELL, Hull, FIDDES, Beverley, WITTY, Driffield, CHAMBERS, Bridlington Quay, HAMMOND and ) a , , HUDSON, [Scarbro. The BRITISH QUEEN leaves the Stirling Castle, Bridlington Quay, at Seven every morning (Sundays excepted), by way of Brandsburton and Beverley, and arrives at the Kingston and Vitboria Hotels, the George and Bull and Sun Inns, Hull, at Eleven in the Forenoon. The Coach returns in the afternoon, at four, by the same route, after the arrival of the Barton Packet with the Express Passengers from London, and arrives at the Stirling Cattle, Eridiington Quay, at Eight o’clock in the evening. The BRITISH QUEEN will be found a delightful conveyance to Bridlington Quay, on account of the Road for the last Six Mile3 being close to the Sea Side, and passing through a most beautiful part of the country. Performed by WARDELL, Hull, FIDDES, Beverley, WHITING, Brandsburton, CHAMBERS, Bridlington Quay. Hull , 1883. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 9 HULL, BRIDLINGTON \ AND IS CARD BO' COACHJES. THE WELLINGTON & MAGNA CHARTA, Carrying only Four Inside. T HE Public are respectfully informed that the WELLINGTON leaves the Cross Keys General Coach Office, Hull, every morning, at Six, to Beverley, Driffield, Bridlington and Quay, Hunmanby, and Filey, and arrives at the Bell Inn and Blacksmith’s Arms, Scarbro', at Twelve ; proceeds at Four to Whitby, Guisbro, Stockton, Sunderland, Shields, Durham, Newcastle, and Edinbro’. Seats secured at any time. The Wellington leaves Scarbro’ every morning at Six, reaches Beverley in time for the Mails to York, and arrives at the Cross Keys and Minerva Hotels, Hull (alternately) at Twelve ; from whence Passengers and Parcels are forwarded to Lincoln, Peterboro’, and London, &c., &c. The Magna Charta leaves the Minerva Hotel every afternoon at Half-past Three, or on the arrivals of the Packets, proceeds the same route as the Wellington, and arrives at the Britannia Hotel, Bridlington Quay, at Eight o’clock in the evening, from whence it returns at Seven in the morning, and arrives at the Cross Keys and Minerva Hotels, Hull, at Half-past Eleven. The Road by Driffield is so well known as to be universally recommended. The Sea having made such dreadful havoc of the Brandsburton Road during the last few years as to render it dangerous travelling that way, being, for five or six miles, quite at the edge of the cliff. Performed by GELDARD & CHAFFER, Hull, GREENWOOD, Beverley, JOHNS, Driffield, DODS WORTH, Bridlington Quay, HOPPER & RUDDOCK, Scarbro’ ; Who beg to return their sincere thanks for the decided preference hitherto shewn them, and hope by the regularity and safety of their Conveyances to reaeive a continuance, which they will ever strive to deserve. Hull' June 6 , 1833, DIRECT COMMUNICATION FROM BOSTON and IIORNCASTLE to HULL , YORK , BRIDLINGTON , and SCARBRO\ T HE Public are respectfully informed that the PELHAM, a New Light Four-Inside Post Coach, HAS COM- MENCED RUNNING, leaving the Peacock Inn, Boston, every morning (Sundays excepted) at SIX o’clock, through Horncastle, Wragby, Market Rasen, Caistor, Limber, and New Holland, and arrives in HULL at Half-past Three, in time for the Magna Charta to Bridlington Quay and the Mail to York. The PELHAM will leave the Cross Keys every day (Sundays excepted) at One, which is after the arrival of the Mail from York, and the Wellington and Magna Charta from Scarbro’ and Bridlington, and arrives at Boston the same evening at Ten. 10 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. Performed by GELDARD & CHAFFER, Hull, NICHOLSON & CO., New Holland, QUICKFALL, Caistor, THORNTON, Market Rasen, HUTCHINSON, Wragby, BUTTON & DOBBS. Horncastle, JACKSON k BELLAMY, Boston. Coaches from the Peacock Inn , Boston. The PERSEVERANCE, to Cambridge and London, every morning (Sundays excepted) at Six, The IMPERIAL, to Stamford, every morning (Sundays excepted) at Seven. The UNION, to Lynn and Norwich, through Holbeach and Long Sutton, every morning (Sundays excepted) at Half-past Ten. Fiom the Cross Keys, Hull , TO YORK. The TRAFALGAR, every morning, at Six. The MAIL, every noon, Twenty Minutes before Twelve. The MAIL, every afternoon, at Four. From the Cross Keys and Minerva Hotel , TO BRIDLINGTON k SCARBRO’. The WELLINGTON, every morning (Sundays excepted) at Six. THE MAGNA CHARTA, every afternoon (Sundays excepted) at a Quarter before Four, June 24, 1833. IMPORTANT ALTERATION. “ THE RAPID,” FROM HULL TO MANCHESTER. T HE Proprietors of the “ECLIPSE” COACH and PACKET having entered into new arrangements, beg respectfully to inform the Public that the HULL and MANCHESTER line will be discontinued on and after Monday, the 16th November, as far as regards the con- nexion by Water ; and that on thao Day a NEW COACH, called “THE RAPID,” will commence Running from the Cross Keys General Coach Office, every morning (Sundays excepted) at a Quarter before Seven o’clock, to Cave, Howdeu, Boothferry (where half-an-hour is allowed to breakfast), through Snaith, Pontefract, Wakefield, Dews- bury, Mirfield, Huddersfield, Marsden, Upper Mills, and Ashton, reaching the Bee Hive, Market Street, Manchester, at Seven in the Evening ; from whence it returns at a Quarter before Six in the morning, reaching the Cro-s Keys Hotel, Hull, at Half-past Six m the Evening. This will be found the most desirable route betwixt Hull and Manchester yet offered to the Public, inasmuch as the frequent transfer of conveyances is entirely avoided ; as also the early departure and late arrival of all other lines of road, and the fares are regulated on a scale of the greatest economy. Parcels by this Coach will be delivered on the day of arrival at the lowest possible charge in all the respective towns. The “ECLIPSE” PACKET will continue as usual to convey Passengers to Goolc, Ferrybridge, Leeds, Thorne, Doncaster, Rotherham, and Sheffield. November , 1835 % HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. II HULL AND LEEDS. r 1 1HE only Coach in conjunction with the Railway, JL consequently the quickest and most direct, is the “ROYAL ECLIPSE,” From the Cross Keys Hotel, HULL, every morning (Sundays excepted) at Half-past Five, via Cave, Howden (where twenty minutes is allowed for breakfasting), and Selby, thence by Railway Train to Leeds. Outside Fare to Selby, 5s. ; Inside, 7s. Passengers and Parcels Booked at the Cross Keys, Market Place, Hull ; Half Moon, Howden ; Railway Depot, Selby \ and Railway Company’s Office, Briggate, Leeds. GELDARD, HUDSON, and CO., Hull and Cave. WM. WELLS and CO., Selby and Howden. The “ ECLIPSE ” to LIVERPOOL, as usual, every morning at Half -past Five from the Cross Keys, via Wake- field and Manchester. The Public will please take particular notice that this is the only direct conveyance to Wakefield, the route via Leeds being one-sixth further distance, July , 1837. HULL AND LONDON STEAM CONVEYANCE . ALTERATION IN FARES AND THE TIME OF STARTING. FJ1HE Public are respectfully informed that the “ENTERPRISE,” (steam ship) WILLIAM TURNER , Commander , Will start from HULL for LONDON on THURSDAY, the 6th June, at Six o’clock in the morning, and from off Custom-House Stairs, LONDON, for HULL, on SUNDAY, the 9th June, at Eight o’clock in the morning, and continue to run in that order. FARES FOR PASSENGERS . Best Cabin £1 Is. | Fore Cabin 15s. This First-Class Vessel has an experienced Master, and Superior Accommodations , having Separate Beds for Passengers ; and is altogether suitable for the trade. J6ST Goods to ba sent to Beal’s Wharf, Mill Lane, Tooley Street ; or to the Cross Keys, Gracechurch Street, London, by Saturday Evening. For Freight of Goods apply to HUDSON and COBBY. Wharf, 87, High Street, near to South End, Hull ; GRIFFIN and HILLHOUSE, Beal's Wharf, London, Agents. Hull , SGtk May , 1833. 12 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. MARCH OF IMPROVEMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TIMES. HE PROPRIETORS of the HULL and LONDON MAIL POST COACHES and PACKETS have great satisfaction in announcing to the Merchants of Hull and the Public at large that they have, in conjunction with the extensive Coach Proprietors on the Western Roads opened a SPEEDY and DIRECT CONVEYANCE through Nottingham, Derby, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Tamworth, Coventry, Leamington, Warwick, Birmingham, Worcester, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Bristol, Bath, and Shrewsbury, Manchester, Liverpool, &c., combining as great a facility to the Traveller, through the various Cross Roads, as the most direct Conveyance in the Kingdom, and embracing, on the Birmingham line of Road, that Fashionable and newly-resorted Watering Place, the Moira or Ivanhoe Baths, now completed in the first style, at a great expense, by the Marquis of Hastings — the utility of the waters only want to be known that their value may be appreciated. Passengers leaving Lincoln early every morning (Sundays excepted) from Messrs. Stephenson and Squire’s Coach- Offices, may proceed to the above-named places without delay. July , 1833 . HULL, BARTON , LINCOLN , and LEICESTER UNION DAY COACH. T HIS Coach leaves BARTON every Morning (Sundays excepted) at EIGHT o’clock, after the ai rival of the Packet from Hull, and arrives at the Stag and Pheasant Hotel, LEICESTER, at HALF-PAST EIGHT in the Evening, passing through Brigg, Spitfcal, Lincoln, Gran- tham, and Melton Mowbray. At LINCOLN are BRANCH COACHES to Gainsborough, Retford, Doncaster, and Sheffield, to the west ; and to Louth, Horncastle, Boston, &c., to the east. COACHES also DAILY leave HULL to Beverley, Bridlington, Scarborough, and the whole of the Eastern Coast of Yorkshire. From the Stag and Pheasant at LEICESTER there are DAILY CONVEYANCES to Coventry, Warwick, Leamington, Stratford-upon-Avon, Northampton, Oxford, Cheltenham, Malvern, and Bath ; to Birmingham, Shrews- bury, Worcester, Gloucester, Bristol, and the whole of North and South Wales. Few circumstances have contributed more essentially to promote the prosperity and enjoyment of the kingdom than safe, cheap, and expeditious modes of Conveyance for Passengers and Merchandise. To suspend such communi- cation for only one month would produce mischiefs which could not be remedied in six, and to increase them is to multiply their benefits in an equal proportion. The Proprietors of this Establishment most emphatically call the attention of the Trading, Commercial, Manu- facturing, and Agricultural interests of the County of Lincoln, and the Eastern portion of Yorkshire, to the pre- eminent advantages afforded by this most direct conveyance to the South-Western districts. The line of communication being the shortest possible, will consequently prove the most cheap and speedy. It combines, too, the greatest number of collateral branches. It embraces within its range connections the most important to the Man of Business , and affords an almost infinite variety of interesting objects to the Tourist. To the former, it passes through HISTORY OR RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 13 the centre of an extensive Manufacturing District, including the Hosiery and Lace of Leicester — the Silk Fabrics and Ribbons of Coventry — the exhaustless infinity of Hardware of Birmingham — the Carpets of Kidderminster — the Glass of Stourbridge — the Gloves and Porcelain of Worcester — and the Broad Cloth and Cassimeres of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. To the Votaries of Health and Pleasure it affords a route of extent, variety, and facility of communication scarcely to be surpassed. The ancient Towns of Leicester and Coventry — the Ruins of Kenilworth — the Baronial Castle of Warwick — the salutary Baths of Leamington, Cheltenham, Malvern, Bath, and Clifton — the Architectural Beauties of Oxford — the numerous Seats of the Nobility — the vaiious Picturesque Views from Malvern and Cotteswold Hills, together with the Romantic Scenery of South Wales. Those who at this season can devote a month’s relaxation from the cares of business, or those who more thriftily can combine their pleasure with their avocations, will find in the range delineated in this address, a bill of fare to suit all palates. The Proprietors flatter themselves they may claim the merit of having formed an Establishment which is not to be surpassed for the extent of its utility , pleasure, and convenience, and which they presume only requires to have its many advantages known to command the most stead- fast, extensive, and continued patronage. THOMAS WALKDEN, Barton, JOHN STEPHENSON, ) T . , WILLIAM SQUIRES, | ^ mcoln > JOHN FOWLER BURBRIDGE, Grantham, CHAS. S. PETTIFOR, Leicester. July 12, 1833. ^ Proprietors. GREAT ADVANTAGE TO HULL. T HE UNION COACH from BARTON (which starts after the arrival of the First Packet) is now extended from LINCOLN, through NOTTINGHAM, to DERBY, BURTON-UPON-TRENT, LICHFIELD, and BIRMING- HAM, at which latter place it arrives at ELEVEN O’CLOCK the SAME NIGHT. IMPORTANT NEW LINE OF CONVEYANCE FOR GOODS AND PACKAGES, BETWEEN HULL AND FIORNCASTLE, Via NEW HOLLAND. M ISSON and RICHARDSON commenced CARRYING to and from the following Places, on Tuesday last, the 8th October Leaves Hull .Tuesday. ,, Limber Wednesday* ,, Caistor do. ,, Rasen do. j, Wragby Thursday. „ Horncastle do. Leaves Horncastle Friday* >, Wragby do. Rasen * Saturday. >, Caistor do. ,, Libber do. 14 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. And arrives at New Holland in time for tlie Magna Charta Steamer at Three o'clock. Goods and Packages received by JOHN CATTERSON, Waggon ’Warehouse, Dagger Lane, Hull. The very great advantages the Public will derive from this New Line of Communication between the East of Lincolnshire and Hull is too apparent to require comment. M. and ft. intend using every exertion to insure the safe and regular delivery of goods at the respective places. Ulceby , 10th October , 1833 . ALTERATION OF TIME. T HE Public are respectfully informed that a New Coach, called the “LIBERAL,” Is now running from Mr. Bennett’s Office, Wakefield, at Five o’clock every morning (Sundays excepted), passing through Pontefract at Six o’clock to meet the Canal Packet at Knottingley, on its way to Goole, whence Passengers and Parcels are forwarded by the “LION” AND “EAGLE,” STEAM PACKETS, alternately, which now leave Goole precisely at Ten o’clock. To those whose object is an early arrival in Hull, this conveyance offers advantages superior to any other route, as the frequent grounding in the river will, through arrangements now making, be (almost) entirely obviated. And for the further convenience of the Public, and those residing beyond Wakefield, a second Coach, called the “ ECLIPSE,” leaves Mr. Bickerdyke’s Office, Huddersfield, every morning (Sundays excepted) at Six o’clock, passing through Mirfield, Nunbrook, Dewsbury, Wakefield, and Pontefract, to meet a second Canal Packet at Knottingley, on its way to Goole, whence Passengers are forwarded at One o’clock for Hull by the Steam Packet “ECLIPSE.” This conveyance supersedes all others for regularity and expedition, as the night’s stoppage on the road is entirely obviated, and the arrival at Hull is regularly from Three to Four o’clock, according to the Tides ; and in the Summer Months will meet the Bridlington and Scarbro’ Coaches. Passengers returning to Huddersfield, Mirfield, Dews* bury, &c., will please to be particular in their embarkation, as the “ ECLIPSE,” leaving the Minerva Stairs daily, not sooner than Eight or later than Ten a.m., is the only vessel which can ensure them, daily, through to those places ; and she, also, arrives at Huddersfield in time for the last Coach to Manchester. The Proprietors take this opportunity of stating that, in the course of next month (of which further notice will be given), this Coach will be continued direct to Manchester every day, and also out of Manchester every morning, and will perform the journey regularly in about Eleven Hours. The “ECLIPSE” Coach continues to leave the Bull and Mouth Coach Office, Leeds, at Six in the morning, with Passengers and Parcels fcr Goole and Hull. Further information may be obtained on application at the several Offices. The Proprietors are not accountable for Loss o r Damage of any parcel above the value of five pounds, unles s entered as such, and paid for accordingly. BROMLEY, HAMER and CO, Goole ) 16th March , 1835, HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 15 HULL AND CAVE NEW COACH . R. J. CHAFFER T? ESPECTFULLY informs his Friends and the Public JL\j that he has this day commenced running a New Four-Inside Post-Coach, which leaves the White Hart, North Cave, every morning (Sundays excepted) at a Quarter-past Seven, and the Fox and Coney, South Cave, at a Quarter before Eight; calls at the Half Moon, Bran- tingham ; Green Dragon, Welton ; Duke of Cumberland, Ferriby ; and the Granby Inn, Hessle ; and arrives at Mr. Lyon’s, the Black Horse, Carr Lane, at Half-past Nine ; from which it returns each afternoon at Half-past Four. Passengers and Parcels will meet with every attention at each of the above places, and also at R. J. C.’s Posting and Coaching Establishment, Silvester Street, where every information relative to the different Coaches leaving Huil may be obtained. R. J. C. begs to return his sincere thanks for the liberal encouragement he lias received since his commencement, and trusts that his future exertions will secure to him a continuance ; and hopes that the above Coach and arrange- ment will prove to be that accommodation so long wanted, NO COACH HAYING HITHEtiTO RUN BETWEEN NORTH CAYE AND HULL. Hull , May 4, 1835. This was an opposition to Miles’ Coach, which ran — if the word can be applied to so slow a conveyance — between South Cave and Hull. Owing to the baduess of the roads and the scragginess of the cattle, four hours were sometimes consumed in the journey of 14 miles. It may be said of this Coach that it carried three classes of passengers — first, those who rode all the way; second, those who walked up the hills, and third, those who pushed behind. HER MAJESTYS ROYAL MAIL, FROM HULL TO DONCASTER, via CAVE, IIOWDEN, BOOTH-FERRY, and THORNE, W ILL Commence Running on Thursday, the 6th July? from the Cross Keys Hotel, Market-place, HULL, every morning at a Quarter before FIVE o’clock, and from the New Angel, DONCASTER, every afternoon at TWO o’clock, and not at Five in the morning as before Advertised. Passengers and Parcels booked at the Cross Keys, Market-place, Hull : Half Moon, Howden ; Red Lion and White Hart, Thorne; and New Angel, Doncaster, for Sheffield or Doncaster. The Sheffield Coach leaves Doneaster half an hour afte r the arrival of the Mail. THOS. GELDARD k CO., Hull ; WELLS, HUDSON k CO., Boothferry ; GEO. DUNHILL k CO., Doncaster. Jane 20, 1837. 16 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. There was a long discussion, lasting over three or four years, as to the relative merits of the routes to London via New Holland and Barton, the advocates of the New Holland route claiming it to be shorter by three miles. In 1885 the Mails were offered to New Holland by the Post-Office, but on such onerous terms that they were declined. The discussion went on until 1837, when a writer closes it by saying “It “ is scarcely worth while for any of us to trouble ourselves about the “ advantages or disadvantages of the Humber Ferries as far as regards “ communication with London, as it is likely they will soon become “ comparatively valueless. The Hull and Selby Railway will enable “ us to reach the metropolis in eight instead of eighteen hours, and “ render the London Mail and London Coaches through Lincolnshire “altogether useless. ” CHAPTER II. ffljc Jccte mvir jJdftg T HE first public Railway — the Stockton and Darlington — was only opened in 1825. From that time a new and wondrous era commenced in the history of inland conveyance. After this followed tne Liverpool and Manchester, the Leeds and Manchester, and subsequently the Leeds and Selby. As the construction of the Leeds and Selby Railway undoubtedly led to the construction of the Hull and Selby Line, I think it proper to devote some space to this Railway — especially as it was one of the earliest, and its history has an interest bearing on the early Railways. The chief promoter was Mr. Benjamin Gott, the eminent cloth manufacturer and merchant of Leeds, and his solicitors, the Messrs. Atkinson. # The line was first surveyed under the direction of George Stephenson in 1825, and his design was to have in the first eight miles out of Leeds three inclined planes, to be worked by stationary engines, the rest of the line being practically level. Mr. Gott and the Messrs. Atkinson, considering the stationary engines and inclined planes a serious disadvantage, were induced to consult Mr. James Walker, and the result was a survey of the line by him (assisted by Mr. Comrie), and a report recommending locomotive engines throughout. The original proposal had been for a Leeds and Hull Railway, but so much appeared the objection to making a Railway which would be remunerative against the opposition of a free tidal river between Selby and Hull, that it was determined to stop at Selby. I give Mr. Walker’s Report verbatim ; — * At a subsequent period I was articled to Mr. John Atkinson, one of the partners in this firm. 18 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. “ To the Committee of tlie proposed Leeds and Selby Railway Company . “ Gentlemen, “ Your instructions communicated to me by Messrs. Atkinson and Co., your solicitors, are, that I examine the line for a Railway between Leeds and Selby, which was surveyed under Mr. Stephenson’s direction in 1825, and state my opinion of the comparative merits of steam and horse power, as applicable to the conveyance of goods upon it. Having on my arrival in Leeds waited upon Mr. Gott and Messrs. Atkinson, I was informed by them that it was your wish that my observations and report should not be confined to the precise line before surveyed, but should embrace any deviation that I might think expedient for making the Railway generally useful ; and also that I should consider the propriety of having the three inclined planes, with stationary engines for working them, which had been proposed. Mv attention was likewise directed to the points of the line at which it meets the great North Roads to Edinburgh and Carlisle, as with a view to obviate opposition from the trustees, it was considered desirable that the crossings should be either over or under those roads. “ For the above reasons, and to enable me to report with certainty on Mr. Stephenson’s estimate, I employed Mr. Comrie, an experienced surveyor, with whom, in April last, I went carefully over the line, and gave the necessary directions for an accurate survey, to comprise the deviations which my general inspection led me to think worthy of attention. Mr. Comrie’s survey being completed early in June, I again examined the line with him, and particularly the deviations which his levels pointed out as likely to effect the important objects already referred to. “ Since the completion of these surveys, no time has been lost in forwarding the objects of the enquiry, and I beg now to submit the accompanying plan and section, with the estimate of a line of railway differing in some respects from that of 1825 ; but, before considering either of the plans in detail, it may be proper to state a few observations which apply equally to both of them, and to the scheme generally. HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 19 “ It will, I think, be agreed that the country between Leeds and Selby is very favourable for the formation of a railway. The length from Farbank in Leeds to the Quay below Mr. Paver’s house in Selby, which, measured on a perfectly straight line, is upwards of nineteen miles, will not by the Eailway exceed twenty ; while the distance by the river navigation is at present thirty miles, with nine locks upon it, and when all the improvements contemplated by the Aire and Calder Undertakers (which will make the whole length a canal) shall be completed, it will still be upwards of twenty-eight miles. Again, from Selby to Goole, by the river, measures upon the plans upwards of fifteen miles, so that the distance from Leeds to Goole by the Eailway will be thirty-five-miles, which is one mile under the present distance by the Aire and Calder Navigation, and one mile above what it will be after the improvements ; but the former will be a conveyance by a Eailway and steam-packets, the speed by which will be from six to ten miles per hour, while the latter, even when improved to the utmost, will be by a Canal with nine locks, and worked by horse power. On the arrival of the goods at Selby they will be conveyed by steam-boats to Hull, so that the time for light goods between Leeds and Hull nuiy be taken at from seven to eight hours, and for heavy goods at from twelve to fifteen hours. “ If stationary engines and inclined planes be adopted for about two miles and three quarters, the other seventeen miles and a quarter may be formed so that no part will rise more than one inch in fifty feet ; or, if the fixed engines and inclined planes be abandoned, and every part of the line be adapted for locomotive engines or horses, no part of it will rise more than 1 in 135, which is less than one inch in eleven feet. “ The foundation is everywhere good, and the same may be said of the strata to be cut through, excepting that the hardness of the building and lime-stone rocks and coal measures, which occupy six miles of the line, will cause some additional expense in their removal This excess will, however, be n>ucli reduced by the rock requiring less slope in the cuttings and embankments, and hy its affording materials for the buildings, and the blocks to support the iron rails • and any 20 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. outlay in the first instance will be much more than compensated by the trade which the conveyance of these minerals to Leeds and Selby will create. “ If we except Mr. Petre’s property at Selby and a very small old cottage belonging to Mr. Gascoigne, there is not occasion to dis- turb a house upon either line ; nor do we approach any dwelling as to give reasonable cause for complaint. “ I have seen very few of the proprietors of the estates through which the Railway is proposed to be carried, and I have no authority or intention to commit any of them. The land nearest Leeds and Selby will profit the least by the measure ; but to all the other pro- perty which abounds either with coal, building-stone or lime-stone, its use must be very important ; and whether considered as the means of conveying manure to land much in want of it, or of carrying minerals to Leeds on the one hand, and to the river at Selby on the other, it must, one would naturally think, ensure the support particularly of the owners and occupiers of estates situated upon the highest part, or near the middle of the line, as their produce will be transported to either end with the greatest facility. At a little distance from the line of the Railway, is the celebrated Huddlestone Quarry, which from quarries of other but inferior stone having now a better com- munication with the water, has become almost unknown, but will without doubt be again brought into action. Indeed, considering the great extent and value of the produce of this district, it would not have excited surprise if the owners of the large estates had thought seriously of a Railroad to Leeds or to Selby, to be made at their own cost, and having for its sole object the improvement of their property* “ Mr. Stephenson and myself both know and have been engaged in the construction of a Railway in Wales, nine miles in length, of which the sole object is to bring down manufactured slates from a few r of the mines to Carnarvon. The principal object also of the Dar- lington road, which is twenty miles long, is to carry the minerals from the interior to the waterside, and in the neighbourhood of Newcastle and Sunderland there are private Railways, some of them about ten miles long, made by the owners or lessees of collieries, over a country much more difficult than this, and serving no other purpose but to carry HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 21 coals from one or two companies’ pits to the Tyne or the Wear. It is reasonable, therefore, to expect the warm support of the landed pro- prietors and farmers* “ There appears an apprehension that the Aire and Calder Undertakers will oppose the Hail way, because whatever may be carried upon it will be supposed to be taken from them ; and to a certain extent it will be so : — but, when it is considered that valuable goods requiring despatch are at present sent to their destinations by land conveyances — that the Railroad will open a trade of minerals and the other produce of the soil for itself — that it will thus tend to the general prosperity of the district, and thereby increase the heavy traffic at low speed, of which a very large proportion is likely to continue to be carried by water — and above all that if the country require it, and it be a fair means of giving effect to the industry of Leeds, the power of even the Aire and Calder Undertakers, though it may retard, will not be likely finally to prevent the completion of the project, — this Corporation may pause before it resolves to spend its ample funds in an attempt which in the end will prove to be vain. The Railway does not at any point approach their Navigation, it takes none of the water that flows into it, and it seems to be paying but a very poor com- pliment to so powerful and opulent a body, to lay it down as one of their general principles of action, that to prevent competition they oppose every improvement upon the present mode of land conveyance in the districts where their Navigation is situated ; that a horse may draw a ton of goods upon a road at the rate of three miles per hour, but that their influence shall be exerted in order that all new roads be made so rough and with such inclinations as to prevent the power of the animal from doing more ; for such is the analysis of a general op- position to railways, which are merely roads with the hills reduced to make ascents easy, and with plates of iron laid down to form a smoother and harder surface than common paving or broken stones can afford : — A different view of the subject having been taken, and * Since the above report was written, the owners and occupiers of 18 out of the 20 miies of property on the line, have signified tlieir assent to the measure ; the four larged owners, the Hon. Id. It. Petre, R. O. Gascoigne, Esq., T. D. Eland, Esq., and John Wilson, Esq., being fculscril ers and Members of the Committee cf Management. 22 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. railways having been regarded as regulated by new and heretofore un- known principles have caused much of the doubt and difficulty that exist respecting their success and utility. The wheels on the present iron railroads, and also on that now proposed, are indeed different from those of common carriages, flanches being attached to keep them on the narrow plate or rail : but if this plate were broad enough, the flan cli would be unnecessary, and any form of wheel would travel upon the road. A piece of iron- way on this principle has been laid on one of the turnpike roads near Glasgow for several years ; a stone-way consisting of large blocks of hard granite is now being formed on a public road near London ; and I think it probable that the one or the other plan, according to the comparative cost of iron and stone at different places, will become general upon roads of great traffic, par- ticularly in the neighbourhood of large towns. “ As Liverpool and Manchester have long communicated with each other by the Mersey and Invell Navigation, by the Duke of Bridgewater’s Canal, and by the Liverpool and Leeds Canal, and as to these there is now to be added a Kailroad, the cost of which will in round numbers be four times the amount of the Kailroad now pro- posed, it is natural that Leeds, with its surrounding district, should be desirous of another outlet for its industry — of a more certain and ex- peditious conveyance, particularly for its valuable manufactures, than the present navigation to Goole or to Selby can afford on the one hand, and of a cheaper one than the coaches and vans can afford on the other. # * A collateral advantage that may be derived from the Railway is a facility of procuring to Leeds an abundant supply of water. The want of good water being one of the greatest drawbacks to the comfort and health of the inhabitants of that town, your Solicitors, soon after my ariival drew my attention to the subject, and stated the various plans that had been suggested for remedying the evil. In the course of my surveys I found that near Milford the line of Railroad crosses a fine stream of water, which rises above Newthorpe in Mr. Gascoigne’s estate and works some com nnas omy. The stream is so pure that the inhabitants for a considerable distance round carry water from it ; and from all I have seen and heard the quality is excellent. By pumping this water, by means of a steam engine, into pipes laid along the Railroad, I have no doubt of the object to which I have referred being accomplished, and an important benefit being conferred on the town. The height of the summit level of the Railway to which the water must be forced being upwards of a hundred and eighty feet above the level of the river Aire at Leeds, will, I ap- prehend, be sufficient to ra’se the water into the highest houses of the town. Tim HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 23 “ It is reasonable also that the merchants and others concerned in the prosperity of the ancient port of Hull and of its extensive docks, warehouses, and shipping, should feel deeply interested in the success of a measure which involves the important question, whether there shall be any other communication with Leeds than that which belongs to a rival Dock Company, who will, to say the least, be naturally quite as ready to give facilities and remove difficulties when the Goole Docks are made the shipping place, as when the cargoes of barges are to be taken to vessels lying at Hull. “The plan of 1825 differs from that now proposed in several points, which it may be better to consider separately. “ The first variation to which I shall refer is in the termination at Leeds. Mr. Stephenson terminated his line at Farbank, which had the advantage of being near the river, and consequently convenient for crossing over and for communicating with the navigation ; but the approach into the town was bad — to make it at all convenient would have been a work of great expense, and there was no situation for warehouses, depots, or even branches at the end of the way. This last I think a very great objection, and I apprehend that Mr. Stephen- son must have perceived that the Railway, as respects the entrance into Leeds, could not be complete without a bridge across the river Aire, and the line continued into Hunslet, where there might be space for the purposes I have named. If so, this bridge, the additional length of way, and the purchase of ground for the depots, &c., should have formed a part of the estimate for completing the work. “As it appeared very desirable not to interfere with the Aire and Calder Undertakers in any way that might by possibility be considered an obstacle to their Navigation, or tending to it, but on the contrary to keep at a distance from their works, I requested Mr. Comrie to examine in another direction, and I think that a better stream discharges itself into the Ouse, so that carrying it as proposed cannot injure any navigation, but will on the contrary be rather beneficial to the Aiie and Calder during droughts, as the waste water will go into the Aire. By accurate measure- ment above the mills, after a continuance of dry weather, the daily discharge of water by this stream was ascertained to be upwards of 40 000 barrels, of 36 gallon each, and below the mills it is considerably greater. — J. W. 24 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. access into Leeds may be obtained by leaving the straight line of the Railway about a mile and a quarter from the town, thence bearing to the north in the direction of Richmond Hill, and terminating at the east end of a field south of the Galleries in Marsh Lane, where there are about four acres of vacant ground well situated for the purposes required. The present access to this ground from the lane is pretty good ; an additional and better one may be had on moderate terms. Marsh Lane, one of the principal approaches to the town from the York Road, connects itself with Kirkgate, so that there is also an easy communication with the Bradford Road. After making my survey I informed Mr. Atkinson of the importance of securing the ground in question, and was glad to learn that the proprietors of it are willing to sell at a reasonable price, and disposed to give every facility to the project. The only impediment is the high ground of Richmond Hill which will require either the formation of a tunnel eight hundred yards long, or two inclined planes with fixed Engines ; one ascending, the other descending. Of these two plans I never hesitated in advising the former : — first, because a tunnel is likely to be much less objection- able to the owners of land and buildings upon Richmond Hill ; second, because the angle of the planes there would be so great as to render them dangerous ; third, because it is a great and manifest waste of labour, and will prove a serious obstruction to the general utility of the project, to have to drag loads to the top of a hill for the mere purpose of immediately lowering them again, unless indeed a descending weight be always employed to raise the ascending, which cannot be calculated on with a mixed traffic ; and fourth, because when the ex- pense of purchasing ground so near Leeds, the interfering with roads, the damage to the adjoining property, and the cost of fixed engines are considered, it does not, according to a general estimate I have made appear that there will be any saving by the inclined planes. But even if I am mistaken in the point of first cost, I think it will be conceded that a saving in this respect constitutes the only advantage of the inclined planes. My opinion, therefore, is that the tunnel is the pre- ferable plan. “ If at any future period it be desirable to have a branch into Hunslet, it may probably be done at the least expense, and with the least chance of opposition, by crossing the river close to the bridge now forming a few hundred yards below Farbank. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL 25 “ The next important difference between the plans is near Mil- ford, where Mr. Stephenson kept the low ground to enable him to cross the North Eoad on the surface. I have taken higher ground, and propose passing the Railway over the road by means of an arch. It is, however, proper to state that, on examining Mr. Stephenson’s levels, I find that the stationary system did not necessarily require this Road to be passed on the level, but that, on the contrary, the Railway might easily have been carried under it. In comparing estimates, I have calculated upon this being done as part of the plan of 1825, which, though it increases the quantity of cutting, I think improves the line, by removing the objection of the Road Trustees, and by getting rid of the rise of 1 in 300, which Mr. Stephenson had for a length of two miles at this place. “ The line of 1825 passed the Railway in like manner under the Wetlierby and Ferrybridge Roads ; but about two miles from Leeds it crossed the Leeds and Selby Road on the surface. This cannot well be remedied upon the stationary system, but by making the inclina- tions throughout suitable for locomotive engines or horses, the Rail- way will be carried over this road, which is less objectionable. “ In following the other parts of the line generally, the direction of 1825 is somewhat altered, as the levels of the ground require it ; but by referring to the plan, it will be seen that there is no other difference of importance until we reach Selby, where it was then pro- posed to go close to the bridge over the Ouse, while the present line is about two hundred and sixty yards lower. This gives the oppor- tunity of a good wharf fronting the river with space for stations and warehouses, while the destruction of fewer buildings is required. Mr. Stephenson’s idea was to widen the bridge, and, as the intention then was to extend the Railway to Hull, he proposed to pass it over the part of the bridge so added, thus avoiding the expense and incon- venience of another bridge, and any deterioration of the waterside property. Now as Selby will always be an important point for loading and unloading, as connected with the Railway, I consider that at this, as at the Leeds end, a good frontage upon the river with depots and and buildings will be very important : this cannot be obtained close to the bridge ; but here also we arc fortunate in finding, at the termina- 26 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. tion of the present line, sufficient vacant ground belonging to] the Hon. Mr. Petre, an active Member of your Committee, who, I believe, approves of the alteration, “ I come now to consider the most important difference between the two plans : — The design of 1825 was to have the part of the way intended to be worked by locomotive engines or horses as level as possible, and to rise to the high ground by means of stationary engines placed at the tops of inclined planes. Of these there were three, two descending in the direction towards Selby, and one towards Leeds, the length of the former two being together 2 1-6 miles, and that of the latter only three-fifths of a mile ; of the remaining distance, 21- miles were to rise 1 in 600, 2 miles 1 in 300 (but as already stated this inclination might have been done away with), and the rest w T as perfectly level. The ground may therefore be said to be well adapted for this principle of Railway. The length from Farbank to Selby is upon this line 19 miles 1540 yards. “ The plan now proposed by me does away with fixed engines and inclined planes, and reduces the inclination so as to make every part suitable for horses or locomotive engines. To accomplish this without a very great increase of expense some deviations became necessary, but by these the length to Farbank is not extended one hundred yards. By referring to the plan, on which the line of 1825 is shown by dotted lines, the variations will be distinctly seen ; they are nowhere great, and as respects the direction, I think the one plan is on the whole as good as the other. “ In order to compare the respective merits of the former with the plan now proposed, it may be better to state them under different heads. “ First — As to the capital required : — “ I have measured with care the quantities of excavations and embankments upon both sections, and find that by lowering the way near Milford, so as to pass under the great road, and adding the cost of stationary engines for the inclined planes, Mr. Stephenson’s estimate does not differ much from mine, of which the amount is £200,000, ex- clusive of Parliamentary and law expenses. HJSTCBY OF FA31WAY S IK TO HTjLIi. 27 c£ Second — As to the expense of working the machinery for carry- ing goods upon the road. “ The number of locomotive engines or horses required by the plan of 1825 will be nearly the same, whether they accompany the load the whole length of the journey, ascending and descending the planes along with it, or merely convey the waggons between the planes and wait for another load ; but the number will be less by this system than by the one now proposed by me, as each engine or horse will take a greater load upon the level to the foot of the inclined planes, than upon the gradual slopes. The expense of the additional loco- motive will not, however, be equal to that of working the three stationary engines, so that the abandonment of the latter will effect a saving in the annual expense. The uniform system has besides this advantage — that at first horses only may be emplo} r ed, and that the number of engines and horses may always be proportioned to the work ; whereas permanent engines of power equal to the greatest work must in the first instance be erected, and kept always in readiness so as to prevent delay. In the case of the Liverpool and Manchester Bailway, in which the question as to the best power was referred to MrKastrick and myself, we found working by a system of stationary engines along the whole line to be cheaper than by locomotives ; but the amount of tonnage given us by the directors of that concern as the basis of calculation, # and the speed requisite were so great as to make it materially different from this line, upon which I consider that if two ways be constructed, with passing places, goods and passengers may be carried with various speeds, and horse power therefore employed with advantage for heavy goods at moderate velocities. “ Third — As to the time of making the journey. “ If the requisite speed for light goods and passengers be taken at ten miles per hour exclusive of stoppages upon the level part of the line, a ten-horse locomotive engine will take sixteen tons of goods , and on Mr. Stephenson’s line will make the journey in two hours and * About 3,000 tons of goods and waggons per day in each direction, which we calculated would require upwards of 40 tons to pass at 12 miles per hour, in each direction, every 10 minutes, and therefore keep the fixed engines constantly at w*ork 28 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. a quarter, supposing no delay beyond what is necessary with the fixed engines at the inclined planes. Upon the other plan, the same engine with the same load will make the journey in a little more than two hours and a half ; but this difference is not very important, as it will not often happen that there is this full load requiring so great a velocity. If the weight be reduced to thirteen tons of goods , the journey will be made in about two hours and twenty minutes ; or if an assistant engine be employed upon the rises in each direction, the journey will be made with sixteen tons of goods in very little more than two hours, this being the most expeditious of all the modes. “ With heavy goods a proper pace for locomotive engines upon the journey is from to 5 miles per hour. At this speed they will convey, upon any part of the line of 1825 (excepting, of course, the inclined planes), thirty tons gross, say twenty-tons of goods, and eight tons of w r aggons ; but as the rise of 1 in 300 near Milford may be got rid of in the way I have proposed, it is fair to caleu]ate thirty tons of goods as a load for a ten-horse engine on Mr. Stephenson’s way, while about twenty-five tons, with a small decrease of velocity in ascending, to be compensated for in descending, is a load upon the rises according to my plan. The journey on either system will be performed in about four hours and a half. “ To prevent my being supposed to have overvalued or under- valued the power of Locomotive Engines in this estimate of their work, it may be proper briefly to state the basis of my calculation. As in referring to steam engines a horse’s power is generally reckoned equal to 150 lbs. raised 220 feet in a minute, or at the rate of miles per hour, it is a matter of very easy calculation to ascertain that (sup- posing friction equal to l-180th of the weight moved) # the power of ten horses, at ten miles per hour, is upon a level equal to the draught of 30 tons gross ; from which, if we deduct 8^ tons for the weight of the engine with its tender, &c., and 5^ tons for that of the * I have taken l-180th of the weight as a basis, because I do not believe that it is anywhere less with waggons at present in use. By Mr. AVinan’s ingenious axle and friction wheel I have seen 71bs. balance a ton, which is l-320tli of the weight. This would nearly double the work done by engines and horses ; but I have not felt justified in calculating uj)on this, although the waggons are probably as capable of improvement as the engines. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 29 waggons, there remains 16 tons of goods. The weight here assigned for the engine and tender is two tons less than the average of ten- horse engines at present in use, as I think that the attention which is now being paid to the subject, and the efforts that are being made to improve the construction of locomotive engines, besides being pro- ductive of other beneficial effects, will be likely to reduce their weight before they are required for the Leeds and Selby Railway. The waggons likewise are taken at only one-third of the weight of goods, whioh is considerably lighter than I calculated them in my report to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company, as I do not anticipate the same hurry of business and quick motion on the Leeds and Selby as on that line. # “ The difference of exertion at the rises, by the present plan, is less important with horses than with loco-motive engines , as the horse can for a time increase his exertion with the speed, or diminish his speed with an increase of load, with less danger and disadvantage than the engine. All steam-engines, and high-pressure ones in particular, ought to be furnished with a safety-valve quite beyond the reach of the attendant, so as to prevent the possibility of his at any time raising the steam above the proper pressure. The engine being thus limited to its regular work, an increase of strain upon the load can be had only by a decrease in the speed of the piston ; to continue the speed upon the rises with advantage, another engine, therefore, becomes necessary, as has been stated above. The horse can, on the contrary, double his exertion for a time without much diminishing his speed, as we see every day upon turnpike roads, his greater draught when ascending being compensated upon the descending length. On a Railroad the case is still more favourable, as the horse may not only have nothing to draw, but may be carried down, as on the Darlington line, where so soon as the declivity is such that the waggons run down without draught, the animal is thrown off and takes his place in his own carriage behind the train of w r aggons, until his services are again required. The Leeds and Selby line, as now designed, is particularly adapted for this system of working : in the journey from Leeds towards Selby, the fall is such that the horse may ride from six to seven miles, * The greatest loss upon any part is the difference between l-180th and l-135th, or 41bs. per ton, for three miles in length. 30 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. and in tlie opposite direction, about three miles ; while at the same time the inclination so little exceeds the resistance of friction, that almost the entire amount of force accumulated by ascending may be usefully employed in the descent. # As regards, therefore, the quantity of force necessary to make the journey between the extreme points, the plan now proposed is nearly the same as if the whole length was one uniform plane. With moderate velocities also, the greater speed in descending will compensate for any loss in ascending: — not so with the line of 1825, the great power of the stationary engines required to raise the waggons to the tops of the planes being wasted, unless where the descending load can be employed to elevate another. “ Unless the trade be so great as to require the engine to be always in operation, there must upon the stationary system be some stoppage at the inclined planes, and occasionally the waiting for the arrival of another train of waggons ; so that upon the whole I think the average journey by the horse will be made in less time and with greater certainty by my plan than by Mr. Stephenson’s. “ As the horse loses much of his effect by increasing his speed, it is always disadvantageous and expensive to employ him at high velocities. Heavy goods could not afford a speed of ten miles per hour by horses, as the expense would be six times greater than at the rate of three miles. With light goods and passengers the journey may be made by horse power in from two hours to two hours and quarter. * Since this report was written Mr. Robert Stephenson has stated to me that his engine (the Rocket), the weight of which isjless than I have assumed for my calculation, drew a load of 14J tons, at the rate of 12J miles per hour, up a rise of 1 in 96, when the safety valve was free, and load upon it not exceeding 501bs. per square inch. Considerable allowance must be made for the difference between a trial of this kind, which is meant to show how much the engine can do, and its regular work ; but the experiment proves that I have not overstated the capability of loco-motive engines, in supposing them able to work every part of the Leeds and Selby line as now proposed, the greatest rise being 1 in 135. The same observation applies to all the experiments lately made on the Liverpool and Manchester Rail- way for the premium of £500. In one of those engines (Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson’s) in which coke only was used as a fuel, a blast, by a bellows, was sub- stituted for the natural draught of the fire. Thus the strength of the steam was kept up during the experiments, and there was no smoke. The weight of the engine also, as compared with its power, appears to have been much less than that of any former engine. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 31 “ At the slow speed the horse comes to better account than at the quick. At from 2 to 3 miles per hour, which is his most effective speed, he will draw eight tons of goods exclusive of waggons on Mr, •Stephenson’s plan, if the rise at Milford be done away with and the inclined planes he worked by fixed engines. Upon my line he will draw six tons of goods, and will accomplish the journey in shorter time than on the former principle. The joad of six tons would he too great for a continuance, but is not so for the length I propose. With the assistance of another horse upon the rises, he will take nine tons of goods with ease, and on the average the journey may be made in about six hours. “ The experiments I have made render it much more than doubtful if one attendant could, as Mr. Stephenson has stated, stop a train of waggons, with a load of forty tons descending an inclined plane of 1 in 25, so as to prevent danger in case of the rope breaking, or any derangement occurring ; but even granting that he could, if he w r ere not on the alert at the moment, or if by any chance his break got out of order, an accident might be attended w r ith consequences the most serious and fatal. The destruction of a train of coal w r aggons, and the scattering of their load, may be of little moment ; but when valuable goods, such as indigo, cochineal, &c., are likely to be carried on the road, and passengers also are intended to be conveyed, the considera- tion becomes more important. There are upon the Darlington w 7 ay tw T o inclined 'planes, both sloping less than 1 in 25, but upon neither of them are passengers carried, and I have the very best authority for stating that the Directors much regret that such planes exist at all. “ On the balance of the above arguments alone, my opinion is decidedly in favour of the uniform system, -without inclined planes ; but the most powerful points in its favour have yet to be named — I mean the more general utility to the public, and greater simplicity and certainty, which put it in the power of every manufacturer, coal-ov T ner or farmer on the line to convey his own goods, in his own time, with his own pow r er, and his own v T ay ; he has only to pay his toll, as he does on a turnpike road, and the thoroughfare is open without interrup- tion, which in a mixed trade of the extent you anticipate, and with your present feelings, is most desirable. It is proper also to state that 32 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. Mr. Stephenson has informed me that he considers it would be an advantage to do away with fixed engines, if it were possible to find a line not much longer that could be worked without them, Now as I have stated that the line proposed by me does not exceed that of 1825 by a hundred yards, I do not think that on this point any difference of opinion can exist, “ Although the embankments, excavations, and quantity of iron- work are estimated for only two lines of way, the quantity of ground to be purchased is taken at a sufficient width for four lines, to enable an additional number to be laid down if necessary, “ The rails are calculated of the proper strength for locomotive engines,* although at first horses will probably be the principal power used. On the Darlington line, the horse-power amounts to about a half-penny per ton per mile on the coal conveyed down to Stockton ; all things considered, the work done by the locomotives does not, I believe, amount to less ; but at the rate of eight or ten miles per hour the engine power will be very much the cheaper, if there be weight requiring this high speed sufficient to form a load for the engines. “ Of the revenue likely to accrue from the undertaking, I have said nothing ; this does not come within my department as an Engineer, and others possessed of greater local information than I am, are better- qualified to estimate it ; but w T hen the importance of the communication, the facility which the line when completed will afford, and the natural richness of the district through which it passes are considered, there can, I think, be little doubt of a good Railway from Leeds to Selby realising the expectations of the subscribers, and proving a benefit to the surrounding country. “ I am, Gentlemen, “ Your most obedient Servant, “ J. WALKER. “ Lime House , London , 18tA Laly, 1829. 351bs. per yd , being the same as in the Liverpool and Manchester line. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. S3 The Act of Parliament was applied for according to Mr. Walker’s plan, as described in the report, without alteration, and the Royal Assent was given on the 1st of June, 1830, authorising the line to be made. Messrs. Atkinson, of Leeds, and Mr. Phillips, of Hull, were joint solicitors, but owing to the illness of Mr. Atkinson, the burden of promoting the Act fell upon Mr. Phillips. Mr. Phillips still survives, and I am indebted to him for much information. * The Act recited that the making and maintaining of a Railway with proper works and conveniences for the passage of wagons and other carriages from Leeds to the River Ouse would be of great advantage to the inhabitants of the West Riding, and also to the merchants, shipowners, and inhabitants of the Town and Port of Kingston-upon- Hull, by opening a certain and expeditious communication by the Rivers Ouse and Humber with the Port of Hull, and by affording an additional mode of conveyance for passengers and merchandise and other articles and matters between these places, and would be of great public utility. The following noblemen and gentlemen were incorporated by the name and style of “ The Leeds and Selby Railway Company,” namely, the Right Honourable the Earl of Mexborough, the Right Honourable Lord Reay, the Honourable Edward Robert Petre, John Atkinson, Joseph Robert Atkinson, George Alder, Obadiah Brooke, Richard Bramley, T. Benyon, junior, Thomas Bruce, Thomas Davison Bland, James Brook, William Williams Brown, John Broadley, Thomas Bell, Thomas Barkworth, John Beadle, Henry Broadley, Henry Blundell, Francis Chorley, Newman Cash, George Coulson, John Christopher Cankrien, Henry Duncombe, Thomas Slingsby Duncombe, Peter Ewart, Joseph Smyth Egginton, Samuel Hall Egginton, Charles Frost, Samuel Cook Frankish, Richard Oliver Gascoigne, Thomas Oliver Gascoigne, Richard Oliver Gascoigne, junior, Benjamin Gott, John Gott, William Gott, William Gatliff, Edward Grace, Stephen Gee, John Hives, William Hey, William Hey, junior, Robert Harrison, Adam Hunter, Joseph Holroyd, Stephen Todd Holroyd, Thomas Hirst, John Hirnaman, John Holmes, Francis Hall, junior, Benjamin Horner, William Jarratt, Edward Knowsley, Richard Leonard Lee, John Levett, Henry Levett, Thomas * Mr. Phillips died May, 1879. c 34 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. J ames Ogle, Samuel Ogle, Thomas Benson Pease, Thomas Phillips, John Pollard, John Pearson, Thomas Procter, John Cowham Parker, Mary Bobinson, Bichard Bipley, Thomas Bobinson, George Budston, William Bichardson, Jane Eiddell, William Sheepshanks, Thomas W. Stansfield, George Silvertop, Samuel Smith, William Staniland, John Smith, Isaac Spencer, Joseph Sykes, Avison Terry, John Terry, Bichard Tottie, Mathew Thomas Trigg, George Hamilton Thompson, Thomas Topping, Thomas Thompson, William Titley, junior, G. N. Tatham, Thomas E. Upton, George Vincent, junior, John Wilson, Charles Weddall, Charles Whittaker, John Wormald, Benjamin Walker, Thomas Ward, and John Yewdale. The capital authorised was £210,000 in shares, and £90,000 on loan, The original notion was for the Companies to make the Bailways and the public to use them as they had hitherto used turnpike roads — finding their own carriages and power. Accordingly we find the Act provides “ tolls ” to be taken for the use of the line on one scale, and another scale of charges if the Company found the haulage. The Company was directed to make not less than three passing places or turnouts in each mile of the Bail way to allow waggons and other carriages using the Bailway to pass each other, but while specific tolls were appointed for goods of all descriptions, the Company was allowed to charge “ for persons, cattle, and other animals ” such reasonable charges as shall from time to time be determined by the Company. At this early period the highways and public roads were considered paramount, and when the railways crossed these on a level, gates were placed to shut across the railway, leaving the roads free, but so many accidents happened, and so many gatekeepers were killed — for the automatic openers were not then invented — that the plan was eventually reversed, and the gates placed across the highways, leaving the railway free. The extreme weight to be carried was not to exceed 8 tons. The tunnel at the Leeds end, as recommended by Mr. Walker, was adopted, and the Bailway was constructed and opened in Loft, George Liddell, II. C. Marshall, John Marshall, junior, James Garth Marshall, Samuel Margerison, James Nelson, William Newman, HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 35 the autumn of 1834. Stone sleeper blocks were used, and remained in use for about 20 years — but there was no elasticity, and the running produced a jarring and bumping, and they were gradually superseded by wooden sleepers. For several years the line between Milford and Leeds was abandoned for passenger traffic, the route to Leeds and elsewhere being by the Yalley Line, diverging from Milford Junction. The older inhabitants of Hull can well remember the horrors of Milford Junction. Waiting for an unknown and indefinite time in a bleak and unprotected station, without proper conveniences, they were kept there until every train for everywhere else had arrived and departed, and then a porter shouted as if in derision “ JSfow for Hull,’ , pronouncing the word much like another word with which it and Halifax are sometimes associated. The Leeds and Selby was reopened for local traffic — the Act providing that if it were closed for three years the land should revert to the original owners — the second line of rails on the York and Market Wdghton line being taken up and removed to the Leeds and Selby, and eventually a line was run from Marsh Lane through the town of Leeds to the Wellington Station, and the Leeds and Selby again became the through line between Hull and the lines running into the Leeds Wellington Station. The line was rented to the York and North Midland from October, 1840 at £17,000 per annum, and purchased by powers granted in the session of 1844 at the original cost of £340,000, and it is now an integral portion of the North Eastern Eailway Company, CHAPTER III. — -* Cfje pull antr Jleftg VT will be remembered that the Act for making the Leeds and Selby Line was obtained in 1830, and the line was approaching completion in 1831, and that the original scheme was for making a line from Leeds to Hull, but so much appeared the objection to making a line which would be remunerative in competition with a free tidal river between Selby and Hull that it was decided to stop at Selby. Much difficulty was found in raising the required subscriptions to justify the bringing in of a Bill for making the Hull and Selby portion of the line. The parties who first took up the promotion of the extension of the line from Selby to Hull were the late Mr. George Liddell and Mr. James Henwood, bankers. They, together with the late Mr. John Smith (Melton Garth), attended a meeting at Selby about the time of the opening of the Leeds and Selby Bailway, at which it was agreed that no effort should be spared in obtaining subscriptions to satisfy the parliamentary standing order preliminary to bringing in a Bill for the Hull and Selby Line. At a meeting in Hull it was agreed that if 20 gentlemen would each subscribe for £1,000 the matter should go on. At last these were found, but at first no man in Hull subscribed for more than £1,000, except the late Mr. Henry Broadley, who subscribed for £2,000. The line met with great opposition from the landowners, amongst others the Baikes, the then owners of Welton, who objected to the line passing through their estate, and were only appeased by a promise of £10,000 and an under- taking not to have a station on the estate. Hence the station at HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 37 Brough instead of Welton. It was also originally intended to carry the line more inland by way of North and South Cave, but the landowners objected, and the Engineer, Mr. Walker, recommended as straight a line as possible between Selby and Hull, and here he was no doubt right, for if the line had been in the first instance made circuitously by the villages, a direct line would have been made ere this in competition. The stipulated sum of £20,000 having been subscribed for, Messrs. Walker and Burges, assisted by Mr. Comrie, who had been employed on the survey of the Leeds and Selby Line, were engaged to make a survey, and they made a Report to the Subscribers, dated 28th July, 1834, which is here printed in full : — TO THE SUBSCRIBERS FOR A SURVEY OF THE BART OF THE LEEDS AND HULL JUNCTION RAILWAY, BETWEEN HULL AND SELBY. “ Gentlemen, “ We beg now to submit the plan, section and estimate of a railway from Selby to Hull. In the survey of the line, we have been assisted by Mr. Comrie, whose accuracy is well known to us. “ Those, who at all acquainted with the country between Selby and Hull, must be aware that it is favourable for the purpose of a rail- way, from being free of buildings, and nearly level ; those, not so acquainted, will be somewhat surprised, on referring to the plan and section, to see that a line of thirty miles can be had, in which, except- ing two or three places, and these for short lengths, the ground may be said to be level — that, except in Selby and Hull, there is not a building interfered with — and that, beyond the turn close to the Selby end, the direction may practically be considered a straight line. These natural advantages give peculiar facilities in laying out the line and 38 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. level of a railway, and tend to reduce the amount of the estimate ; hut the latter effect is in a degree counteracted by the cost of bridges over the Ouse and Derwent, and the Market Weigh ton canal, with the approaches to them, by the want of hard material for making the way on different parts of the line, by the stone blocks having to be brought from distant quarries,* and by the works and purchases at the Hull end. “On the accompanying design, except the approaches to the bridge over the Ouse, there is no inclination exceeding one in five hundred, which is not one-fifth of the inclination on three miles of the Liverpool and Manchester railway. “ The distance from Selby to the Hull Dock Quay, by the pro- posed plan, is under thirty-one miles. The line leaves the Leeds and Selby Railway, in Selby, on the east side of the Thorne, and Doncaster road, and crosses the Ouse by an iron bridge, a little way above or west of the staiths belonging to the Leeds and Selby Railway Company, about two hundred yards below the present bridge. Of several other directions through Selby, which we surveyed, and of which one is shewn on the plan, we think this decidedly the best, and likely to be most preferred bv the Selby interests, which it is desirable to consult. Immediately after passing the Ouse, the course turns in the direction of Hull, and continues in a straight line for twenty-one miles — through Cliffe, crossing the Derwent, skirting the north side of Wressle church- yard, and passing on the south of Brend, one mile north of Howden, a quarter of a mile south of Eastrington, a third of a mile south of Gilberdyke, then over the Market Weighton Canal, near Marhouse, and a quarter of a mile north of Broomfleet, to very near the Humber at Cave Sand, thence to the south side of the village of Brough, a quarter of mile south of North Ferriby Church, to the shore of the river below Hesslewood House, and across Hessle Harbour, close to the bridge. From the last point there are two directions, the preference of one or other of which will depend on the Hull termination. If the approach to the town be along the shore of the river to the basin and the south end of the Humber Dock, then the * If wooden sleepers be substituted for stone blocks there will be a saving of upwards of £10,000, but they are very inferior in point of durability. HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 3D line on leaving Hessle will tend to the south and go near the Humber Bank ; if, on the contrary, the preferable termination at Hull be found to be the north end of the Plumber Dock, the general direction from Hessle will be across the open fields between the river and the turn- pike-road, which will be approached or crossed in entering the town. Both directions are shewn on the plan, and by a proper and liberal understanding, with the various parties interested in the property, either may be accomplished. “ The estimate of all the works by the shore line up to the quays of the dock, calculating for two lines of way with sidings at convenient distances, and including purchases and compensations for four lines, ^ with ten per cent, for contingencies on all the items, is £310,000, to which there is to be added, a sum for the Act of Parliament and law expenses ; if the company should also provide engines, coaches, and waggons, the gross capital ought to be £340,000. “ The importance of completing the original plan of a railway between Hull and Leeds, whether considered in reference to the future prosperity and trade of these towns, and to the shareholders of the Leeds and Selby Railway Company, or as going far to fix the direction of the great railway communication across the Island, from the Atlantic and Irish seas, to the German Ocean, is too obvious to require any observation. When the line between Selby and Hull is so far advanced as to secure its completion, two-thirds of the distance between Liverpool and Hull, or eighty out of one hundred and twenty miles, will be effected. To connect the links into a chain, the length, from Manchester to Leeds only will be wanting, and you are probably aware that this part is now under consideration. Whether the eastern termination is to be Hull by way of Leeds, will naturally be much influenced by the spirit manifested and the progr3SS made between these towns. The Leeds and Selby Railway will be opened in the course of this autumn ; it has been made on a scale corresponding io its forming part of the above great communication, being of * The valuation of land and buildings is not in our department — the amount has been obtained from prices stated to be liberal by those having local know.elge of the subject. 40 MlSTOBY OB BAIL WAYS INTO HULL. two lines throughout, with heavy rails and bridges of span sufficient for four lines, for which land has been purchased. This railway will much facilitate the conveyance from Leeds to Selby. What now takes three hours by the coaches will be done in less than half the time, and there is now little doubt of steamboats being established, vdiich, by drawing less water and not grounding on the sands will leave Hull and Selby at regular hours, and make the passage with greater certainty than at present ; still we apprehend that not less than four and a half to five hours can be taken as the average passage, and the direction of the tide must alwaj^s cause some variation and uncertainty ; but, taking what we have assumed as the time, the whole journey from Leeds to Hull will occupy above six hours. By the railway now proposed, the distance between Leeds and Hull will be reduced to fifty miles, which is less than the generally supposed distance from Selby to Hull alone by the course of the river. # At the Liverpool and Manchester speed, this would be done in two hours and a half, but, taking seventeen miles only as the rate of travelling, the time would be safely calculated as not exceeding three hours. It is impossible to doubt that such a railway, in such a country, and under such circumstances, will have a preference to the river navigation, though free, for passengers to whom time is of value, and for light goods. Nor is it likely that those most concerned in the welfare of Selby will oppose such a measure, for it is not perhaps predicting too much to say that the trade of Selby will ultimately be benefited. If that town had the power, and were disposed to exercise it, of entirely stopping the proposed work, the effect would be to force the railway and the trade in another direction, by which Selby would evidently be the loser ; but if, by encouraging the general improve- ment through Selby, it increases the trade, the proportion which will go down by water may, and probably will, exceed the whole of the present traffic. Passengers and light goods requiring dispatch will, as has been stated, go by the railway ; but heavy goods, or passengers not in haste, and to whom the difference of fare is an object, are likely to be carried cheaper by the river, and the increase of these may be supposed to be very great. We are informed that the trade of canals * The maps to which we have referred make the distance less, but it is impossible to measure on a plan the course a vessel lakes round the bends. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 41 between Liverpool and Manchester has increased since the formation of the railway, which is to be accounted for on the principle referred to. “ Again, if the situation of Selby be looked at on the map, it will be seen that, if ever a railway from London to York be formed, that town will probably occupy the very peculiar position, at the crossing of the two great lines through the kingdom, and it cannot be necessary to point out the effect of this on the trade and import- ance of the place. “ The bridges over the rivers and canal are unavoidable ; all that can be done is to form them so as to cause little obstruction. The most important, that over the Ouse, is so near the present Selby bridge, that the interruption will be small ; in order to pass both bridges vessels going up will only have to slacken sail a little sooner than than they do now. “ If the shore line be taken at Hull, some of the houses fronting the river will be injured as private residences but this also is inevitable. The distance, from the seats at Welton, Eastdale and Melton, is such, that we do not anticipate much objection there ; at least, the line has been kept to the south, and also on the shore, under Mr. Pease’s seat at Hesslewood, with a view to avoid injury and opposition as much as possible. “ In thus stating the prominent arguments for and against the plan, we must not omit to name that, in the length of thirty miles, the line does not cross any road of much traffic — we believe not one turnpike road ; this is another peculiarity in its favour as respects the avoidance of expense and opposition. We would only add that, although in a great work of this kind it is impossible entirely to escape public and private interference, it would be difficult to find a line through such a country, where there is less of it than on the present. “ We are, Gentlemen, “ Your obedient servants, “ J. WALKER. “ A. BURGES. u Great Geofg e-sir eet, u Westminster, 2pose arose from the passengers putting their heads out of the windows to indulge their curiosity, or from the third class carriages — if such they could be called — they were open trucks, not unlike the present square sided coal trucks— without seats, I think, and many were the colds and inconveniences which ultimately led to their abolition, and hence arose the term “covered carriages,” still advertised as an inducement to cheap trippers. Notwithstanding the discussion in 1835, the first Directors were not Sabbatarians, for I remember very long trains running on Sunday afternoons, occupied by persons for the novelty of the thing. This was much objected to by some, and came to an end. The manner of getting the train into the station was a more complicated affair than now., A strong cable was attached to the train, and made fast to a post after the manner of a ship, and with this it was afterwards pulled into the station. On one occasion the momentum was so great that the train ran through the wall of the booking office, which was at the end of the station, and a little more would have taken it through into the Humber Dock. My father was in the train, and was scratched and bruised and his hat lost, but he was supplied with another from the collection before-mentioned in which to walk home. In those days there was no compensation for accidents, the same having been created by Lord Campbell’s Act. It was the custom then as now for the attendants to ride on the steps, and the station master, Mr. Glennan, fell off and partially under the train, the result being the amputation of one arm. There were no annual tickets at first, and to bring the directors to reason many gentlemen rode in the third class trucks — amongst others Mr. Henry Parker, the wine merchant, who then resided at Ferriby. They ultimately obtained their desire, and season tickets were issued at a reasonable rate (though still too high) which enabled them to return to the comparative luxury of a first class carriage. The same spirit of martyrdom or rebellion still exists, for the North Eastern manager having recently increased the price of the return tickets many clergymen and gentlemen habitually travel second or third class from Brough and other stations. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 70 The secretary of the Company was Mr. George Locking. Many will remember his portly figure. It was of course no part of his duty to do porter’s work, but on one occasion he was seen struggling with an enormously heavy chest. The explanation was that it was gold he was carrying to the train, an importation from Eussia on its way to London — “ auri sacra fames” The first station master was Mr. Glennan, who lost his arm as before-mentioned, who was until quite recently in the service of the North Eastern Company at a small station between Selby and Market Weighton. The next station master was Mr. Dale Brown, who still survives. He was followed by Mr. Lofthouse, whose classification of passengers may be worth repeating. He was wont to say all the gentry and landowners left Hull by the 2,25 train, the bankers, merchants, solicitors, and other respectables by the 4.30, or gentleman’s train, and after that “ all the rest.” Mr. Akrigg is now the station master. I cannot understand why railway men cannot invent some better process of “ taking tickets ” than the old-fashioned one of drawing up the train outside the termiuus, detaching the engine, and sending it to the rear to push the train in, whereby five minutes — by St. Stephen’s clock — are consumed, in addition to the “ maavais quart cV heare ” often lost on the journey. Why cannot tickets be taken at the last stopping station, and the shunting of the trains and the reversing of the engines done when emptied after arrival. I also deprecate the plan of sending a porter round to shut the windows of the carriages immediately after arrival, as if it were desirable to preserve a stuffy and close atmosphere for the next comers. Many of the carriages that come to Hull are old and dirty — notably those plying between Leeds and Hull — but this remark is applicable to much of the North Eastern stock, and perhaps we are not much worse off than other places exclusively served by one company only. We never see any Pullman cars or saloon carriages or have any trains resembling the “ Flying Scotchman ” or “ Flying Dutch- man ” or “ Leeds Special Express ” to London, -but are accustomed to travel at sedate and moderate speeds at long intervals. CHAPTER IV. ®jje "§mt ta % fjmrft mtir T HE interchange of the Lancashire traffic led to intimate relations between the Leeds and Manchester (now Lancashire and York- shire) and the Hull and Selby, and overtures were made for amalgamation, and an agreement was come to between the respective Boards in December, 1843, on the principle of a division of profits, the Hull and Selby to have 16i per cent, of the net profits, and the Manchester and Leeds 83| per cent., and an application was to be made to Parliament to sanction this arrangement. Owing, however, to the lateness of the period at which the negotiations had been concluded, it was not possible to comply with the standing orders, and the Standing Orders Committee reported “ that in the case of the Manchester and Leeds and Hull and Selby Bailway Companies’ Petition the standing orders ought not to be dispensed with.” The two Railways, however, continued to be worked under one management, and meetings of the shareholders were again held to sanction another application to Parliament, and I am informed by Mr. Mayelston that at the first meeting of the shareholders only six hands were held up against the proposal, and at the second meeting only two hands, Mr. Mayelston’s hand being one, and he ascertained that the other was that of Mr. Thos. MacTurk, whom at that time he did not know. A few days afterwards, however, they were introduced at Brougli Station, and a short conversation in the waiting room led to important results. A meeting was appointed in Hull, and they two agreed to see the Hull shareholders and subsequently the other shareholders in various parts of the country. They soon had a following, representing 1,200 shares, and thereupon they sought an interview with the Hull HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 81 and Selby Directors. On the appointed day they found the Hull Directors had brought over the Chairman of the Leeds and Manchester (Mr. Houlds worth), Captain Lawes, the manager, and Mr. Hawkshaw, the engineer. They were rather taken aback at this formidable array, but proceeded to state their case. The chief points used by Messrs. Mayelston and MacTurk were that the division of profits should be based upon the experience of 18M instead of the previous year, and be calculated on gross receipts instead of net profits, and that the Hull and Selby should be guaranteed by the Leeds and Manchester a dividend not less than it was earning as an independent company. It should be remembered that the dividend of the Hull and Selby had been 5, 6, and 7 per cent. Mr. Houldsworth, when pressed, did indeed mention a guarantee of 4 per cent., but said his company objected to the principle of a guarantee. At a late hour of the night the meeting terminated, and under the conviction that all hopes of an union with the Leeds and Manchester Company on safe and equitable terms were at an end, the deputation that night met the dissentient shareholders, who passed a resolution that nothing short of the terms refused by Mr. Houldsworth would be acceded to by them, and that a communication to that effect be sent to the Hull and Selby Board early next morning, before Mr. Houldsworth should leave the town. Mr. Houldsworth at the meeting had admitted that the arguments of Messrs. Mayelston and MacTurk were strong, and invited them to go over to Manchester, promising that all the books of the Leeds and Manchester Company should be open to them. They went to Manchester and saw the books, but failing to obtain any alteration of the terms they stated that it would be their duty to continue their opposition. At the Wharncliffe meeting the proposal for an amalgamation with the Manchester and Leeds (which had previously been carried unanimously with the exception of two hands) was upset, much to the chagrin of the Hull Directors. Mr. Henwood, one of them, rose in an excited state, and threatened that the agreement should be carried out by a resort to the Court of Chancery. This frightened many weak shareholders, and to avert the disastrous state of affairs likely to arise HISTORY OR RAILWAYS IHTO HULL. from disunion amongst the shareholders, and the threat of Chancery proceedings, it was considered desirable to seek an alliance with the York and North Midland, who had by this time acquired the Leeds and Selby Railway. Accordingly Messrs. Mayelston and MacTurk sought an interview with Mr. Hudson, who was then in the plenitude of his power as “ Railway King.” (I have Mr. Hudson’s letter making the appointment.) After stating their case, which was very favourably entertained, Mr. Hudson said, “ Well, gentlemen, what do you propose ?” Their answer was that they were not, and did not wish to appear antagonistic to the Board of the Hull and Selby, and would prefer any offer to come from Mr. Hudson, and be made to the Hull and Selby Board. He said, “Well, gentlemen, that is very handsome on your part.” After some more conversation he said, “ Well, I suppose you mean 10 per cent ? but I should like to have a night to consider it over, and in the morning 1 will write to the Hull Board and at the same time send you a copy.” At this time there was a war of circulars between the Directors on the one hand and the Committee of Shareholders on the other, who had Sir William Lowthrop for their chairman, and a Committee Room at No. 4, Market Place, Hull, the Directors urging the alliance with the Manchester and Leeds and the Committee opposing it. The following extracts from the Committee’s report will explain the position of affairs : — “ In explanation of the anxiety displayed by the Directors lest they should lose their hold on the Manchester Company, we think it but right to state for the information of the distant Shareholders that a large majority (seven out of nine) are influential proprietors in the Hull Docks, and, without meaning the least imputation upon these members of the Board, we have reason to believe that their fears have been unduly excited by the ingenious representations of the Man- chester Directors with reference to a proposed establishment of Docks at Wakefield, and the possible capabilities of Goole. Now, though the Railway Proprietors cannot be expected to take care of the Dock Company’s interest to the injury of their own, it would be easy to shew that by the Sheffield and Manchester, Barnsley Junction, and HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 83 Midland Railways on the one side, and by the Leeds and Bradford Line, with its extensions and tributaries, on the other, all of which are more or less under the influence of Mr. Hudson ; that gentleman could, in defiance of any ill-judged retaliation on the part of the Manchester and Leeds Company, secure to the Railway, and necessarily therefore to the Dock Companjq ‘ a fair proportion of the rich traffic of Lancashire and Yorkshire,’ and as he would have to pay so high a rental for the railway, his energetic co-operation in favour of the port would be secured by ties about which there could be no mistake, “ With regard to surrendering ‘ to the York and North Midland Company the entire power, control, and surplus advantage of this master key to the increasing trade and importance of the Town of Hull,’ it must be borne in mind that the same gentlemen who condemn this did nevertheless intend to surrender the same master hey to the Manchester Company. But the great distinction between the two cases is here. They gave it up without any guarantee for the protec- tion of the port — while the dissentient shareholders, who are thus reflected upon, bind Mr. Hudson under a virtual penalty of £7 7,000 a year (the rent and liabilities of the railway), to use the key for the extension of the commerce of the port, and moreover he will not (like the other Company with their Goole extension) have any interest to work a rival port against it. But it should be remembered that if the railway be the master key to the port of Hull, the York and North Midland Company, by their sagacity in obtaining possession of the Leeds and Selby Line , which had been previously offered to our Board , but , unhappily for the future destiny of our Company , refused by them , already hold the master key of the Bailway itself for they have at Selby possession of our inlet and outlet, and when the proposed branches of the two Companies are made they will meet us at three other points, namely, Beverley, Bridlington, and Market Weighton. We are, in fact, hemmed in by that Company, and though no doubt we might break through, v r e must not lose sight of the powerful influence that will oppose the attempt. Yet this , if we w r ere to remain an independent Company, would be essential to our prosperity. “ While considering the question of remaining an independent line, it is important to bear in mind, that if our Directors were over- HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 84 matched in former years by the vigorous management of the York Company, and consequently induced to take refuge in the Manchester Alliance (which was the fact),)iQvr much more difficult would be their position as an independent Company at the present time, when the mighty influence of Mr. Hudson is extending (or about to be extended) by an unbroken chain of railway from Bristol to Edinburgh, including every channel through which traffic could possibly flow to or from our line, one of the two roads to Manchester alone excepted. Our Directors must be so well aware of this that we could not but regard any further proposal made for remaining an independent line as preliminary to the renewal of the Manchester alliance. We have reason to believe that arrangements are contemplated for consolidating into one grand alliance most beneficial for the interests of the public the whole of the railways from Bugby to Edinburgh, including the branches extended from that lengthened chain down to the coast, representing a capital of £25,000,000, and we ask, would it be desirable that the Port of Hull should be excluded from this powerful combination ? “ Upon the whole we are decidedly of opinion that Mr. Hudson has more power and more interest to benefit or to injure (as the case may be) the railway and the port than the Manchester Company can have — that he could work the line more advantageously for the share- holders, the port, and the public than we could work it ourselves as an independent Company — and that whether as shareholders or inhabi- tants of Hull there can be no question that Mr. Hudson’s offer, with some modifications of the purchase clause, which we have no doubt will be conceded, deserves our decided preference over any other proposal which has yet been suggested. 61 The shareholders should bear in mind that it was not until after Mr. Hudson’s letter had been received in Hull that the proposal (at the eleventh hour) for the complete and immediate amalgamation of the two Companies was made by the Directors to the Company ; a proposal quite distinct from the old idea of association. But even this is a meagre and unfair proposal, inasmuch as the stock of the Man- chester Company, if paid up like our own y could not, even on the HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 85 traffic of their last half-year, have divided more than 3i per cent, or 6^ per cent, per annum, while our dividend for the same period was at the rate of 7 per cent, per annum, and might, without imprudence, have been made 8 per cent., still leaving a sufficient balance for the next half-year. “ We trust the reasons we have given for opposing the Man- chester Alliance will convince the distant shareholders that we are not acting from factious motives, nor from a hostile feeling to the Manchester and Leeds Company. We beg to assure them that by the admission of the Board itself our opposition up to the date of the meeting on the 7th March has been conducted in the most deferential and friendly spirit towards the Directors, and towards the respected Chairman of the Manchester Board ; that in that spirit we have abstained from agitating the question amongst the non-resident pro- prietors ; that our intention so to abstain, provided the Directors did not attempt to bear down the question by proxies, was by one of our body communicated to the Secretary ; and that had not some of the Directors at the Special General Meeting of the 7th March attempted by proxy votes (given in most cases by parties who were ignorant of any offer from Mr. Hudson being made) to prevail over the known wishes of the majority of the resident proprietors, we should not have placed ourselves before the distant shareholders in the unpleasant and invidious position of agitators against the governing powers. “ Signed on behalf and by order of the Committee, WILLIAM LOWTHKOP, Chairman. “ Committee Boom, Ho. 4, Market Place, Hull, April 12, 1845. At a numerous meeting of Shareholders in the Hull and Selby Bailway, held at the George Inn, Hull, on Wednesday, April 9th, 1845, Sir William Lowthrop in the chair, the following Besolutions were adopted : — 1st. — That this meeting, having heard the statements of the Chairman relative to the negotiations of the Committee with Mr. Hudson, hereby expresses its conviction that the peculiar circum- £6 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL, stances of the case fully justified tlie responsibility assumed and the proceedings taken by them, and presents to them its cordial thanks for their zealous promotion of tie interests of the shareholders. 2nd, — That this meeting, considering all the circumstances of the Railway and the Port of Hull, is of opinion that the interests of both would be more securely and effectually promoted by an alliance with the York and North Midland Company than by remaining in its present independent and exposed position. 3rd.- — That this meeting, appreciating the fair and liberal spirit of Mr. Hudson’s offer to the Directors, and approving of the basis thereof— a 10 per cent, guarantee— is nevertheless so convinced of the value and importance of the Railway that it cannot but regard the proposed purchase clause at £100 at the expiration of five years as inadequate in itself, and not duly proportionate to the terms of the previous lease. 4th. — That this meeting highly approves of the following resolution, to be submitted to the meeting of shareholders, as embody- ing terms to be proposed to the York and North Midland Company, just and equitable to both the contracting parties, and pledges itself to support the same : — c That the Hull and Selby Railway be offered to the York and North Midland Railway Company on the following terms, viz., that the York and North Midland Railway Company shall take the concern, with all its debts and liabilities, on a perpetual lease, at a rent of 10 per cent, on the original share capital — 10 per cent, on the capital created for the Burlington branch so soon as that line shall be opened — and 10 per cent, on the quarter share capital, so soon as the 6 per cent, guarantee shall expire ; the York and North Midland Company, however, to have the power, on giving six months’ notice, at any time after five years from the commencement of the lease, to pay off the whole capital of the Company at the rate of £112 10s. for every original share of £50 — £56 5s. for every half- share of £25 — and £28 2s. 6d. for every quarter share of £12 10s. to such holders of quarter shares as may, in the event of such purchase, claim the same.’ HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 87 At this meeting a requisition was signed and forwarded to the Directors, requiring them to call a Special General Meeting of the Company to consider the proposal of the York and North Midland, which was accordingly held on the 2nd of May, 1845. At this meeting a resolution was passed to offer the line to the York and North Midland, on the terms previously mentioned, the lease to commence on the 1st of July, 1845. Thus Messrs. Mayelston and MacTurk and their committee were completely triumphant, and the £50 shares, which had been down as low as £35 and which rose to about £G0 on the proposed union with the Manchester and Leeds, now rose to £110 to £112. A lease was prepared, dated 30th June, 1845, whereby the Hull and Selby Hail way was handed over to the York and North Midland, on the following day, the 1st of July, 1845, just 5 years after its opening. At a subsequent meeting of the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company, the Chairman, referring to the subject, remarked that the Directors had always considered an arrangement between themselves and the Hull and Selby Company a very important one to carry out, but like every other arrangement it depended on the terms, and that they (the Manchester and Leeds Company) had no ground of complaint at being outbid in the matter. At times some odium has been attempted to be heaped on those who, as it is expressed, “ sold the Town to the North Eastern Company,” but it will be interesting to read their own account given above. It may be remembered that the exertions of Messrs. Mayelston and MacTurk were directed to obtaining better terms for the share- holders, who were not exclusively Hull men, from the York and North Midland, rather than worse from the Manchester and Leeds, and as an amalgamation with one or other of the great companies was a certainty, the only question open for opinion is whether an alliance with the Lancashire and Yorkshire or the North Eastern is the best. The North Eastern Company is not popular in Hull, or indeed anywhere, but it is a question whether the Lancashire and Yorkshire under like circumstances would be more so. The hope of Hull is in the future 88 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. competition and accommodation sure to follow, from the construction of another independent line. In the meantime the North Eastern Management might do much to ingratiate their company in the feelings of the town by timely concessions, equilization of rates, more punctual and speedy delivery of goods, acceleration of trains, and civil intercourse. CHAPTER Y. 5% llailfimg |flauw, m it ^{fectetr pull T HE year 1845 will long be remembered as the culmination of the Railway Mania. Schemes were concocted by hundreds. Many were without doubt projected and supported by persons of high character, but an equally large number were got up in fraud and carried on by knavery — and few families escaped the crash which surely came. Likely and unlikely schemes were equally welcomed, and the most unlikely people were roused to make every effort to obtain allotments of shares, which as soon as the prospectuses were issued went to large premiums. Numerous projects affecting Hull were launched. “ The Sheffield, Hull, and Midland Direct, via Masbro, Doncaster, and Goole,” with a share capital of £800,000, Lord Edward Chichester being the chairman. “The Lincolnshire and Eastern Counties,” with a capital of £2,400,000, was much supported by Hull men, as “forming the most direct possible communication between Hull and London, the distance saved being 35 miles over any of the proposed lines.” There was also the “ Hull, Sheffield, and Midland Direct Railway,” with a capital of £750,000, the object being to form the “nearest possible route from Hull to Manchester, Liverpool, Rotherham, Barnsley, and other places.” Also “ the Liverpool and Hull Direct Connecting Railway, via Blackburn, Burnley, and Leeds,” with a capital of £1,200,000. There was also “ the Hull and Holyhead Direct Railway,” “ the Northampton, Lincoln, and Hull Direct,” “ the York, Hull, and East Yorkshire,” “ the Hull, Malton, and North Riding Union,” “ the Hull and Lincoln Direct,” “the Hull and York Direct,” and probably several others of which I know not. 90 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. There were two Stock Exchanges in Hull, one with 65 me mbers and the other with 40 members. When the crash came about one half were unable to meet their engagements. These were roaring times for Solicitors, Engineers, Surveyors, Traffic -takers, and Parliamentary Agents. One Company advertized that “ in order to ensure the strict compliance with the Standing Orders of the Houses of Parliament, as also the complete success of the undertaking, the Directors have retained at a weekly cost of £1,700 a numerous and effective double staff of engineers and surveyors, who are now in full operation on the projected line.” “ Traffic-taking ” was a curious employment. I remember when a schoolboy going into an inn in a remote part of North Yorkshire with two or three others. A seedy individual sat in the window, and immediately entered a note of our passing in a large book. He was one of the large army of traffic-takers sent out by some scheme, and his business was to sit for weeks in the inn window and score down all cattle, coaches and carriages, and people on foot passing the live 1 on g day, and perhaps a few imaginary ones if the case were urgent, and it was desirable to report to the Parliamentary Committee that an “ immense traffic ” was waiting for the Universal Bail way. THE SURVEYOR’S RETURN. Extracted from Punch. “ Paint and wearily the way-worn surveyor returns to the bosom of his family. He has finished his railroad labours, and they have nearly finished him. Six months ago he went forth erect, elate, plump, rubicund ; even as a boxer trained for the fight. Elastic was his step, his air was jaunty. Tight was the fit of his shooting jacket, and sprucely did .he look in it, for it was new. Unworn were the high lows which he marched along in, shouldering his theodolite or brandishing his trusty level. Behold him now ! His head droops, his form is angular, his cheek is sallow ; he is like unto a pauper newty emancipated from the workhouse. Six months — six calendar months — at Brixton could not have brought him thus low. Loose are his garments ; patched also and shabby ; and low as his condition are the heels of his boots. His level peeps timidly from his hinder pocket, HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 91 and lie trails his theodolite on the ground. Will he he recognised by that family to whose bosom he is creeping ? Will his wife and children hail the altered man ? Or rather will not his domestic shut the door in his face and tell him there is nothing for him. Surveyor, let thy knock he loud and double, lest thou be repulsed as a mendicant. And, surveyor, a word in thine ear. Thou hast accomplished thy work ; the labourer is worthy of his hire. We would advise thee as a friend — a familiar friend — to look sharp after thine. Make out thy account speedily ; send in thy bill with all despatch, while yet the bubble is roseate, and the Jeremies who blew it, whose surname is Diddler, yet linger in the land of the solvent, and ere, borne far away o’er the broad Atlantic, the rogues of the railways have sought the realm of the Eepudiator,” CHAPTER VI. ®|e pull ml r Pamkg ^miction T HIS project must not be confounded with the numerous offspring of the Kailway Mania. It was a Iona fide attempt “ to effect a junction between the Hull and Selby and the Sheffield and Manchester Railways/’ I find the following entry in the bill of Messrs. Phillips and Copeman, the Solicitors, which will shew the paternity and origin of the scheme : — August 4th, 1845, “ attending Messrs. Mayelston, Thos. MacTurk and Geo. Robinson, conferring and advising upon the steps necessary to be taken with a view to the registration of the proposed Railway for effecting a junction between the Hull and Selby and the Sheffield and Manchester Railways, when after some explanation we were desired to lose no time in getting the undertaking provisionally registered.” August 5th, “ attending a meeting of the above gentlemen, when Mr. Cookman was added as one of the promoters.” During the next few days accessions were made, and on the 14th the following gentlemen were formed into a Provisional Committee, namely, Messrs. John Atkinson, John Bark worth, John Beadle, Hem y Smith Bright, William Carrick, George Cookman, John Egginton, John Gresham, B. M. Jalland, Joseph Jones (Mayor of Hull,) Sir Wm. Lowthorpe, George Liddell, John Lofthouse, James Mayelston, Thomas MacTurk, John Moor, John Ostler, Christopher Leake Ringrose, John Smith, John Taylor and Charles Whitaker. The following gentlemen were subsequently added, Wm. Duesberry, Thornton Duesberry, John Tall, Charles Bamford, Thos. Bark worth, Daniel Sykes, W. B. Brownlow, Thos. Ringrose, Sami. Liglitfoot, Thomas Ward, Alderman Thompson, Joseph Gee and Robt. Kirk. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 93 A very strong committee, as all who remember Hull at the time will admit. At their first meeting on the 14th of August, 1845, it was deemed highly desirable that the sentiments of Mr. Hudson, the Chairman, and Directors of the York and North Midland as to the projected line from the Hull and Selby to Barnsley, should be accurately ascertained, and a deputation was appointed to wait upon them and report the result to a future meeting, and Mr. Mayelston, Mr. John Smith (Melton Garth,) Mr. MacTurk, Mr. Bright and Mr. Gresham, were requested to form such deputation. The result of their interview was that Mr. Hudson stated that the York and North Midland Company would certainly oppose the scheme diverging near Howden, and that the Corporation of York, as Conservators of the Ouse, would offer the most determined opposition to a Bridge being made across the Ouse below Selby, but if the proposed Bailway were commenced at Selby, he should consider the measure less liable to objection on the part of the York and North Midland Company. Mr. Hudson also stated that the York and North Midland were prepared to carry goods for nothing for ten years rather than lose the traffic. The Provisional Committee met to consider this Beport, and after a long discussion, a deputation, Messrs. Gresham, MacTurk, Mayelston and Moor, were appointed to confer with the Directors of the Sheffield and Manchester Bailway Company, who favourably entertained the project and subsequently became subscribers for £210,000. In consequence, however, of Mr. Hudson’s attitude, several of the Provisional Committee, namely, Messrs. Barkworth, Beadle, Bright, Egginton, Liddell, Taylor and Whitaker withdrew, but nothing daunted by the opposition of the York and North Midland, it was moved by Mr. Gresham, and seconded by Mr. MacTurk, and carried by 15 against 4 on the 1st of September, 1845, “ that the construction of the proposed Bailway is a measure of the utmost importance to the port of Hull, and it is expedient that such undertaking be prosecuted vigorously and without delay,” and the committee of the management was appointed. Up to this period Messrs. Phillips and Copeman had been the solicitors of the Promoters, but under pressure from York or as they put it u from circumstances beyond their 94 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL control,” they tendered their resignation, their bill amounting to the modest sum of £96. Messrs Thos. Thompson, Town Clerk, and Robt. Wells were appointed joint Solicitors. Their bill amounted to the respectable sum of £6,707. The following prospectus was issued : — HULL AND BARNSLEY JUNCTION RAILWAY COMPANY. (PROVISIONALLY REGISTERED.) CAPITAL— £500,000, in 25,000 Shares of £20 each. DEPOSIT- £2 2s. per Share. PROVISIONAL COMMITTEE. Joseph Jones, Esq , Mayor of Hull. John Atkinson, Esq. Charles Bamford, Jun., Es}. Thomas Barkworth, Esq. William Batchellor Brownlow, Esq. William Baldwin Carrick, Esq. Thomas Digby, Esq. William D. Tho nton Duesbury, Esq. Joseph Gee, Esq. John Gresham, Esq. Boswell Middleton Jalland, Esq. Robert Kirk, Esq. Samuel Lightfoot, Esq. John Loftliouse, Esq. Sir William Lowthrop. James Mayelston, Esq., one of the Directors of the Hull and Selby Railway Company. Thomas MacTurk, Esq. Benjamin MacTurk, Esq. John Moor, Esq. John Ostler, Esq. Thomas Raikes, Esq. Christopher Leake Ringrose, Esq. Thomas Ringrose, Esq. George Robinson, Esq. John Smith, Esq. Daniel Sykes, Esq. John Tall, Esq. Thomas Thoorpson, Esq. Fewster Wilkinson, Esq. Capt. Whitaker, R.N. Thomas Ward, Esq. With power to add to their number. COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT. Sir William Lowthrop. John Atkinson, Esq. John Gresham, Esq. Boswell Middleton Jalland, Esq. James Mayelston, Esq. Thomas MacTurk, Esq. John Moor, Esq. George Robinson, Esq. John Tall, Esq. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 95 Bankers. Messrs. Pease and Lildells, and Messrs. Thomas and Robert Raikes and Company, Hull. Messrs. Glynn, Hallifax, Mills, and Company, and Messrs. Curries and Company, London. Engineers. * Messrs. Leather and Son and James Oldham, Esq., M. Inst. C.E. Solicitors. Thomas Thompson, Esq., and Robert Wells, Esq. Land Agent. Leonard Brooks Earnshaw, Esq. Secretary (Pro tern). John Moor, Esq. “ The object of this undertaking is to effect a cheaper and more direct communication between Hull and the Manufacturing Districts, connecting the Great Midland and the Sheffield and Manchester Eailvvays with the Hull and Selby Kailway, by a short route from Barnsley to Selby or Howden, or some other point on the Hull and Selby Line. “ Hull now ranks as the Third Port in the Kingdom, and is the great outlet to Northern Europe. Its present capacious docks are situate in immediate connection with the Kailway Terminus. Under the powers of an act obtained in the session of 1841, two extensive docks are in course of construction, one of them expressly intended to meet the rapidly increasing wants of the Kailway. With these present and immediate prospective advantages, it is obviously of the utmost importance to secure for Hull the most direct communication with the Manufacturing Districts, especially as strenuous efforts are being made to divert the stream of traffic into other channels. “ The existing communication with the greater part of those districts is very circuitous, and is, moreover, subject to numerous obstructions. But the slightest inspection of a Kailway Map will shew that this projected line running from Barnsley to the Hull and * Messrs. Leather and Son subsequently resigner], and Mr. Locke, Mr. Hartley, and Mr. Jee were appointed the Consulting Engineers and Mr. Oldham the Acting Engineer. &6 tflSTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. Selby Eailway at Selby or Howden will afford the most direct communication between Hull and the whole of South Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Wales, with their rich mineral and industrial productions ; the remaining link, which will unite the line with Penistone on the Sheffield and Manchester Eailway, it is anticipated will be carried out by that Company, but, if otherwise, it will form part of the proposed undertaking. By the aid of these connecting lines, and others projected, the shortest , cheapest, and best possible communication will be effected between Manchester and its manufacturing suburbs with the great Shipping Port for Northern Europe. Not only will the districts already mentioned benefit by and become tributary to the proposed undertaking — but by its junction with the Great Midland at Barnsley it will open a much more direct communication with the Mineral Districts in the Midland Counties, such as those around Birmingham and Sheffield, Leicester and Nottingham, Derby and Belper, and by its communication with the Wakefield, Pontefract, and Goole Eailway it will shorten the distance to Wakefield and the populous Manufacturing Towns in that district of the West Eiding. Under those circumstances it is obvious that the proposed Hull and Barnsley Junction Eailway must command a most important traffic, and as the country over which it will pass is a very easy one, and for the most part quite level, there can be no doubt that it will prove a first-class undertaking ; and, when viewed as completing the most direct Trunk Line between Liverpool on the West Coast and Hull on the East, it may justly be regarded as an undertaking of a national character. No mention has been made of the traffic from Hull to London and the South, a great portion of which must necessarily pass over this line, nor of the Silkstone Coal Fields, nor of the supplies of food which the fertile districts of Holderness and East Yorkshire, and also the Fisheries along the Coast, will send by this shorter route to Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, and other Manufacturing Places, yet these of themselves would constitute sources of traffic of the utmost importance to the project. “ It is proposed to unite the line with the Hull and Selby Eailway at Howden if no insuperable difficulty present itself, but otherwise at Selby. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 97 “ It is proposed to appropriate a large portion of the shares to Shareholders in the Hull and Selby Railway Company ; and in allotting the remainder to give a preference to parties locally interested and to Railway Companies in friendly connexion with the intended line. “ Power will be sought to lease the proposed Railway, if it should hereafter be thought desirable, to some of the Companies whose lines will be in connection with it. “ The Provisional Committee deem it necessary to give notice that no further applications for shares can be received after Saturday, the 13th of September instant, until which day such applications may be forwarded to the Secretary, John Moor, Esq., 1, St. James’s Street, Hull ; or to Thos. Thompson, Esq., or Robt. Wells, Esq., joint Solicitors, Parliament Street, Hull. “ Hull, 1st September, 1845.” Although the original capital was fixed at £500,000, after the Engineer’s Report it was raised to £700,000, and subsequently surveys were ordered for Branches, one to the Midland Railway at Swinton, and another to Market Weigliton and Driffield, and £350,000 more capital was issued for these extensions. The shares were mainly taken in small amounts of £100 to £1,000. The following is a list of £ Atkinson, John, Seed Crusher 7,500 Barkworth, John, Tranby ... 3,000 Bamford, Chas 3,000 Brownlow, W. B 3,000 Barrick, W. B 3,000 Clark, Thos., Knedlington ... 3,000 Digby, Thos 3,000 Gresham, John 7,500 Graham, Hutchinson, Leeds.. 3,000 Hall, John 3,000 Jones, Joseph 3,000 Jalland, B. M 5,000 Keighley, R 3, COO Lofthouse, John 3,000 Lightfoot, Sam 3,000 Lowthrop, Sir William 15,000 MacTurk, Benjamin 3,000 MacTurk, Thomas 21,000 the larger adventurers : — £ Mayelston, James 10,000 Moor, John 7,500 Ostler, John 3,000 Robinson, George 15,000 Ringrose, Thos 3,000 Ringrose, C. L 3,000 Raikes, Thos 3 ; 000 Saltmarshe, Philip 3,000 Smith, John, Banker, Welton 3,000 Stevenson, John 3,000 Thompson, Thos., Solicitor ... 3,000 Thompson, Alderman 3,000 Tall, John 7,500 Whitaker, Captain, R.N 3,000 Ward, Thos 3,000 Wells, Robert 3,000 Wilkinson, John 3,000 Wilkinson, Fewster 3,000 G 98 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. £88,636 was paid up by the shareholders in cash on 42,209 shares allotted, and a Parliamentary deposit of £84,000 was provided and paid, being according to the then Standing Orders 10 per cent, of three-fourths of the estimated cost of the works. The great engineering difficulty was the crossing of the Ouse without injury to the navigation, the Corporation of the City of York and the Admiralty having to be appeased. The following statement was submitted to the Admiralty, who subsequently agreed to send down their engineer, Mr. James Walker, who held an inquiry and reported favourably of the plan. The Admiralty costs to the amount of £289 were paid : — HULL AND BARNSLEY JUNCTION RAILWAY. Statement of facts in support of an application to the Board of Admiralty for leave to make a diversion of the course of the Biver Ouse , in the County of York , and to cross the same by a bridge there , and also to construct a bridge over the River Aire in the same County. “ This Railway is intended to commence at a point of junction with the Hull and Selby Railway, in the Township of Eastrington, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and to terminate at the Town of Barnsley, in the West Riding of the same County. An extension branch or continuation of the same railway is intended to be made from the said point of junction with the Hull and Selby Railway in a north easterly direction, through the agricultural district of the East Riding of Yorkshire, up to the Township of Great Driffield, and there to lead to the sea by joining the Bridlington branch of the Hull and Selby Railway. “ This undertaking has been projected by the Merchants and Traders of the Port of Hull, and is supported by them and by inhabitants in Sheffield, Manchester, and intervening towns for the pi rpose of' opening a new and direct communication with the Coal, Mineral, and Manufacturing Districts of the West Riding of York- shire with the Manufacturing District of Lancashire, and also an interchange of products between them, and thereby not only to give HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 99 the benefits of its transit to parts of the country hitherto untraversed by a railway, but to procure for the towns of Manchester, Sheffield, Botherham, Barnsley, and Huddersfield the most direct and quickest route to Hull, the shipping port for the Continent ; and to effect this great object this company is now in alliance with the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne, and Manchester Company, whose railway has has lately been completed and opened to the public under its Act of Parliament. “ This line can only be made by crossing the Biver Ouse about twelve miles below Selby, at a place or semicircular bend in the river called Burr- Wheel, and the most effectual mode of crossing here is stated by the Engineers to be by making a navigable cut across the neck of land round which the stream at present runs, and diverting the present channel through or into that cut, and thus straightening the course of the river. If this be permitted to be made the navigation of the Biver Ouse need not be interrupted for an hour, for the old channel will not be meddled with until after the new one shall have been opened. The works for the line can also be thus formed with the greater ease and advantage : for after the excavation shall have been fully formed the foundations, piers, and arches of the bridge can be constructed on dry land, and the current peimitted to flow through, after their completion. “ These are the reasons why the company seeks to have the power of making the diversion and constructing the bridge, viz., the carrying of the line of railway more easily and effectually over the river, and that too not merely without injury to the navigation of the river, but absolutely with advantage to it. It need scarcely be urged that the straightening of the course of any river would be such an advantage generally, for that would appear self-evident, but in this case it can be shewn distinctly that the present bend in the river is and has been fcr many years past a serious obstruction to its free navigation. It can be proved that from the strong set of the current here and the abruptness of the bend or circuit vessels are put to inconvenience in rounding the point of land and not unfrequently drive on shore or run foul of other vessels there, in their endeavour to make their course, and at some states of the tide, cannot clear the 100 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL, sand-banks which are constantly shifting about in this place, and get wrecked for several days. So dangerous indeed these sands have been that an instance is stated of a vessel having been left for a short time by the crew, who went ashore, when having been forced on the bank by the weather, she entirely sunk in the quicksand, and was irrecoverably lost. To carry a bridge over this point would only increase the difficulty of the navigation, but to divert the channel and straighten the course, would by the avoidance of the above inconveniences, and risk of damage or loss, be the greatest boon that could be conferred, and would not be comparatively diminished even by the construction of a bridge across the new channel. “ This company is prepared to defray the expense of making this diversion of the river provided they can be permitted to construct the bridge over it, and this they can do (it is submitted) in such a manner as will not be prejudicial to the interests of the public by retarding the navigation. “ It will be seen by the Plans and Sections, and Copy Report of Mr. Hartley, the Engineer, which accompany this case, that even for vessels which cannot or which may not be required to lower their masts, a free channel of 45 feet between the centre piers of the bridge will be left, and the lift bridge be ready to be raised at any time ; and as to such vessels which are in the habit of lowering their masts they may safely pass either below this arch or any of the fixed arches of the bridge. It will be seen, however, that the navigation will be comparatively little affected. At the time (1839) when the bridge for the Hull and Selby Railway was permitted by the Lords of the Admiralty to be constructed over this river at Selby, and at only a short distance below another highway bridge, then and still existing over the same, the river trade was considerable. How, however, the York and North Midland, and the Hull and Selby Railways have so materially taken away the traffic which up to that time had been solely carried on upon this river, that comparatively few vessels now navigate it, and in proof of this a tabular and minute list of all vessels which passed the point at Burr- Wheel for 15 days between the 24th October and the 8th November (a fair period in the year for its computation), is left herewith and submitted for the consideration of the Board of Admiralty. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 101 “ That another bridge can he thrown over the river without unnecessary hindrance to its navigation, will (it is respectfully submitted) be seen from tbe Report of the Engineer, accompanied by his plans and section. “ Two sets of plans for a bridge are left herewith for alternative selections — viz. one for a bridge for nine arches — viz. eight of 40 feet, and the centre one of 45 feet, and the other plan, for five arches, and the centre one of 45 feet. “ These with the Engineers’ Report thereon, as to the expediency and mode of construction are submitted for the choice and approval of the Lords of the Admiralty according to their Lordship’s opinion of the propriety of adopting either one or the other of them. “ As to the intended bridge over the River Aire, it will be seen by the ordnance map, which accompanies this case that no obstruction whatever can be offered by the railway, to the navigation of the Aire, by the construction of any bridge near the confluence of the River with the Ouse, inasmuch as the line of Railway will cross the latter river, about one mile above the confluence. “ This line of Railway is intended to cross the Aire about ten miles above its confluence with the Ouse, and not quite three-fourths of a mile below the present bridge over the same river, between Carlton and Snaitli. At this point the navigation of the river has already been reduced to a very low amount, the number of vessels, which during the fifteen days before named, sailed up and down the Ouse, and up or down the Aire, is also separately shewn in the tabular list before referred to, and the number of these vessels is indeed so small, and those too principally of a class capable of lowering their masts beneath the intended bridge, (although that bridge will be constructed with one lift arch or centre to be opened and raised for the convenience of the navigation), that any serious consideration of the rights of the navigation, can (it is respectfully submitted) be scarcely entertained either on their own intrinsic merits or opposition to the paramount claims of important manufacturing, commercial, and maritime interests, (such as those exhibited now by Manchester, Sheffield and Hull) now sought to be supported by the formation of the Railway under 102 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. consideration. Under these circumstances above set forth, in addition to the arguments of the Engineer, Mr. Hartley, which are embodied in his report left herewith, it is humbly submitted to the Lords of the Admiralty, that this company can establish a sufficient case to warrant their Lordships’ assent to the proposed diversion of the course of the River Ouse and the construction of the bridges over the River Ouse and Aire, sought for by the company. “Hull, 13th January, 1846.” So great was the pressure of business at the office, 56^, White- friargate, Hull, that it was often open till very late at night, sometimes until the small hours of the morning, and special trains to convey the wearied members to their country homes were not uncommon. The Secretary, Mr. Moor, was indefatigable. The engineers were much pressed for time, and reported that they were unable to meet with the requisite number of surveyors in the neighbourhood, whereupon they were authorised to obtain them from London regardless of cost. Deputations from the Committee went out to the various towns likely to be interested, and were most favourably received, and negotia- tions were entered upon with various other Railways, and the Solicitor traversed the length and breadth of the land to obtain the consents of the landowners, one journey of Mr Wells costing the Company JEL31. The appointed time drawing near for lodging the plans with the Clerks of the Peace, uneasiness began to be feT, and the Engineers were urged to have them ready in time, and in fact to abandon the branch surveys, if needful, for the perfection of the main line, and a resolution was passed that “ the sum of T50 be placed at the disposal of Mr. Oldham to distribute as gratuities amongst the SuiV)yors and Draughtsmen at Boothferry in case they succeed in having ail llie plans, sections, &c ., ready by Thursday noon,” and Mr. Mayelrton and Mr. Thos. MacTurk were sent over to Bootlifcivy to ascertain the progress, and returned with little doubt of all being ready in time, and again they were requested to go by first train to see that all the documents were sent off in time to be deposited with the Board of Trade and the Clerk of the Peace in compliance with the Standing Orders of Parliament io-morroiv, and on the 29th of November all was duly accomplished just in time. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 103 The following account from a contemporary will revive the memory of this remarkable time : — THE DEPOSITS WITH THE BOARD OF TRADE. “ The scene on the last day for depositing plans with the Board of Trade is described by an eye-witness as one of the most fearful things that was ever witnessed in a civilized country. Parliament Street was strewed with exhausted engineers who had just succeeded in lodging their plans, and had just sat down on the door steps in the neighbourhood for a little repose after the excitement of the last four months. Several respectable solicitors were lying on the pavement in a state of prostration, and we observed an entire firm which stands high in the law list, snatching a little sleep under the friendly shelter of a gas lamp. This was the state of those who had been successful in getting their plans all in by the proper time, but the excitement of those who arrived after the doors of the Board of Trade were closed was literally harrowing. “ At one time it was feared that the offices of the Board of Trade would have been levelled with the earth, for directly after the clock struck twelve there was a shower of sections, maps, })lans, and drawings thrown at the door and windows with a crash that was re illy terrific. The portal having been temporarily opened, the unhappy porter was instantly smothered in paper and parchment, which broke the passage lamp and left the unfortunate menial struggling for breath amid the pile of stationery which enveloped him. Fortunately the door was quickly closed, and some of the other servants having removed some of the plans and sections, the poor fellow was extricated from his perilous position.” DEPOSITING THE PLANS. A Poem from Punch. I. The Train. Bring forth the train ! The train was brought : In truth ’twas very small indeed ; Engine and tender, and for speed One first class carriage, and I thought ’Twas meant for me : but I was mad, Mad as a hatter, when they taught How that the rival line had bough t 104 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL The only train that could be had ; And ’twas in vain for me to pray, Or offer any terms to pay. They put his great- coat on his back ; They shoved him in — that menial pack ! His carpet bag inside they crammed, The carriage- door was fiercely slammed ; The plans and sections stowed inside, “ All right !” the eager stoker cried. Out flew the steam with roar and crash ; Away ! — away ! — and on they dash : *T was more than rapid — it was rash. II. The Defiance. Away ! — away ! — the train was gone ; I had no means of getting on : Town must be reached ere close of day, Or all our toil be thrown away. I caught a last glimpse of my foe’s Right thumb extended from his nose : I heard a peal of savage laughter, And madly rushed the engine after, And howled back “ Humbug !’’ — though, indeed, Amidst the thundering engine’s speed, Perchance he did not hear nor heed. But hark that whistle ! Yes ! by gum, It is another engine come ! ’Tis hired ; a bargain quickly made : I dare not think how much I paid. Loud roars the steam ! — round go the wheels ! And I am on my rival’s heels. III. The Collision. Away ! — away !— my plans and I ; We’re not more than ten miles behind, So for a crash I strung my mind — I felt ’twas coming by and-by. The engineer upon the track Looked out, and saw red lamps ahead ; The engine ’twas too late to back, So he jumped off, and on we sped. The steam roared on ! — the wheels spun round ! — We seemed to fly along the ground. Against ono side my back I braced, My feet against the other placed ; I saw the lamps gleam bright before— I felt a shock— I heard a roar : Stop !— back her !— ease her ! All in vain ; We’ve run into the other train ! HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 105 IV. The Compromise. My thoughts came back. Where was I ? Spilt ! And bruised and battered ! But the foe Was worse than I. It might be guilt In me to serve a rival so : I know not ; but this thing I know, If he was smashed, it served him right ; And there we were, an awful sight — I on the embankment, and my foe Pitched slap into the ditch below. His carriage I’d contrived to smash, But spoilt my engine in the crash. What’s to be done ? The day wears on — Two precious hours already gone ! And so, lest both should be delayed, A compromise perforce we made. My carriage to his engine tied, We journey, sulky, side by side. V. The Arrival. Onward we went, but rather slow ; In vain — the pace we could not go. I had my rival in my power, And thought to burke him in that hour ; But better thoughts prevailed. Amalgamation then I tried ; But very shortly he replied, And all my efforts failed. Down went the sun at half-past five, In time we hardly may arrive — I tried a last appeal. I talked the driver from his funk, And made the willing stoker drunk. ’Twas sad to see him reel About the tender to and fro ; But still he made the engine go, And that was all our need. And faster, faster by degrees, Thro’ tunnels, past towers, towns and trees, We flew at headlong speed ; In vain we urged him to refrain, For still he stirred and stoked amain. We swing, we swerve, from left to right, And thro’ the darkness of the night Our sparks fly far and wide— Oh, never till that breathless hour, I knew a drunken stoker’s power Over the folks inside ! Still on, still on we madly swept, Till, at a turn, the engine leapt At one spring from the line. Thank Heaven it happened on a flat-, 106 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. But as it was, I crushed my hat, A bran new four-and-nine — And there we stuck— knee-deep in mire. We stormed, we swore, we stirred the fire — But there we were in our despair, And neither seemed a fig to care About us or our plans : With hunger and with bruises faint — ’Twould raise the dander of a saint, Much less a mortal man’s ! With grim resolve we sat us down, (For we were thirty miles from town) In hopeless certainty of mind — Even supposing we got there — The Board of Trade shut up to find ; Oh, how we both did swear ! When sudden on the neighbouring road A yellow with four postets showed ; Oars — ours that chaise must be ! We rush upon the frightened “ boys ” We knock them off, and, joy of joys ! Spring each to saddle-tree. Ply, ply the whip, spare not the spur, Along the Great North Road we skir, The clocks are striking ten ! ’Tis thirty miles in two short hours : But in a holy cause like ours Agents are more than men : So on, so on with plunge and bound, Our wills are good, their wind is sound — W e'll save our distance still. But ah ! despite our desperate pluck, Three quarters past eleven has struck As we gain Highgate Hill ! The leaders snort, the wheelers reel, And past the Peacock as we wheel, Their breath comes short and thick : A fall ! the leader’s wind is broke ! A cab ! a cab ! ’Tis past a joke ! ‘‘This, if you do the trick !” I waved a flim^ey in my hand. On, through Fleet St^e^t, along the Strand — There’s time the chance to nick ; ’Tis done— we’ve won, we’ve reached Whitehall ! But hark what sounds my ear appal ! It is the Horse Guards’ clock — ’Tis striking twelve — the hour is past : Oh, heavy fate ! sold, sold at last ! At twelve the gates they lock ! And we are left outside the door The standing orders to deplore. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 107 On the 3rd of February, 1846, a ballot was taken for tbe names of tbe first directors of tbe company, tbe result of which was as follows : — Messrs. Moor, Atkinson, Jalland, Tall, MacTurk, Gresham, Park and Eandall — tbe two last representing tbe Sheffield and Manchester Company. In the month of March Sir Wm. Lowthrop, the Mayor, Mr., Carrick, and Mr. McTurk were deputed to proceed to London to support the application to Parliament. Petitions from the Town Council of the Borough of Hull, from Brilington, Driffield, and other places in favour of the bill, and against it by George Hudson and the Bev. W. Fox, alleging errors in the levels and non-compliance with Standing Orders. On the 2nd and 3rd April, the bill came before the Standing Orders Sub-Committee, who were to report to the Committee upstairs. On the following Monday the Sub-Committee reported non- compliance with the Standing Orders respecting the service of notices and error in the levels near Market Weighton, whereupon the Solicitors were instructed to apply for permission to abandon the branch, whole or part, and proceed with the main line only, but the Standing Orders Sub-Committee was against the bill being allowed to proceed. This unexpected decision caused great disappointment amongst the Committee, and a resolution was passed, expressive of deep regret, and the following advertisement was issued : — HULL AND BARNSLEY JUNCTION RAILWAY. T HE Committee of Management regret to have to announce to their Shareholders the unexpected decision of the Standing Orders Committee, “ That in the case of the Hull and Barnsley Junction Railway petition the Standing Orders ought not to be dispensed with,” in consequence of which they are unable to proceed with the bill in the present Session of Parliament. The Committee are taking active steps to ascertain the liabilities of the Company, and as soon as this shall be effected and the deposit in the bands of the Accountant General repaid, they will be prepared to return forthwith to the Shareholders the amount of their deposits less their proportion of the expenses incurred. The Committee, however, deem it right to intimate that it is not at present their intention to abandon the undertaking. JOHN MOOR, Secretary. Hull, 29th April, 1816. HISTOBY OF BAIL WAYS INTO HULL. 108 A first return of 20s. per share was made, a second of 10s. per share, and a third and final return of 3s. 3d., making 33s. 3d. out of 42s. paid. The auditors, John Hall, Esq., and Thos. Digby, Esq., expressed their entire satisfaction with the state of the accounts, and their approval of the manner in which the affairs of the Company had been conducted. The Company was represented by Messrs. Mayelston and MacTurk, and negotiations were opened to revive the scheme or dispose of it to the Sheffield and Manchester Company, but the numerous other engagements of the Sheffield and Manchester Railway Company, and the adverse prospects of the money market, did not justify the expense of incurring another Parliamentary contest. Every effort was made and accomplished to reduce the various claims on the Company, and all were adjusted and paid. The office was finally closed on the 16th of January, 1847. Thus ended a gallant attempt to improve the railway accommodation of Hull after 18 months of anxious toil and an expenditure of £20,000. A small balance of about £20 remained over and was lodged in the Rankes’ Bank and was there when the bank failed. CHAPTER VII. of tjre Jiuh ;mir |Jt;mck^er Cumyang m |fomt of % Pull imir cSeltg ^ailfoag. M ANY were the competing schemes proposed throughout the country in the year 1815. The Leeds and Manchester Company, chiefly by promoting “ the York, Hull, East and West Yorkshire Bail way, with branches to Driffield, Selby, and Hornsea,” and which was to pass through Pocklington, Market Weighton, and Beverley to the East Docks then being constructed at Hull — so as to form a competing communication between Leeds and Hull — proposed to invade the district of the York and North Midland. On the other hand the Leeds and Manchester Company were themselves seriously harassed by competing schemes in their own district, and it was eventually felt that the proper policy for the Companies to adopt was to reconcile their differences and join together for mutual protection, instead of lending their aid to schemes hostile to each other, and accordingly an arrangement was effected in October, 1845, by which it was agreed that the Leeds and Manchester Company should be admitted as joint partners with the York and North Midland in the Hull and Selby lease and purchase. Thus both Companies became legally and honourably bound to the Hull and Selby Bailwa}^ Company, and an act was obtained in the session of 1846 authorising the lease to both the Companies or either of them. 110 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL By this Act the third-class fare was reduced to l£d. per mile, and a provision made for two cheap trains daily each way at a speed of 20 miles an hour, including stoppages and stopping at all stations, the carriages to be provided with seats and protected from the weather, at a fare not exceeding Id. for each mile, with leave to have half a cwt. of luggage free, and the Companies were required within twelve months to lay down a line of Electrical Telegraph by the side of all the main lines and branch to Bridlington. In October following, 1846, a conference took place between the Directors of the two lines, the York and North Midland and the Leeds and Manchester, when the following scheme was drawn up : — “ Meeting at the York and North Midland Railway Office, York, on the Hull and Selby lease, 20th October, 1846. Present. “ A joint lease of the Hull and Selby line to the York and North Midland and Manchester and Leeds Companies to be forthwith executed. “ The York and North Midland Company are to continue to manage the line so long as it is satisfactory to the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company. Whilst the line is under the sole manage- ment of the York and North Midland Company they shall be entitled to the profits, if any, and shall guarantee the Manchester and Leeds Company against all loss. “ The Manchester and Leeds Company may at any time, by giving six months’ notice, require the line to be managed by a joint committee of six, three to be appointed by each Company, the guarantee of the York and North Midland Company to cease from the commencement of such joint management. “ During the sole management of the York and North Midland Company, the Manchester and Leeds Company are to have such conveniences at the Hull Station for receiving and delivering their goods, &c., by their own agents (and such agents) as they may require. Mr. Hudson. Mr. Davies. Mr. Gill. Mr. Wilson. Mr. Hawkshaw. HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. Ill “ During the sole management of the York and North Midland Company, the plant, working stock, lines, stations, &c., are to be kept in good repair. “ The proposed new station at Hull shall be a joint station ; one moiety thereof and the line connecting it with the Hull and Selby Eailway shall be the property of the joint lessees of the Hull and Selby Eailway, the other moiety thereof and the line connecting it with the York and North Midland East Eiding line shall be the property of the York and North Midland Eailway Company. Clauses in the Act to be introduced to this effect. “ In the event of the line ceasing to be under the sole manage- ment of the York and North Midland Eailway Company, that Company to be charged for the traffic on their line from Market Weighton to Selby for the distance travelled, and not under the six mile clause, provided that it shall not be charged for less than one mile. “ The station at Bridlington shall be a joint station belonging to the joint lessees of the Hull and Selby Eailway and the York and North Midland Eailway Company. (Signed) GEO. HUDSON. EOBEET DAVIES. EOBEET GILL. GEOEGE WILSON.” Disputes, however, arose between the two companies, and they both refused to perform their agreement to take a joint lease. The York and North Midland, however, were in possession of the Hull and Selby line, worked it, and always duly paid the rent up to the 1st of January, 1853. The shareholders and directors of the Hull and Selby were uneasy and frequently applied to the companies to perform their agreement, and watched their bills in Parliament. At last, their patience being wearied out, in February, 1854, they filed a bill in Chancery against the two companies, praying for specific performance of the agreement. At the last moment, on an ex parte order, instead of paying the rent as usual, the York and Midland paid it into court, and thus the 112 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. shareholders of the Hull and Selby Railway Company were deprived of their July dividend, and it was not until November 10th that the Hull and Selby Railway Company’s petition was heard, praying the sum of £33,498 2s. 5d., might be paid over to them. The Vice- Chancellor, Sir John Stuart, ordered repayment of the amount, with interest at 4 per cent, and costs, to be paid by the North-Eastern Railway Company. Clauses were, after much debate, inserted in the Act for establish- ing the North-Eastern Railway in 1854, to the effect that if the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company persisted in its refusal to join in the lease, the North-Eastern Railway Company should be bound alone to take such lease, and the suit in Equity being hereby virtually concluded, the bill was taken off the file. In 1849 a Committee of the York and North Midland Railway Company estimated the annual loss of the Hull and Selby Railway and the Bridlington branch at upwards of £16,000 a year, and this was probably the cause of the disinclination to sign the lease. But the Hull and Selby Railway is now believed to be one, if not the most valuable portion of the North-Eastern Railway. It was not until the 1st of March, 1872, that the Hull and Selby Railway w T as finally incorporated with the North-Eastern system. The latter company in that year availing themselves of the provision made in 1845, on the terms provided by the foresight of Messrs. Mayelston and MacTurk, for paying off the shareholders, which they did by giving them an option of taking £112 10s. cash for each Hull and Selby £50 share, or taking £112 10s. of Hull and Selby purchase stock, with a dividend of 4J per cent, for 10 years, and thenceforward, after September, 1881, at 4 per cent, in perpetuity. CHAPTER VIII. putt u \ r §nMiuijton §rmic|. f N the session of 1845 an Act had been obtained by the Hull and Selby Company for making a Branch Railway from Hull to Bridlington, and to enlarge the station depot and premises at Hull, with power to raise £216,000 by shares, and £72,000 by loan. The Bridlington Branch Railway was permitted to cross 37 highways on a level, and power was granted to the Hull and Selby Company to lay rails in Kingston Street and Wellington Street, to be propelled by horses or men only. Hitherto the company had been left to make its own charges for passengers, but in this Act the maximum rates are fixed at 3d. per mile for first-class, 2d. per mile for second-class, and 1-Jd. for third-class ; with free luggage of 150 lbs. for first-class, and 100 lbs. for second and third-class. The Bridlington Branch was opened October 2nd, 1816. A train of 66 carriages, drawn by three engines, the Hudson, the Antelope, and the Ariel, ran from Hull to Bridlington, attracting thousands of spectators. After luncheon at Bridlington, there was a grand banquet in the evening at the Music Hall, Hull. George Hudson, Esq., the Chairman of the York and North Midland Rail- way Company, in the chair. I append his speech, and draw attention to his remarks printed in italics : — “ The Chairman said — Gentlemen, in rising to offer to you the toast of the evening, I feel that it needs no eulogium or recommendation from me to entitle it to be received by the company H HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. i!4 with the enthusiasm to which it is entitled. You have witnessed this day the opening of the Hull and Bridlington Railway. I have before, during this day, dwelt at some length on the advantages which rail- ways confer on the districts through which they are taken, and it is unnecessary, therefore, that I should detain you by any lengthened observations now. I believe there is no gentleman here present who is not ready most fully to admit the advantages of railways. In offering to you the toast I am about to do, I may say that I believe it is the anxious wish of the company that the undertaking opened to-day may prove prosperous and beneficial to the public (cheers) ; that by the increased facilities of communication between place and place increasing intercourse may arise ; that the facilities for the transit of goods may develope to an unprecedented extent the resources of the country ; and above all that it may be the means of giving vigour and health to the emaciated and diseased frame, and revive the bloom of youth on the pale and squalid cheek of the invalid (cheers). It should ever be borne in mind that undertakings like that, the completion of which we are now celebrating, involve great responsibilities, and require immense outlays. The fact that parties are called upon to expend three or four hundred thousand pounds may not be to the casual observer a subject of much interest ; but to the great number of persons whose money is thus laid out it is a subject of deep interest and anxious thought. (Hear, hear). Therefore, I feel we have a right, as I am sure it is our inclination, to wish prosperity to the undertaking which has been opened to-day. And, gentlemen, it is one of those undertakings which if it prove advantageous to us cannot fail but to be beneficial to the public. (Cheers). As I said this morning, our interest and the welfare of the public are the same. If our undertakings prove beneficial to the proprietors, it is because they also prove beneficial to the public. (Cheers). In giving this toast, gentlemen, I do so with all the sincerity and also with all the anxious desire for success which is naturally attached to my position to the matter. (Hear, hear). We, gentlemen, have an anxious shareholder}' on the one hand looking for a dividend, and the public also has a claim upon us for all the accommodation which they require. (Applause). Therefore, I say that, in giving this accommodation I most fully recognise the principle HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 115 laid down in an address which we received to-day at Bridlington — that whilst they are conferring benefits on the public, the proprietors, who invest their money in these undertakings, are entitled to be remunerated for their outlay. Therefore, in wishing prosperity to the Hull and Bridlington Railway, I not only include the success of the proprietors, but the prosperity of the district through which the rail- way passes. We (the directors) are deeply sensible of the responsibility which attaches to us in the management of these undertakings. (Hear, hear). We are aware that if we do not give to the public all the facilities to which it is entitled in the conveyance of their produce and the improvement of their intercourse, we shall not only lose the success we hope for, but incur censure for having neglected to do our duty. (Applause). We are fully sensible, then, of our heavy responsibilities, and being so, we have resolved to do our utmost to promote the interests both of the public and the proprietors, and to unite the two together ; we are prepared to support both interests, which, as I said before, are not antagonistic to each other, but identical. Without further remark, I call on you to drain a bumper to 4 The prosperity and success of the Hull and Bridlington Railway.’ (Cheers). The toast was then drunk with three times three hearty cheers. “The Chaikman said, I am afraid, gentlemen, you will think me too hasty in the execution of my duty, but as I am anxious that all the toasts on the list shall be drunk, and as I am determined to stay till the last myself, and, therefore, hope that you, gentlemen, will bear me company, it is necessary that no time should be lost. The toast I have to propose I am certain will, in an important commercial town like Hull, be received in the manner which its importance entitles it to. I believe this is the first time that ever the Corporation of York was invited to meet the Corporation of Hull. (Cheers). Gentlemen. — I do not know how the gentlemen of Hull feel towards the Corporation of their own town, but I am proud to say on behalf of the Citizens of York there is the strongest possible feeling of respect and esteem for the Corporation of that city. (Applause). Gentlemen, the last toast we drank was success to the Hull and Bridlington Railway. Nothing can be a subject of greater anxiety to the gentlemen connected with that undertaking than that in the prosecution of their designs they 116 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL should have met with the kind sanction of the Mayor of Hull. It will ever be a matter of anxiety with them to maintain that good opinion. (Cheer.:). Gentlemen, circumstances have placed York in a central position as regards the railway communication of this part of the kingdom ; but I am sure that no exertions will be spared on the part of the body with which I have honour to be connected to conciliate and win the esteem of the body of gentlemen who are the local governors of Hull. A:vj suggestion which may come f rom that honour- able body I feel sure will receive the utmost attention , the most careful consideration (cheers) ; no endeavours on our part will be left unused to meet that body in a fair and friendly spirit ; and ive shall be ready to do as much as in us lies to give to Hull all those advantages and facilities which her position entitles her to and which her importance demands. (Loud applause). Gentlemen, I have had the honour of the acquaintance of the Mayor of Hull for many }mars ; I' recollect with much pleasure that we met at the opening of the York and North Midland Hailway. On that occasion, too, I had the pleasure of seeing my excellent friend, Mr. Cookman, who was at that time the Mayor of Hull, and there, too, as I have said, did I see my friond — if he will allow me to call him so — the present Mayor of Hull. It is a great satisfaction to me, occupying as I do most unworthily the chair, on this occasion (no, no), to have the presence and sanction of the Mayor and Corporation of Hull. As I said before , no suggestions , no ivishes on their part, but shall receive the most anxious and the most sincere consideration of the board to which 1 have the honour to belong. (Cheers). It ivill be to me a matter of sincere regret if any difference should arise, for our ivish, our anxious desire , is to give Hull all the facilities and advantages ichich railway communication can afford to it. (Loud cheers). Gentlemen, I give, with the most sincere pleasure and gratitude, the health of the ‘Mayor and Corporation of Hull.’ (Three times three cheers). “The Mayoe of Hull (John Gresham, Esq.), was received with applause. He said, Mr. Chairman, my Lord Mayor, and gentlemen I assure you that it is with more than ordinary feelings I rise on this occasion to return you thanks for the toast which you, Mr. Chairman, have been pleased to give, and Ihe company has so warmly received. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 117 I assure you, sir, that the Corporation of Hull are very sensible of the very great power concentrated in yourself and colleagues to confer benefits on the port in which we reside. (Applause). It is a matter of great congratulation not only to the Corporation, but to every inhabitant of the town, that the undertaking which has been opened in so triumphant a manner this day, is now completed. It is one of the most complete railways that I ever travelled thirty-three miles over in my life. Considering the very short period of time which has been taken in the construction of this railway, I do think it a most extraordinary circumstance that we should be in such a state of perfection this day. (Applause) . I could not help being struck by the fact that we should travel over such an extent of line without passing under any bridge (hear, hear) , and the deepest cutting I saw extended only for a few yards, and was not deeper than halt the height of the room in which we now stand. (Applause). I think this is a circumstance unparalelled in the railway world. Allow me, sir, in the name of the Corporation to wish you the utmost success in this undertaking. (Cheers). You have stated, Mr. Chairman, that you will be ready, at all times, to receive any suggestions which may be made from the Corporation. (Hear). I assure you, sir, the welfare and prosperity of the port is a subject which very much interests the minds of every member of the Corporation, and it is a very great satisfaction to know, that within a very few years, Hull has now been connected with two large railway companies, one under your own management, sir, connecting us with the busy manufacturing districts of the country ; and it must not be lost sight of that the other is making great progress in pursuance of a design to relieve us of the load of surplus trade under which they conceive us to be labouring. (Laughter). How, you will perhaps, excuse me sir, if I tell you that we have not the slightest disposition to part with any portion of our trade if we can help it. (Laughter and applause). Therefore, sir, as we find our communication with the manufacturing districts by rail- way under your management, I have every confidence that we shall find you ready to carry out those promises which you made this night in the presence of so many witnesses. (Cheers). And if ever the time should come when it is found that a more ready communication in a direction which I shall not point out now, is necessary for the 118 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS ItfTO HULL. maintenance of the trade and prosperity of the Port of Hull, and should we then make out a good case to your satisfaction, I have little doubt we shall have a ready response from you to the call we shall make. And I perhaps may be pardoned on this occasion, for I think I only recollect one similar to it in the Town of Hull — I may be pardoned I hope if I make an illusion to another important com- pany connected with this port, and that is the Dock Company. I know that that company is already deeply engaged in carrying out a large dock on the east side of the town, but I hope and trust that when they find the railway termini so crowded with goods that the despatch is not equal to the demand, the Dock Company will then feel it their duty and interests to meet you and your colleagues in endeavouring to promote the benefit of the port (applause), — I did not quite finish my sentence, and I am glad to see my fellow townsmen are so much alive to our requirements — I was about to add — and to carry out those works which in my judgment the wants and necessities of our port imperatively call for. (Applause). I am sure we have no petty trifling feeling against Great Grimsby, Goole, and Bridlington ; we are composed of that sterling stuff which causes us to approve of that maxim “ live and let live.” But we must not run a race and have a leg tied up. (Cheers). We must have fair play, and only give our merchants and shipowners “ fair play,” and you will find them back all the efforts of railway proprietors, and I hope also of the Dock Company, in bringing trade to this port. (Cheers^). I know it would be bad taste in me to occupy your time at any length, but as these assemblies are of rare occurrence in the Town of Hull, I may be permitted to revert to the year 1834. At that time there was a committee formed here to carry into execution the Hull and Selby Railway. After three months arduous labour it may excite a smile now when we state that the number of subscribers obtained was only 233 for capital amounting to £13,150. In three months after that a public meeting was held and a resolution was passed which ended in the construction of the present railway. I am glad that the inhabit- ants of Hull saw it to their interest to come forward in a spirited manner to promote that undertaking : if that had not been done, Hull could not have maintained its rank as the third port in the king- dom. (Cheers). The Chairman has been pleased to allude to the HISTOHY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 119 opening of the York and North Midland Railway : little I think that Mr. Hudson, who was then opening the line from Leeds to Selby, would in a few years claim that notoriety, and, I am bound to admit it, for public opinion says it is truth, that deserved notoriety, which you, sir, now possess. (Cheers). You, sir, have shown yourself to be in the advance of all your competitors in the railway world ; your present position shows that you are so ; and I hope Providence will long spare you life, so that you may confer those benefits on society which your present position enables you to do. (Cheers), Gentle- men, I have the permission of the Chairman to propose a toast, and you will excuse me if I call on you each to fill a bumper in drinking it. In such a company as this I am well assured that the mention of the name of the individual whose health I am about to propose will ensure the hearty reception of the toast. He is a gentleman so well- known that it would be needless for me to make a single remark. I give you, gentlemen, ‘ The health of George Hudson, Esq., of York.’ The toast was drunk with three times three hearty cheers, followed by musical honours, and loud and long protracted applause. “ The Chairman, on rising to respond to the toast, was greeted with renewed cheering. He said, I assure you that I only wish I had been able to prepare some address to you, which would have enabled me to convey to you the deep sense I entertain of the kind and friendly manner in which the worthy Mayor of Hull has proposed my health, and the very handsome manner in which you have received it. (Cheers.) No person, I can assure the Mayor and the company assembled, is more astonished at the position I now occupy than my- self. It is quite true that when I was the chairman of a company emanating from tie City of York my chief object, if not my whole desire, was to benefit that city to which many of us are under deep obligations. At that time I little thought it would be my fate to occupy the position I now do. But I have never refused to do any- thing which I thought could benefit my fellow men — I have felt that I had no right to refuse any efforts or services which my fellow countrymen have required at my hands. (Cheers). I can say truly, for myself, that whatever others may attribute to me, my first and sole object in promoting railway undertakings was to benefit the city — not 120 HISTORY OF BAIL WAYS I NTO HULL. of my birth — but of my warmest and deepest affections. (Cheers). Circumstances have placed me in a position of greater power and influence than I then occupied. But I will ever be the first to admit that mine was not the genius which has directed this vast work, and that I have been but the follower and the helpmate of one whose name will ever live in my recollection — I allude to my friend Mr. Stephen- son. (Cheers). Along with him I have been enabled, I hope, to promote and accomplish a system which needs no aid at this time, but which, in times of yore, did require the assistance, and the energetic assistance of its friends and supporters. (Hear, hear). I undoubtedly, at that time, when others looked coolly on, took such active measures as may, perhaps, have led me to be one of the humble means of bring- ing railway enterprise into the notice of the capitalists of England, and of inducing them to invest their capital to increase that accommodation in which we were previously so deficient, rather than, as I before said, to invest it in foreign securities, or in the advancement of foreign lines. (Cheers). Gentlemen, I appeal to you as English- men whether such a course as I have pursued is, or is not, deserving of censure. (No, no). It has been charged to me that under this system I have accumulated a large fortune. I admit it to the fullest extent, but I deny that I could be justly censured on that account. It has been from the mere force of circumstances that I have thus accumulated money. I have done it, and others have not, because, though they had equally the means of doing so they had not the courage to embark their capital at the time I did. (Loud cheers). Is it to be said that by the honest embarkment of capital in under- takings which I then believed, and which 1 now believe, are for the good of the country, I have done an unworthy act ? It is because the schemes in which I have invested my money have done good to the country that they have met with that very success which has enabled me to realise the fortune which is made so unjustly a ground of complaint against me. (Loud cheers). I f I have done good to myself, I have also the pleasing consciousness of knowing that it has been done by doing good to others. (Cheers). That I have ever used the power I possess to injure the public I deny (cheers) — by the principle of amalgamation — by the lowering of the cost of management — by the extension of the system of united and con- HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 121 solidated control, I have benefited the shareholders in the various companies, and the public have fully, fairly, and equally shared in that benefit. (Cheers). In doing what I have I feel that confidence which an honest man possesses who knows his exertions, if profitable to him- self and those who have hazarded their capital along with him, have been beneficial to the public at large. (Cheers). Gentlemen, — I ask you, as British merchants and Englishmen, why has this country arisen above all others ? Why do we stand pre-eminent ? Why are we looked up to by all the other nations of the world ? Why for this, that we have pursued our course of enterprise with earnestness, with energy, and with resolute perseverance ; and we have pursued it from a firm conviction that we are not only carrying out undertakings for our private advantage, but also for the public good. (Cheers). It is right and just that both these circumstances should be kept prominently in view; they are both recognised in the Houses of Parliament, and ought both to be kept in mind by every person concerned in the carrying out of commercial and manufacturing enter- prise. (Cheers). Gentlemen, I again thank you for the honour you have done me in drinking my health ; I hope and trust that as long as I endeavour to discharge the duties of the position in which I am placed uprightly I shall retain the good opinion of assemblies like the present, and of the public generally. (Loud applause, amid which Mr. Hudson resumed his seat). “The Chairman again rose and said, I beg to propose ‘the health of the Chairman and Directors of the Hull and Selby Bailway Company.’ Allow me to express my deep regret that the chairman, whom we had the pleasure of seeing at Bridlington, and whom I was delighted to meet, has been unexpectedly prevented from being present this evening. The health of the Hull and Selby Directors, is a toast which I am sure will be received by those assembled with that honour which it so highly deserves. (Cheers.) During the time that they directed the affairs of this company, I am satisfied their only object was to benefit the Port of Hull and the public generally. (Cheers). I feel bound to state, that they never betrayed the trust that was reposed in them by the people of Hull, but that they did to the best of their ability add to the prosperity of the town and trade of Hull, 122 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. (Cheers) . The health of the Chairman and Directors of the Hull and Selby Kailway was then drank amid three times three hearty cheers, followed by loud applause. “J. K. Pease, Esq., the Deputy Chairman, was warmly applauded on rising to respond. He said, Mr. Chairman, my lord, and gentlemen, as deputy-chairman of the Hull and Selby Kailway I beg to return sincere thanks for the honour you have done my brother directors and myself. When I entered the room this afternoon I fully expected that the toast would have been responded to by my excellent friend the chairman. We had the pleasure of meeting with him at Bridlington, and I regret that owing to indisposition he had to be left at Beverley on our return, in order that he might proceed to his home. For the handsome way in which you have received the toast so kindly proposed by the chairman, I feel sure that the directors of this line are deeply grateful. It has ever been the wish of that body to promote the welfare of the shareholders, and also of the Port of Hull. They know that the two are inseparable. (Cheers). It has often been charged against the body of directors, that, from their connection with the town, they have been more desirous to advance the interests of the port than of the shareholders. To this we have alwaj^s replied that in promoting the interests of the port by bringing increased traffic, we have thereby improved the interests of the shareholders. (Cheers). Gentlemen, ours has been a varied scene ; we may compare our course to-day with the events which have passed before us since the commencement of the railway connected with this town. The day arose clouded and obscure with rains and mists, representing our commencement amid gloomy forebodings and deep depression ; but the sun which shone upon us so brightly on our return from Bridlington, was equally a faithful picture of the brilliant close of our career in connection with the railway at Hull. (Loud cheers). Gentlemen, this night concludes the tasks and duties devolving upon us as directors of the Hull and Selby Kailway, and I hope our setting may not be inaptly compared with that of the sun this evening. I trust no clouds are near to obscure the brightness of the future prospects of our undertaking. It is now transferred to the hands of those who have the power, and who have openly stated that they have the will also, HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 123 to give every facility which the Port of Hull can require. (Cheers). I trust that they will display as ardent a spirit for carrying out the improvements of the port as ever did the original directors of the Hull and Selby Railway. (Cheers). Gentlemen, on this subject I will not further trespass on your time, but before I sit down propose a toast. It gives me great pleasure to propose the health of the Lord Mayor of the city of York. I have much gratification in seeing on the left of our Chairman the Mayor of Hull, and on the right the Lord Mayor of York. Such an event is a very unusual one in Hull, I wish it were of more frequent occurrence. (Cheers) . I am persuaded such meetings do much good. (Applause). They tend to promote charity and good feeling, and they bring parties living at a distance to be mutually acquainted with each other, and this can only result beneficially. (Applause). The hospitality of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of York is well known ; 1 have more than once had the pleasure of being a partaker of it, and, therefore, am highly gratified in having this opportunity of proposing ‘ The health of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of York/ (Loud cheers). “ The Lord Mayor, who was loudly applauded, said, it is with feelings of very great pleasure that I rise on behalf of the Corporation of York, to return my warm thanks for the compliments you have paid them. I felt highly honoured by the kind invitation to be present at the interesting proceedings of this day. I have witnessed them with the greatest possible delight and satisfaction. The ride to and from the town of Bridlington was a most charming one ; the ride back was rendered still more pleasant by the improved state of the weather, and I need not tell you how I have enjoyed the latter proceedings of the day. We have had a most sumptuous and liberal feast in this noble room, and I cannot express to you how warmly I esteem the pleasure you have afforded us in meeting the Mayor and Corporation of this town. (Applause). I trust this may not be the last time that we shall meet, but that we shall be found assembled together on many happy occasions yet to come. (Cheers). We do not in our ancient city boast of the wealth and commercial enterprise which you carry out here ; but we do boast of having done something in the railway world. (Hear, hear). It is the peculiar [pride and 124 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. pleasure of the Corporation of York, to have enrolled amongst its members my friend, your most excellent chairman. (Cheers). Of him we — as we ought to do — feel justly proud. It must be for any man a gratifying thing to have the good esteem of his neighbour ; now no one possesses that esteem in a greater degree than Mr. Hudson ; he has done much for York, and we are consequently greatly gratified that railways have done so much for him. (Cheers). There is another topic connected with the proceedings of the day, which I think is a matter for congratulation, as it augurs well for the future increasing prosperity of this port. When we look around us and see along with Mr. Hudson, directors from Manchester, Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax, Barnsley, and Bradford, we must be satisfied that the combined energies of these gentlemen will do much for you. (Cheers). It is my earnest hope and wish, that Hull may long be known as a place whose merchants are princes, and whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth. (Loud cheers). “ The Chairman — F ully participating as I do in the sentiments expressed by the Lord Mayor of York, I am about to propose the health of a body of gentlemen whom I think, believe, and hope will readily contribute to the welfare and the benefit of the Port of Hull. Gentlemen, it may be said that some differences of opinion existed between myself and the hon. gentlemen whose health I am about to propose. I hope, gentlemen, I never allowed any petty private feeling or prejudice to interfere with the discharge of my public duty ; and I believe that this desire has not only existed in my own breast, but has actuated those gentlemen whose healths I am about to give. (Hear, hear). It is quite true that some differences of opinion have existed between us ; I trust, however, that the feeling of contention which existed between us was an honourable one, — one that was consonant with the honourable desire of promoting the public good. (Hear, hear). I feel sure that that disagreement could never operate so as to lead us to object to give to Hull all the advantages and facilities which it is entitled to receive at our hands. (Cheers). On the contrary , we are fairly prepared to give to Hull all that she can fairly require of us. (Cheers). I think a man iclio has any other desire or intention is not ivorthy to occupy the position which those gentlemen to ivliom I allude so ivorthily do. (Applause). As for myself — as I have said HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 125 before — I am connected with the district by hereditary recollections, by property, and by every feeling which can give me an interest in its welfare. So far as I am concerned, then, nothing can give me greater pleasure than to be the colleague of Mr. Houldsworth, and co-operate with him in promoting the success and advantages of the Port of Hull. I should like to see Hull rising , as it ought to rise , till it becomes a port second to none in the kingdom. (Cheers). And I feel sure that with the hearty exertions of an intelligent population, and with the cordial union of the various bodies in the town, Hull ma}^ claim all the advantages and facilities which her position and import- ance entitle her to receive. (Loud cheers). Gentlemen, we talk of Divine Providence, and no one will more reverentially acknowledge its guardian influence over human affairs than myself ; but we must remember the adage that 1 God helps those who help themselves.’ Now the Town of Hull must help itself. (Loud cheers). The Town of Hull should prepare to enter into an honourable competition , it should open its arms and expand them wide, and it should give commercial facilities with no niggard hand. (Loud and long continued cheering). I am sure, if you in Hull will but do this, that the intelligence of my friend and the board over which he presides will induce him to unite with me as an humble helpmate ; that we shall be prepared to do all we can in promoting the prosperity of Hull, having a deep feeling for its welfare, and in giving to this town those advan- tages and facilities which it has a right to expect from the increased railway communication which it possesses. (Loud cheers). Gentle- men; T give you ‘ The health of my friend Mr. Houldsworth, and the Directors of the Leeds and Manchester Pailwav Company.’ “ Drunk with loud cheers. “ H. Hotjlds worth, Esq., said— Mr. Chairman and gentlemen — I beg most cordially to thank you for the manner in which you have received the toast which has just been given, in terms so satisfactory to myself and colleagues, from the chair. It is impossible to be present on an occasion like this without feeling high gratification that railway undertakings are as fast progressing, and adding — as we know they do add — to the comfort and convenience of the districts through which they are carried, and to the national advantage and 126 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. prosperity. The line that has been so auspiciously opened to-day presents fortunately few of those difficulties which oppose themselves to other districts. At a former period the Manchester and Leeds Company were, through a similarity of feeling with that expressed by the Chairman, with regard to the interest of the Eailway Company on the one hand, and the Town of Hull on the other, more intimately connected with you than it has been latterly. The feelings which led to the arrangement that took place two years ago between the Manchester and Leeds Company and the Hull and Selby Eailway Company, arose from a mutual conviction on the part of the gentlemen representing those two bodies that the interests of one would be greatly promoted by a union with the interests of the other. (Cheers). The Directors of the Leeds and Manchester Company, finding their line of railway was destined to connect the various manufacturing towns in the West of Yorkshire and Lancashire with one another, and that by a junction with you railway communication would be extended to this great Port, through which foreign productions are received, and through which manu- facturing industry is exported — finding such mutual relations between the two — and that the prosperity of one could not increase without that of the other — -it was my most heartfelt and sincere conviction that the two interests might be advantageously joined together. (Cheers). Circumstances, to which I will not now allude, dissevered the union for the time, but I am happy to say that the Directors of the Manchester and Leeds Eailway Company did not change their opinion that the interest of the district and the convenience of the inhabitants and the Port of Hull would be promoted by a connection more direct than could be obtained under two or three separate and independent managements and two or three independent companies, which at that time existed between those two points. (Applause). Animated by this feeling, we did agree to propose to yourselves and the Chairman of this meeting, whose boldness had enabled him to overthrow our arrangements, and to place himself in the position we had designed to occupy, that we should participate with him in the contract which he had formed. We were met by him in a fair spirit and business manner, and we did enter into such an agreement as will give myself and the Directors of the Manchester and Leeds Eailway HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 127 an interest corresponding with our situation. And now T will assure you, on behalf of myself and colleagues, that every facility which we can give to promote the interest of this Port will be given, because promoting the prosperity of this Port is one means of promoting the prosperity of the district from which we are to draw part of our resources. I am very happy to have the opportunity of reciprocating those kind feelings which have been expressed by the Chairman, and in return I can only say that on all occasions 1 shall be most happy to consider and to enter with him into all those arrangements which may hereafter conduce to promote the trade of the Port of Hull, and which we, the responsible parties in large undertakings, are bound to consider. I quite agree with what has fallen from the chair that it is the duty of Directors of Railways to consider the interests of the public on the one hand and a fair return to the shareholders on the other. I am sure that these two principles are not incompatible with each other. I am confident that no poverty-stricken line will meet the requirements of the Port of Hull. I believe a fair return is essential to that staff and establishment which it is desirable should be kept up and maintained in order to enable the railway company to afford all those facilities and advant- ages which the railway system is calculated to give. I will not trespass on your time longer than to say that I have a toast to propose, which I know will be most heartily received. I am glad to bear my testimony to the gentlemen named in the toast, because it includes a gentleman, who, from a small beginning, with a small and short line, and having, I believe at one time only a small stake in that company, has conducted that company, by his circumspection, fore- sight, and influence, and I will add by his honourable dealings, so as to rank equal in influence, if not equal in expense, to any other rail- way company in the kingdom. I beg to propose 4 The health of the Chairman and Directors of the York and .North Midland Railway Company.’ (Loud cheers). “ The Chairman then rose to acknowledge the toast which had been proposed by the Chairman of the Manchester and Leeds Company. He said, It falls to my duty to acknowledge the toast proposed to you by my friend Mr. Houldsworth, and on behalf of the directors of the 128 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL York and North Midland Railway Company, I have to offer you the warmest and best thanks. It is quite true, as Mr. Houldsworth has stated, that although when we began our career we little anticipated that the system of railway communication would he carried to such an extent as it has now gone, yet that irs progress has been called for by the public, and has tended very greatly to confer benefit and advantage in the country at large. My friend, Mr. Houldsworth, has alluded to the Port of Hull. These public occasions I think possess vast advantage, as they are occasions when, there are elicited from us sentiments which may be placed on record, and which may hereafter prove to be a benefit to the community. (Hear, hear). I am not prepared to offer here any pledges which I have not previously well considered, and seriously thought upon ; hut I can tell the people of Hull — and I fairly tell it to the Chairman of the Hock Company — that if it rests with the York and North Midland Company , tvhich I have the honour to represent — if it rests with us ivhere the goods coming from the West Hiding shall he shipped to the Continent — -we are fully prepared for a vigorous hut honourable competition (cheers) ; ive, I say are prepared to carry those goods on such terms as ivill secure to the Hort of Hull that pre-eminence to which it is entitled. (Loud cheers). I say this publicly, I think the claims of 80,000 inhabitants — I think the claims of those who have so much capital invested in the district are so strong on the railway world that ice shall feel it our duty fairly to give to the immense capital interested in the Hort, and to the immense number of people dependent upon its prosperity those advantages which they have a fair right to p>ossess, and if they do not rightly avail them- selves of it, the fault shall not lay with the Bailway Company . (Immense cheering) . I pledge the company which I represent that it shall not be our fault if the Hort of Hull does not maintain that position ivliich it has hitherto occupied as the Third Hort of the Kingdom. {Cheers). Gentlemen, I thank you on behalf of the York and North Midland Directors, whose health you have drunk, and whose conduct has met with your approbation. I trust we shall continue to pursue the same honourable course. We have never, to my knowledge, unfairly interfered with the affairs of other companies. But I say that we are quite prepared to do all for the Port of Hull which will be necessary to keep on a fair footing with other ports. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 129 Much of the success of this Port must be dependent on the Hull Dock Company, and therefore I say to the Chairman of that Company, and to the inhabitants of Hull generally, do your duty in God’s name, and we will do ours to maintain you in the position which you now occupy. (Loud cheers). As Yorkshiremen we are proud of Hull; we feel a deep interest in everything that concerns Hull. No people are so vain of their county and of their local advantages as Yorkshiremen ; they have a right to be so, and therefore if I did not feel the deepest anxiety for everything connected with the Port of Hull I should form an exception to my brother Yorkshiremen, which I do not at all desire. (Cheers).” 1 chapter, IX. ®|e Station. FpHE Old Station near the Humber Dock became too small for the X increasing traffic, and being situated at the west of the town? failed to divert the traffic to Beverley and Bridlington, which still went by the coaches — for the dwellers in Prospect Street and the west of the town would not turn back so far on their journey. A New Station was also urged by the Hull and Selby proprietors, with the notion that if they induced the York and North Midland Company, to expend a large sum of money in a new terminus for the Hull and Selby Eailway, it would tend to bind them to the lease, about which they were not over confident from the vaccillating conduct of the lessees. A New Station was decided on, and an Act of Parliament was applied for, and obtained by the York and North Midland Company, in the sesion of 1847, authorizing the construction of the present Paragon Station and Hotel. Queen Victoria, the Prince Consort, and five of the Eoyal children visited Hull on Oct. 13th and 14th, 1854, and stayed at the Station Hotel. The Old Station was remodelled, and enlarged, and devoted exclusively for goods. It soon, however, again became too small, and has been enlarged by the addition of the site of the Hull Old Gaol and adjoining land, and the private residences (Belle Vue Terrace), mentioned in Messrs. Walker and Burges’ report as likely to be injured, have been levelled to the ground, and the site devoted to Bailway purposes, CHAPTER X. lull iuib ||larfict Weighton ^tailforag. Via BROUGH. T HIS line was intended to have been made by the Hull and Selby Railway Company, and it was surveyed prior to the lease to the York and North Midland Company. Mr. Hudson promised that it should be made, and no doubt had he remained in power it would have been constructed. At a special meeting of the York and North Midland Company, held on the 17th May, 1845, a resolution was passed, approving of the formation of a Railway from York to Market Weighton and Beverley, with a branch to Brough, or such other point on the Hull and Selby line as might be deemed expedient, and the Directors were authorised to make the necessary surveys. In the same year “ the Hull and Great North of England Railway Company’ 7 was formed, having the same object in view, and a much larger capital was subscribed than was necessary to make the line, but the panic which succeeded the mania caused the promoters to postpone the project, and the whole of the expenses were paid by the solicitors out of their own pockets. These gentlemen were the late Mr. J. B. Burland, of South Cave, and Mr. E. C. Bell, of Hull. In 1847 the line was again mooted, and a meeting was held on the 23rd of March, under the presidency of the late Mr. J. S. Egginton, when the following resolutions were passed : — 1. “ That this meeting being strongly impressed with the advantages of Railway communication, is of opinion that an extension of the York and Market Weighton Branch Line, via North and South Cave, to join the Hull and Selby Railway at or near Brough, as originally surveyed and decided upon by the Hull and 132 HISTOBY OF EAILWAYS INTO HULL. Selby Company, is highly desirable and necessary for the accommo- dation of the district thongh which it would pass, and would also yield an ample return for the cost of construction.” 2. “ That this meeting deems it expedient to memorialize the Board of Directors of the York and North Midland Company to construct the said extension, and that the memorial now read be adopted for signature.” The following interesting letter to the chairman from a late vicar of South Cave is given, expressing the feeling on the other side “ March 15th, 1847, “Deae Sie, “ Your respected signature is the first affixed to a circular which I have received on the subject of the Market Weighton and Brough extension — and therefore I address my answer to you, “ The 23rd, is the day previous to the day of solemn fasting and humiliation ; and therefore I could not have attended your meeting in Hull, had I been favourable to your scheme. “ But, you must excuse my confessing that, as Yicar of South Cave, I am unable to be favourable to it, on moral consideration. You well know I have too just cause to complain of Sunday evils at the Public-houses there — and had we a Bailway, I have little doubt, bad would be made much worse. The scum of Hull would make it one place for their Sunday revels. * “ At least, I know, the double evil found by the clergy in their parishes on other lines, is this : The country youths go to some neighbouring town for ‘ a lark,’ and the tag -rag-and-bob -tail of towns come into the country, not for sober enjoyment, but for Sunday dissipation. HISTORY OR RAILWAYS INTO HIJLL. 133 “ I am really sorry, then, that fearing like evils T do not think I should act a right part were I to attend your meeting, or be favourable to your plan. I am, Dear Sir, Yours very truly, E. W. STILLINGFLEET.” In 1856 the writer was associated in the promotion of the Hull and Market Weighton Pail way, via Brough, and the following prospectus was issued : — THE HULL AND MARKET WEIGHTON RAILWAY COMPANY. Provisionally Registered, pursuant to the Act 7 tli and 8 th Vic., c. 110. CAPITAL £80,000 SHAPES OE £10 EACH. DEPOSIT £1 Is. PEE SHAPE. CALLS £1 each, with an interval of Three Months at least between each Call. PEOYISIONAL COMMITTEE, [all being Shareholders.] Sir Wm. Worsley, Bart., Hovingham Hall, near Malfcon. W. C. Worsley, Esq., Conyngham Hall, near Knaresbro’. Thomas MacTurk, Esq., Ryeland Hill, South Cave, a Director of the Hull and Selby Railway. John Gresham, Esq., J.P., Alderman of Hull. Leavil Leeson, Esq., South Cave. Benjamin MacTurk, Esq., of Hull. Edwd. C. Bell, Esq., Hull. Mr. John Metcalf, North Cave. Mr. Joseph Shaw, North Cave. Mr. Richard Grasby, Newport. Mr. Matt. H. Collinson, South Cave. Mr. Richard Marshall, South Cave. Mr. Robert Stather, North Cave. Mr. Richard Petch, North Cave. Mr. John Stather Petch, North Cave. Mr. Richard Blossom, North Cave. Mr. George Waddingham, Hotham. 134 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. Solicitors. Messrs, Burland and Son, South Cave. Messrs. Busfeild and MacTnrk, Bradford. Parliamentary Agents. Messrs. Edwards, Frankish, and Galland, 11, New Palace Yard, Westminster. PEOSPECTUS. " The object of the Promoters of this undertaking is to afford a Eailway Communication, so long wanting, for the purpose of connecting the fertile and populous neighbourhood through which it will pass with the Port of Hull, and the markets of the Manufacturing Districts. “ The proposed Eailway will commence near the Brough Station on the Hull and Selby Line, and will pass near and accommodate the following towns and villages : — Welton, Elloughton, Brantingham, Ellerker, South Cave, Biplingham, Hunsley, Drewton, Everthorpe, North Cave, Newport, Hotham, North Newbald, South Newbald, North Cliffe, South Cliffe, Holme, Houghton, Sancton, &c., and will terminate at the town of Market Weighton in a junction with the North Eastern Eailway. “ A glance at the Map of Yorkshire will at once show the advantages of the proposed line, and it is an important feature, that it will shorten the distance from York and the North of England to the Fort of Hull hg upwards of ten miles , and also avoid the present, disagreeable and inconvenient delays at Milford Junction. “ To the Shareholders in the North Eastern Eailway, this undertaking presents more than ordinary inducements, as it will undoubtedly prove a valuable feeder both to the Market Weighton Branches and the Hull and Selby Eailway between Brough and Hull. “ It may safely be said that the construction of the line will be unusually easy. The entire route appears to be on a dead level, and is in fact sufficiently so, to dispense with all cuttings and embankments. “ The length of the new line proposed to be constructed is about ten miles, and the expense of construction for single rails, which are only intended to be laid down at first, may with confidence be estimated 135 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. at under £6,000 a mile. The Promoters lelieve that it ivill not le requisite to call up more than £50,000, but tbe capital has been stated at £80,000, to enable the company to lay a second line of rails, should the traffic demand it, and to provide a working stock, should it be at any time thought desirable. “ Experience has shown that it is useless to estimate the traffic of a district, hitherto unsupplied with Railway Communication, but it is evident that a Railway constructed at the low rate this will be, even with the local traffic alone, must be remunerative, and should it become a part of the trunk line between the Port of Hull and the North of England, it is scarcely possible to over rate the dividend it will produce. “ It has been ascertained that the landowners on the line are favourable to its construction, and there is little doubt but that they will provide the land on reasonable terms. “ The Provisional Committee will take a large proportion of the capital themselves, and although no such result is contemplated in the event of the Act not being obtained, it is intended to return the whole of the deposits, with a deduction of not more than 7s. 6d. per share. “ Application for shares may be made to the Solicitors of the Company, Messrs. Bttseeild and MacTurk, Bradford ; and Messrs. Burlap and So n, South Cave ; or to any of the Sharebrokers, in York and Hull. The project met with considerable support. The late Alderman Bannister, who was then Mayor of Hull, took great interest in it, walking over the projected line and promising to use his influence with the North Eastern Company, but it soon became apparent that that Company, with its usual obstructiveness was opposed to it, and was disposed to favour the route via Beverley, in opposition to the route via Brough. A strong deputation, headed by Mr. Bannister, met the York Directors — but no impression could be made on them, and Mr. Bannister, seeing the feeling of the North Eastern Board, was obliged to withdraw his advocacy of the line. It was considered hopeless to surmount the opposition of the North Eastern Company, 136 HISTORY OR RAILWAYS INTO HULL. and the whole of the expenses was again paid by the Solicitors. The line was surveyed by the North Eastern Company in 1873 for strategetical purposes and will no doubt be made some time. The line would run from North to South and ought to be made at the cost and risk of the North Eastern, If private individuals made it, it would b-e liable to injury if at any time an independent line crossing it from East and West were run from Hull. I have sometimes thought this district might be supplied, and Hull and Scarboro’ delivered, by a line running from Hull to Scarboro,’ via South Cave, Market Weigh ton, Sledmere and the Wolds, branching off to the West from South Cave. I believe such a route might be found but it would be heavy. CHAPTER XI. till u \ r polkmcss |kilfora; g. ♦ T HE founder of this Hailway was the late Mr. Alderman Bannister. I had intended to ask him to write this chapter. The following is the prospectus issued in 1852. HULL AND HOLDERNESS RAILWAY. Provisionally Registered. CAPITAL £150,000, in 7,500 SHARES of £20 EACH. PROVISIONAL DIRECTORS. Sir Thomas Aston Clifford Constable, ot Burton Constable, in Holderness, in the County of York, Baronet. William Marshall, of Patterdale Hall, in the County of Westmoreland, and 85, Eaton Square, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, M.P. Anthony Bannister, of High Pauli House, in Holderness, in the County of York, Esquire, and Mayor of Kingston-upon-Hull. John Crowther Metcalf Harrison, of Kingston-upon-Hull, Esquire, and Sheriff of the same place. Henry Cautley, of Hedon, in Holderness aforesaid, Surgeon. John George Bowes Thoroton Hildyard, of Winestead Hall, in Holderness aforesaid, Gentleman. Arthur Marshall, of Leeds and Headingley, in the said County of York, Linen Manufacturer. Thomas Joseph Owst, of Keyingham, in Holderness aforesaid, Gentleman. Samuel Priestman, of East Mount, Sutton, in Holderness aforesaid, Gentleman, one of the Directors of the York and North Midland Railway Company. Joseph Walker Pease, of Hesslewood House, in the County of York, Banker. Christopher Leake Ringrose, of Tranby, in the said County of York, Merchant, Treasurer. Mr. Arthur B. Pease, Hull, 138 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS LKTTO HULL. Engineer. Mr. Cabry, York. Surveyor and Land Agent. Mr. Hebblethwaite, Hull. Secretary. Mr. George Locking, Hull. “ The object of this undertaking is to provide for the extensive district of Holderness, in the East Eiding of the County of York, the great advantages of Bail way Communication ; and for the inhabitants of Hull, Beverley, surrounding country, and the large and populous towns in the West Eiding of Yorkshire, an easy access to the German Ocean. “ It is proposed that the line shall commence at or near Great Union Street, in the Parish of Sutton, in the Borough of Kingston- upon-Hull, proceed between the Towns of Hedon and Preston, within a short distance of Thorngumbald, Byhill, Camerton, Burstwick, Keyingham, Halsliam, Ottringham, Winestead, and Patrington, and terminate near the sea at Withernsea, in the Parish of Hollym, in Holderness. “ The line will communicate with the East Dock Branch of the York and North Midland Eailway, and arrangements of a satisfactory character can be made for running into the Paragon Street Station, and also for the general interchange of traffic. “ The country through which the line will pass is peculiarly adopted for a railway ; being nearly level, no tunnelling will be required, and the expense of construction will consequently be but trifling compared with that of other railways. “ The line will accommodate a great part of the rich and productive district of Holderness ; it will bring the various markets of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire within the reach of the agriculturist, and enable him, at a great saving of expense, to send his cattle, grain, and general produce to the best market, and obtain lime, coal, and other articles in return at a very considerable reduction in price. “ The traffic in cattle, corn, and other agricultural produce will be great. That from coal, lime, manures, and gravel will prove a source of great revenue, and a large market traffic may be anticipated. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 139 “ A considerable amount of the traffic into and out of a large portion of the district through which the proposed line will run is at present carried on at great expense and inconvenience by means of sloops to Patrington Haven, which is now nearly warped up. “ The number of passengers along the line will be very great, especially in the summer season. The German Ocean will be only about three quarters of an hour’s run from Hull, and many of the inhabitants of Hull, Beverley, the surrounding district, Lincolnshire, and the West Biding of Yorkshire, will avail themselves of the opportunity of residing, permanently or temporarily, near the sea. The locality for the Sea Terminus has been the subject of anxious consideration, and it is satisfactory to state that the sands at Seathorn and Withernsea are excellent, and the approach thereto good and easy. “ It is intended that a single line of rails shall only be laid down at present, but sufficient land for a double line will be purchased. “ Many of the landowners along the line have agreed to dispose of their land on moderate terms, and an offer has been made by contractors of great eminence to construct the whole line at a cost under £5,000 per mile, being much below the average expense of constructing railways through agricultural districts. “ The anticipated traffic fully warrants the promoters of the line in stating that after making an ample allowance for working and other expenses, it will yield a remunerative return on the capital employed. “ In the allotment of shares a preference will be given to parties locally interested, and all persons intending to apply for shares are requested to do so forthwith, as applications have already been received for above one-half of the number proposed to be issued. “ Application for Prospectuses and Shares must be addressed to the Secretary ; or to Messrs. Levett and Champney, Solicitors, Hull ; or Messrs. Bobinson and Atkinson, Solicitors, Hull and Beverley.” The Company was incorporated by an Act obtained in 1853, and for several years it was worked as an independent line, having its 140 HISTORY OR RAILWAYS INTO HULL. terminus near the Holderness Road. It was, however, absorbed by the North Eastern Company as from the 1st of January, 1860, at a rent equal to 3i per cent, in 1860 and 1841, and 4 per cent, in 1862 thenceforward. The Stock has since been converted into North Eastern Consolidated Preference 4 per Cent. Stock. The trains now run to and from the Paragon Station. CHAPTER XII. hli (So ole mil r IBmwarfet 0 N the 5th of May, 1855, I provisionally registered the Hull, Goole, and Doncaster Eailway, and shortly after I issued the following circular, but not meeting with sufficient support I did not feel justified in going on : — NEW RAILWAY PROJECT. Sib, “ I beg to bring to your notice a projected line of Eailway, the object of which is to connect the Port of Hull more directly with the Manufacturing Districts and the South Yorkshire coal fields. It is of the utmost importance to the trade of the Port that every facility of communication should be afforded, more especially as the rival Ports of Hartlepool and Grimsby are both energetically striving to divert the traffic to their harbours. The former is seeking a closer and more permanent alliance with the North Eastern Eailway, and an application to Parliament will be made in the approaching session to amalgamate the Hartlepool Docks and Eailway with the North Eastern ; and a new line, called the North Lincolnshire and South Yorkshire Eailway, is projected between Thorne and Barton, which will have the effect of opening out a much more direct communication between the West Eiding and South Yorkshire with Grimsby. “ The line of Eailway to which I beg to call your attention, as at present laid out, is intended to commence at Hull, either near to the Mytongate Bridge or the North Bridge, and in either case will pass through or near and accommodate Anlaby, Kirkella, Willerby, 142 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL, Westella, Swanland, Melton, Welton, Elloughton, Brantingham, Ellerker, South Cave, Everthorpe, North Cave, Newport, Gilberdike, Sandholme, Hive, Eastrington, Belby, Balkholme, Howden, Armin, Hook, and Goole, where it will join the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, affording a direct communication with Wakefield, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, and the West Riding and Lancashire towns. From Goole it will proceed to Thorne, where it will join the Doncaster and Thorne Branch of the South Yorkshire Railway, affording a direct communication with Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield, Barnsley, and the great South Yorkshire coal field, and also with Manchester and Liverpool. “Near to South Cave a junction will be formed with the proposed Hull and Market Weighton Railway, affording a direct communication with York and the North of England. “ I am of opinion that the formation of the above described line and of the Hull and Market Weighton Railway, the one shortening the distance to the North by ten miles, and the other to the South and South-West and to London by fifteen to twenty miles, would tend to greatly increase the trade of the Port of Hull. “ The immediate connection with the South Yorkshire coal fields would I believe raise Hull to be second only to Newcastle as a coal- shipping Port. At the same time the greater facilities of transit afforded to the Corn and Cattle Markets of Doncaster and Wakefield ; to the Woollen, Worsted, Linen, and Iron Districts of Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and Barnsley; and to the Metal Trade of Sheffield, Rotherham, and Masbro’ would at any rate keep in check the further attempts of Grimsby, Hartlepool, and other rival ports, if they did not restore to Hull the trade already lost. “ The Railway will have an intimate connection with five great Railway Companies, namely, the Great Northern, Lancashire and Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Midland, and North Eastern ; and I anticipate that no difficulty will be experienced in effecting a working arrangement with, or lease to, one or other of them. “ I am aware that the New Railway will, to some extent, affect the Hull and Selby branch of the North Eastern Railway, but it is HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 143 understood that that part of the North Eastern is yielding upwards of 10 per cent., and it has long been felt that it is inadequate to supply the wants of the Town and Port of Hull, while the local accommoda- tion is very inconvenient. “ Many persons are disinclined to enter into New Railway projects, because they see that existing ones pay such a poor return to the Shareholders, but it must be remembered that the old lines have cost £30,000, £40,000, £50,000, and some £60,000 per mile, while it has been discovered in these days, that a Railway in a favourable country, under ordinary circumstances, can be constructed from £5,000 to £10,000 per mile. u In conclusion, I would observe that the line in question would be a great advantage to the local population and to the towns of South Cave, Howden, Goole, and Thorne ; and that the country through which it will pass is on a favourable level. The only work requiring any engineering skill is the crossing of the River Ouse, which is proposed to be done by an opening bridge, as at Selby, and that it is intended to call 'the Railway the ‘ Hull, Goole, and Doncaster Railway,’ under which title it was provisionally registered some time ago. “ I shall be glad to receive any suggestion or communication from you on the subject. “ I remain, Sir, “ Your most obedient Servant, y “G. G. MACTURK” In 1860 the late Mr. Alderman Moss was the Chairman of a Committee who promoted “ the Hull and Doncaster Railway ” with a proposed capital of £150,000 in 15,000 shares of £10 each, the Solicitors being Messrs. Baxter, Rose, Norton, and Spofforth, of Westminster, and Messrs. England, Saxelbye, and Roberts, of Hull. The proposed line was about 15 miles in length, and was to commence near Staddletliorpe, on the Hull and Selby Railway, and proceed to Goole and Doncaster, giving Hull a direct connection with 144 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS IHTO HULL the arterial lines of the Great Northern, the Midland, the Lancashire and Yorkshire, the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, and the South Yorkshire Railways. The Bill went into the House of Commons, and the North Eastern Railway Company thereupon offered, if the Bill was with- drawn, themselves to promote a similar line in the next session. 1 1 is understood that the North Eastern Railway Company recouped the expenses of the promoters. In the following session the North Eastern Railway Company promoted a Hull and Doncaster line, as did also the Lancashire and Yorkshire, which was to run into Hull alongside the Hull and Selby, and also the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway Companies. Two independent lines were also promoted, one “the Hull, West Riding, and Lancashire,” and the other by Mr. Galland, to run by the Drewton Valley. In the result the North Eastern Company got their Bill, and the existing line from Staddlethorpe to Goole and Doncaster was made in consequence. CHAPTER XIII. Cjrc p«ll anfr |jont$ca |Mforag* M R. J. A. WADE promised to write me this chapter more than a year ago, hut he has never been able to find time, and on the 28th Nov., 1879, he writes as follows : — “ I am indeed sorry that I have been unable to write you the history of the Hull and Hornsea Line and I don’t know where to find a proIpectus. ,, The terms of transfer were the earnings for a few years, which proved nil , and then I got the North-Eastern Railway to consent to 3 per cent, for 2 years and 1 per cent, afterwards. j CHAPTER XIV. Recent CffotB to %eit t|e fjort. By Henry John Atkinson. T HE history of efforts made to open Hull to the Railway systems of England is not very encouraging. Again and again those efforts have been overcome by the great power of self-interest in possession, aided by ignorance, interest, or apathy on the part of those who should have welcomed every attempt to give freedom to the trade of the port. After many representations of the inconvenient, and, indeed, often almost insulting, manner in which Hull passengers were treated by unnecessary delays and want of accommodation at Milford Junction, I joined in an independent attempt to get the Hull and Doncaster Railway Bill passed, by wdiich a new and shorter route was to be given to Hull. The financial response on the part of the Hull people was very feeble ; and when the case was on the point of being heard, the promoters of the Bill then in London felt themselves obliged to withdraw it on the assurance from the Directors of the North-Eastern Railway Company that they would promote a similar Bill for the convenience of the port in the next session. When this compromise was reported to a meeting of the shareholders at Hull at the offices of Messrs. England and Saxelbye, together with the fact that the North- Eastern Railway Company had agreed to repay the amount paid up per share to each subscriber, I (not having been in London when the agreement v r as made) enquired whether that would be held to bind *mv one who accepted such repayment not to join in any attempt to open the port in the future. My enquiry was received with the utmost ridicule which usually attends the putting of a foolish question. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 147 I was asked who was likely to promote a bill in the future P and other similar questions. I said, in reply, I would not be fettered in any way, and the event justified the precaution ; for I had the pleasure to see, for the very next session of Parliament, notices of no less than five competing schemes for the purpose of removing the reproach of insufficient railway facilities. These were : — 1. The Hull, West Yorkshire, and Lancashire Railway, an independent line running from Manor House Street and Kingston Street by way of Anlaby, Kirkella, Ferriby, Elloughton, South Cave, North Cave, to Staddlethorpe, there to join the branch to Doncaster, with running powers to Doncaster, and to enter into working agreements with the Lancashire and Yorkshire, the Midland, the South Yorkshire, the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, the Great Northern, and the Great Eastern Railway Companies. 2. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company’s scheme, which ran alongside the Hull and Selby line on the bank of the Humber. 3. The South Yorkshire Railway Company’s scheme, which took a similar course. 4. The Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway Company’s scheme ; and 6. The before-mentioned promised scheme of the North-Eastern Railway Company. At that time I was Mayor of Hull, Chairman of the Parlia- mentary Committee of the Corporation, and President of the Hull Chamber of Commerce and Shipping. I immediately pressed forward the consideration of these schemes, and, after much discussion and opposition, a resolution was passed by the Parliamentary Committee of the Hull Corporation approving the independent scheme. Very shortly afterwards, I regret to say, this Bill was withdrawn for want of sufficient material and support. I then did my 148 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. best to promote what I considered the next best project, viz., the Bill of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bailway Company. I attended in London before a Committee of the House of Commons for sixteen days, and was the first witness for the Bill of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bailway Company, being under examination and cross-examination for more than five hours. The result, however, was that the Bill was not passed by the Committee of the House of Commons, and although that of the North-Eastern Bailway Company was favoured by them, it was opposed by the South Yorkshire Company and others in the House of Lords and thrown out there. In this contest above £100,000 had been spent, and therefore Hull being left without a champion on the next occasion (the opponents having been satisfied), the North-Eastern Company’s Bill was passed. The result was the Hull and Doncaster branch of the North- Eastern Bailway Company, a concession which, like all others, was only wrung from the North-Eastern Bailway Company by the presence of opposition in the open field. The making of the line was afterwards postponed as long as the Company could postpone it. Since and during the time to which I have referred many efforts were made by me, as Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of the Hull Corporation and Mayor of Hull, to redress the grievances under which we labour in being charged by the North-Eastern Bailway Company as high a rate per ton from Hull to Leeds, &c., as the same Company charged from their ports distant twice the number of miles. This was especially pressed on Committees of the House of Commons when the West Hartlepool Harbour and Bailway Company’s undertaking was swallowed up by the North-Eastern Bailway Company and upon other occasions, but although we once succeeded in obtaining the expression of a favourable opinion as to the justice of our complaint on the part of a Committee, we got no substantial redress. Later a resolution was passed by the Town Council to the effect that this grievance should be brought before the Bailway Commissioners, but 1 regret to say this was never done. The result of many earnest efforts to open the port carried on for many years finally convinced me and many others of the necessity HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 149 of enlisting upon our side a large Railway Company in some degree capable of coping with the North-Eastern Railway Company. Consequently when the effort was proposed in 1872 I joined it reluctantly, and rather against my own opinion as to the chances of success on account of the absence of such an element from our arrangements. I, however, did my best again as deputy-chairman, under the chairmanship of Christopher Sykes, Esq., M P., and we were often told that if we could carry our scheme through the C ommittee of the House of Commons we might then expect to be taken in hand by one of the large companies. I was again the first witness called in favour of the Bill, and was under examination over five hours. When we had succeeded in obtaining the favourable decision of the House of Commons, we tried the large Companies again, but each had its reason for not acting at that particular time, and we had to face the Committee of the House of Lords without the support which would have told most in our favour. The result was a heavy blow and sore discouragement, for although the action of the promoters of the Bill undoubtedly once more wrung from the North Eastern Railway Company facilities which had been persistently denied until formidable opposition was actually again in the field, the loss of time, energy, cash, and even health was great. The proper solution of the question was put back again indefinitely, and shortly afterwards was further retarded by the absorption of one of the chief promoters of the opposition (C. H. Wilson, Esq., M.P.) into the Board of the Company opposed. Besides the many efforts thus briefly epitomised, it should be remembered that in 1865 a covert attempt was made to have the whole port put under the influence of the North-Eastern Railway Company, and if this had been successful the chains of monopoly would have been firmly riveted indeed. The Corporation, however, again moved promptly, and further proceedings in that direction were abandoned. While, however, the North-Eastern Railway Company is virtually the only Railway Company for Hull, such dangers are always ahead, and it is impossible to conceive any object in which all the inhabitants of Hull can be more interested than that of obtaining freedom from the existing Railway Monopoly and those increased 150 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS IHTO HULL. facilities which the presence of an Independent Company would immediately obtain. Let freedom come how it may, it will be a glorious day for Hull when she has that which is possessed by all other places of her size, and by many of not a tithe of her importance, viz., healthy competition and fair dealing as to railway rates and facilities. These given, there is no limit to the expansion of her trade. CHAPTER XV. mfy mil r West function |tailforag. By F. B. Grotrian. D URING the month of October, 1872, the Railway accommodation and facilities provided by the North-Eastern Railway Company for the trade of Hull completely broke down, and a state of block and confusion ensued seldom, if ever, witnessed in the history of a trading port. It was found impossible to get orders for goods which were received from Leeds and all parts of the interior executed under a period of from one to three weeks, and as a consequence the greatest confusion prevailed, and most serious losses resulted to the Hull merchants and shipowners. The press teemed with letters of complaints and remonstrances, and a few extracts from those which were published during the early part of October, 1872, will perhaps best illustrate the state of feeling then existing. “ One of the Victims ” writes : — “ Can you induce any gentleman — or combination of gentlemen — possessing the necessary intelligence, influence, and experience, and adding thermo a large degree of public spirit, to take up in good earnest this hackneyed subject, viz., 4 Shall Hull possess once again its own railway to connect our docks, ware- houses, and manufactories with the Great Northern, Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway systems.’ At present the North Eastern Railway Company are taking from seven to ten days to execute on hand orders, and I am told they have at present between seven and eight miles of inward goods-laden 152 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. trucks waiting clearance. Surely it must be worth the while of the leading men engaged in the trade of this port to stake something in such an undertaking, if by so doing they can render the recurrence of such a state of things absolutely impossible.” W. D. T. writes : — “ How much longer will the merchants and shipowners of Hull allow the present state of affairs to exist. The North-Eastern Hail way Company is no longer able to conduct the affairs of the port in a satisfactory manner. I think it is time some one moved in order to induce the Lancashire and Yorkshire or some other Hail way Company to run a line direct into Hull ; if this is not done the trade of the port will be seriously damaged. I think our Chamber of Commerce should take the matter in hand, and procure for the merchants and shippers that amount of facility, &e., which is absolutely necessary for the continued prosperity of the town at large.” “ One of the Discontented ” — “ At length we have arrived at a crisis in our existence as a port. I hear the Hailway Company has refused point blank to accept even an order to receive grain out of one of the Dock Company’s warehouses. If this be so it is time, I think, to look arounc us anc see if there be no remedy for this state of things. We are in this fix now evei’y year, and, notwithstanding frequent promises to extend their goods premises, nor a stroke of work has been done in that direction. Will no one organise a meeting of merchants and others interested with a view to appointing a deputation to wait upon some other Company and ask them to bring their line direct into Hull ? I am satisfied there is nothing else to save us, but we must be prepared to make some sacrifice ourselves by offering to provide a large portion of the capital required. 1 believe there is no doubt a large sum could be got together for bhis purpose, but it wants an energetic man to start the thing. Could our Chamber of Commerce be induced to move in the matter? I fear not. His Worship the Mayor might possibly take it up if he were well supported. I dare say he suffers as much as anyone.” Numerous other letters and leaders on this subject appeared, but the above will perhaps suffice to show public feeling at the time, and it may be mentioned that the letters from which these extracts are taken all appeared in one issue of the Eastern Morning News, HISTORY OF RAILWAY SHINTO HULL. 153 The “ Hull Fish Trade Protection Association ” held several meetings to “ consider the ruinous delay in the transit of fish from Hull to the dilferent markets,’’ and many illustrations were given of the serious losses entailed upon the trade by the inability of the North-Eastern Kailway Company to deal with the traffic. At a meeting of the Directors of the Hull Chamber of Commerce and Shipping held on Wednesday, 23rd October, 1872, the following resolution, proposed by Mr. F. B. Grotrian and seconded by Mr. S. West, was carried and embodied in the report, viz., “ The Directors regret to be compelled to state that the trade of the port is seriously suffering at the present time by the want of railway facilities, the one line into Hull being now found quite incapable of dealing with present requirements, and your Directors, regarding the following statistics as shewing the advance in the trade and commerce of the port, feel the urgent necessity of attention being paid to this subject.” This report of the Directors was submitted to the members at the Thirty-fourth Annual Meeting of the Chamber, which was held on Monday, 28th October, 1872, and the question was then most fully discussed, many of the gentlemen present giving particulars of the great losses and inconveniences they were suffering in their respective businesses. The practical outcome of the discussion was the carrying of the following resolution, proposed by Mr. F. B. Grotrian and seconded by Mr. T. W. Flint “ That the want of additional railway accommoda- tion being urgently felt at the present time, the following gentlemen be a committee to confer as to the best mode of carrying out this object.” Many gentlemen were appointed to form the nucleus of a committee to take action, and among them were several who had fought hard in previous battles for the emancipation of Hull. This committee developed into a very large and influential one, as will be seen hereafter, and embraced all the leading merchants, shipowners, and other traders in the port. 154 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL The first meeting of the committee thus formed was held at the offices of the Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, 30th October, 1872, Mr. Robert Jameson presiding, when it was resolved unani- mously “ That in the opinion of this meeting another Railway into Hull is absolutely necessary to meet the growing commerce of the port.” On Friday, 1st November, 1872, at a meeting of the General Committee, held in the Gratid Jury Room at the Town Hall, an Executive Sub-committee was formed, consisting of the following gentlemen: — Christopher Sykes, M.P., H. J. Atkinson, J. W. Pease, T. W. Flint, Arthur Wilson, Robert Jameson, F. B. Grotrian, S. West, and Wm. Leetham. This committee afterwards elected C. Sykes, M.P., chairman, and H. J. Atkinson, deputy-chairman of the committee. After several meetings, the following Report was drawn up by the Sub -committee : — “ The Sub-committee appointed met several times and considered various proposals. Finally it was -unanimously resolved to recommend to the committee the adoption of a line ‘ commencing on the east side of Hull, passing round the town to Hessle, then by a tunnel through the chalk strata, reaching the south side of the Humber near Barton, thence passing up the Ancholme Valley to join the lines of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire near Brigg, in the direct route for Retford and the South, and by another junction near Appleby, passing (by running powers) over the River Trent to Doncaster. From Keadby a line must be made to join the Lancashire and Yorkshire line at Goole.’ “ By running powers to Retford and Doncaster this route will bring Hull into communication with the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway, the Great Northern Railway, the Midland Railway, and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Companies. The new line required for this route will be about thirty miles. London will thus be brought nearer to Hull by about fifteen miles. HISTORY OH 1 RAILWAYS IJYTO HCJLL. 155 “ The Sub-committee recommend that Mr. Fowler be the E.ijinier, a il thib] Messrs. Baxter, Rose, Norton, and Spofforth the Solicitors for the line. Also that Messrs. Roberts and Leak be the Local Solicitors for the line, and that the expenses for procuring the Act be contributed pro rata by the subscribers to the fund for obtaining fresh Railway facilities for Hull. “ The Sub-committee further recommend that a small committee be appointed to carry out these resolutions, viz. Messrs. C. Sykes, Robert Jameson, H. J. Atkinson, C. H. Wilson, Wm. Leetham, H. F. Smith, T. W. Flint, Stephen West, and F. B. Grotrian. “Also that the town and neighbourhood and all places interested in the trade of the port be immediately canvassed most vigourously by the General Committee for additional subscriptions to this effort for opening out direct communication with the Midland and East Lincolnshire districts, which are at the present moment practically excluded from Hull, and for emancipating Hull from railway thraldom and injurious monopoly. It is intended that the line when made be kept open for the use of all the companies mentioned, giving them access into the port of Hull for their own trains, from their own systems, and on equal terms so far as regards facilities and rates.” This report was submitted to a meeting of the General Com- mittee held in the Grand Jury Room, Town Hall, on Friday, 8th November, 1872, and was duly adopted by them. At a meeting of the Sub-committee held on Saturday, 9th November, 1872, Rowland Winn, Esq., M.P., attended and stated that he had not any doubt as to the projected line being met with favour and support in Lincolnshire. He believed it would prove of very great advantage to that district. This gentleman subsequently became one of the Provisional Directors of the undertaking. Active and energetic steps were now taken to promote the scheme adopted, and notwiihstanding the shortness of the time and the enormous amount of labour necessary to accomplish all the necessary work to bring so large an undertaking properl y before Parliament, this was duly accomplished, and at a meeting of the 150 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. Executive Committee, held on Tuesday, 3rd December, 1872, it was announced that the plans and book of reference had been deposited, and copies were produced for the inspection of the committee. The necessary Parliamentary deposit, amounting to £45,000, was also duly provided, the amount being guaranteed by H. J. Atkinson, Wm. Leetham, and Fredk. E. Grotrian on behalf of the promoters. As might be expected, the scheme called forth the most strenuous opposition of the North-Eastern Railway Company, and the time of the Executive Committee was fully occupied with considering and preparing to meet the various petitions against the Bill, and also in getting up the case in favour of the promoters. The following prospectus was adopted, but it was simply for private circulation among the promoters, viz. : — HULL SOUTH AND WEST JUNCTION RAILWAY. CAPITAL— £960,000, in 96,000 Shares of £10 each. DEPOSIT — 10s. per Share, Directors. Christopher Sykes, Esq., M.P., Brantinghamthorpe, East Yorkshire, and Seamore Place, W., Chairman. Hy. John Atkinson, Esq., Hessle, Hull, and Gunnersbury House, Acton, W., (W. Brown, Atkinson, and Co., Hull). T. W. Flint, Esq., Anlaby, Hull (Chairman of the Hull Exchange). Fredk. B. Grotrian, Esq., West Hill, Hessle, Hull. Robt. Jameson, Esq., (Mayor of Hull) Eastella House, Hull. Wm. Leetham, Esq., Hull (Bailey and Leetham, Hull and London). L. W. LONGSTAFF, Esq., Summergangs, Hull (Blundell, Spence and Co., London and Hull). T. Eley Sykes, Esq., Scarborough (W. Beadle, Sykes and Co., Hull). Stephen West, Esq., The Grange, Hessle (Messrs. R. and J. Harrison, Hull). Charles H. Wilson, Esq., Ganton Hall, Yorkshire, and Cottingham (Thos. Wilson, Sons and Co., Hull). Rowland Winn, Esq., Appleby Hall, Brigg, Lincolnshire, and 8, Queen’s-gate Place, W. HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 157 Bankers. Messrs. Samuel Smith Brothers and Ce., Hull. Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smith, London. Solicitors. Messrs. Baxter, Rose, Norton and Co., London. „ Rollit and Sons, Hull. ,, G, C. Roberts and Leak, Hull. Engineer. John Fowler, Esq., C.E., London. “ The Hull South and West Junction Kailway is projected to provide adequate Kailway accommodation for the trade between the Port of Hull and the great Manufacturing and Mining Districts of Lancashire and Yorkshire, the Midland Counties, and the South and West of England. This trade, which is largely extending, has hitherto been restricted in Hull virtually to one Railway Company. “ The evils of this restricted accommodation have long been felt by the shipping, mercantile, and trading communities, and have at last become intolerable. During the last summer and autumn the traffic overwhelmed the powers of the Railway Company ; orders for supplies of goods could not be executed, vessels could not receive or discharge cargoes, and the general trade of the port was almost paralysed. “ The injury thus inflicted on trade has roused the Merchants, Shipowners, and other inhabitants of Hull, and meetings have been held, and resolutions passed, by the different public bodies, the Town Council, Chamber of Commerce and Shipping, the Bankers’ Merchants’ and Traders’ Guardian Society for the Protection of Trade, and the Fish T^ade Protection Society, urging the construction of new lines to put Hull in communication with the great Railway Companies in the kingdom, and active steps to give practical effect to these resolutions have been taken. “ The greatly increasing commercial intercourse of Hull with the Baltic, North Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, i5a HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. Norway, the Mediterranean, and Black Sea Ports, and the extension of the general trade of the port render it urgently necessary that Hull should possess direct Kailway communication with all parts of the kingdom ; and to do this in an efficient manner it is essential that the great companies should have station accommodation within the town and port for passengers, access to the docks, and convenience for the general collection and distribution of traffic. “ The following statistics will conclusively prove the growth of the trade of the Port of Hull, notwithstanding that its development has been greatly retarded by defective accommodation : — • (e Gross Tonnage on which Dock Dues have been paid for the year 1830, and every fifth year thereafter, showing also the Tonnage for 1871, and for the present year up to the 31st October. During the year 1830 359,942 39 1835 413,135 99 1840 652,502 99 1845 710,038 39 1850 .. 811,710 99 1855 39 1860 99 1865 39 1870 1,487,884 39 1871 1,704,188 99 1872 1,875,028 “ The declared value of British Exports from Hull for the year 1861 was £13,989,123, and for 1871, £22,610,557, or an increase of nearly 70 per cent. “ The Tonnage of the Port was in 1850, 13,055 f in 1855, 14,392 ; 1860, 44,741 ; 1865, 68,500 ; 1870, 124,167 ; 1871, 159,943 ; 1872, 173,194. “ To meet the urgent want thus conclusively shewn, plans have been prepared by Mr. John Fowler, C.E., for a Kail way and Branches, as shewn on the accompanying map. The necessary Parliamentary HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 159 Notices have been given, and plans deposited, to ensure the application to Parliament in the ensuing Session for authority to construct the necessary works. “ The proposed Railway will pass by a tunnel under the Humber, between Hessle and Barton, and by the Valley of the Ancholme to Brigg, and thence by the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway, to the Great Northern Station at Retford, thereby avoiding delay, and affording a new route between Hull and London, shorter than the existing route by not less than 15 miles* “ A branch will leave the main line and join the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Trent Line near Appleby, opening a passage over the South Yorkshire Railway to the Great Northern Station at Doncaster, and thence reaching Manchester, Liverpool, and other parts of Lancashire. “ A short curve from the South Yorkshire at Barnby Dun to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway at Askern will connect this route with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. “ A new line will also be formed from the Trent Bridge at Keadby to join the Lancashire and Yorkshire at Goole. “ Running powers will be taken over the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire to Retford and to Doncaster, and reciprocal powers given to that and the other companies communicated with, to run over the projected line into the stations at Hull. “ The effect of these arrangements w T ill be to afford additional direct communication between Hull and the whole of Lancashire, York shire, and Lincolnshire, and to form an additional route beween Hull and Liverpool. They will also open the port to the Eastern Counties and Southern traffic, and for traffic to and from Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol, and all the centre of the kingdom, and bring Hull into Railway connection with the rich Agricultural and Ironstone Districts of Lincolnshire, and with the great Coal Fields of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire, 100 HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL u With reference to the works, the Engineer, Mr. John Fowler, reports as follows : — “ 1 The crossing of the River Humber is the only important work upon the main line or any of the branches, and it is satisfactory to know that at the point selected the depth of water is small, the materials extremely favourable, and the total length of tunnel only one mile and five-eigths. With well-known modern appliances and experience this work can be easily executed, and safe calculations made as to time ; and for the cost ample provision has been made in the estimate.’ “ The entire cost of the undertaking is estimated by Mr. Fowler at £960,000. “ The length of the lines, with their several branches, will be about 40 miles. “ The determination to open Hull to all Railway Companies is shewn by the fact that £ of the necessary capital has been already privately subscribed, principally by firms who are largely interested in the trade of the district, which fact is conclusive as to the success of the undertaking.” The Corporation of Hull petitioned Parliament in favour of the Bill, as did also the Hull Guardian Society, and a petition, signed by over 10,000 of the inhabitants of the port, was lodged in support of the same. The undertaking met with the most general approval of all those places trading with Hull, and it will illustrate the support this project received when it is stated that petitions in favour were sent by many of the principal traders in Leeds, Wakefield, Bradford, Manchester, Rochdale, Barnsley, Normanton, Doncaster, Stockport, Brighouse, Halifax, Mirfield, Sheffield, Huddersfield, Burton-on-Trent, Newark, Lincoln, Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Retford, and many other places. „ HIS TOBY OP] BAIL WAYS USTTO HULL. 161 Mr. Venables, Q.C., stated in liis opening speech in favour of the Bill : — “ I may say Hull is unanimous about this matter —we have got a petition in favour signed by every considerable trader in Hull. We have got unanimous resolutions in our favour of the Town Council. We have got a unanimous resolution, with the exception of one gentleman who spoke on behalf of the North-Eastern, being connected with the North-Eastern. I do not think he voted. We have the unanimous decision of the Chamber of Commerce. We have the resolutions of a society called the Hull Guardian Society, which is a trading society, including all the principal trades of the town, and we have got in our favour a very important petition from all the great places with which Hull trades, and we have many of the greatest manufacturers in the kingdom signing this petition in our favour- — not people who are resident at Hull but people who have trade with Hull. We have got the principal trades at Wakefield and at Bradford. At Halifax I may mention that we have such gentlemen as Mr. Akroyd. We have a long list of traders and manufacturers and merchants at Manchester, some of them amongst the greatest in the trade. I have here marked some who, I am told, are the greatest people, but I will not occupy your time with them. We have such men as Titus Salt and Company. We have got corn merchants and millers from all parts of the country. From Lincolnshire, Stockport, and from Manchester, from Salford, from Leeds, Bradford, Boehdale, Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Newark, as far off as Bristol, we have petitioners in favour of this Bill. We have some of the greatest traders of Leeds and Wakefield, and we have a petition from Bradford which I think includes nearly the whole trade of Bradford — at any rate some of the very greatest. From the principal places in England which have a trade with Hull we have petitions in favour. We have also a petition in favour from Lord Essex, who is a proprietor in Lincolnshire ; from Lord Yarborough, who is a great proprietor in Lincolnshire ; from Mr. Elwes and others who are proprietors, and from Mr. Hope Barton, a large proprietor . in that county ; and with the exception, which I shall have occasion to mention, of one or two K 162 HISTORY OP RAILWAYS INTO HULL. landowners who are more or less interfered with, and who, I have no doubt, are satisfied, there is no opposition whatever except railway opposition.” And it may be safely asserted that no stronger case in favour of a bill ever came before a Parliamentary Committee. The following Committee of the House of Commons sat to consider the Bill, viz. : — Mr. O’Reilly (chairman), Longford Co., Lord George Manners, Cambridgeshire, Mr. Murphy, Cork City, Mr. Agnew, Wigtonshire, And the proceedings occupied from Monday, 12th May, 1873, until Thursday, 22nd May, 1873, when the decision of this Committee was given entirely in favour of the Bill, and the preamble declared proved. In the Lords the following Committee sat : — Earl Powis, Chairman, Lord Dunsany, Lord Wrottesley, Lord Brancepeth, Earl of Ban try, And the proceedings occupied from Thursday, 3rd July, 1873, until Thursday, 21st July, 1873. The Bill was supported upon evidence given not only by all the principal Merchants, Manufacturers, and Steamship Owners of Hull, but also by others trading with Hull, and residing in Wakefield, Peterborough, Sheffield, Lincoln, and elsewhere ; by many landed proprietors, by Christopher Sykes, M.P., Howland Winn, M.P., the President of the Association of Civil Engineers and manv other engineers of eminence, by representatives of Farmers in Yorkshire and * Lincolnshire, and also those interested in the Cattle Trade. It is quite impossible to refer in any way in this short notice of the undertaking to the evidence given, but it may be stated that upon HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL. 163 the general merits of the Bill it was most conclusive and overwhelming and never once touched by the railway opposition. Every possible technical objection, and upon standing orders and notices, was also taken, but without avail, so thoroughly and completely in all its details had this great work been presented to the consideration of Parliament, and it remained simply for the opponents to direct all their force against the Bill on details of engineering, and as a result the House of Lords threw out the Bill, which had passed a Committee of the House of Commons after the fullest and most complete investigation. The following is a list of the subscribers and promoters of the undertaking : — Hy. John Atkinson, Eobert Ash, Ayre Brothers, A. W. Ansell, Thos. Abbey, Wm. Bailey, Beadle, Sykes and Co., J. W. Blakeney, Peter Bates, Hy. Bennett, Wm. Charlesworth, E. C. Cattley, J. E. Charlesworth, Wm. Dowsiag, Thos. Downs, John Egginton, Sydney Earle, John Easten, T. W. Flint, John Fowler, John Fountain, F. B. Grotrian, Gee and Co., Good, Flodman and Co., W. L. Grantham, Eichard Glover, J. T. and N. Hill, C. A. Hornstedt, John Hearfield, S. L. Haldane, Eobert Jameson, George Jinman, Francis Jackson, H. P. Jackson, Castle Kelsey, W. Kali and Co., N. H. Kiehl, Wm. Leetham, G. D. Longstaff, L. W. Longstaff, Geo. Lawson, C. M. Lofthouse, E. Loram, Amos Lill, Marris, Willows, and Smith, C. Pickering, Francis Eeckitt, James Eeckitt, C. Eice, Edmund Smith, Samuel Shields, Stromer and Goddard, Daniel Simony, Thomas Spurr, Christopher Sykes, M.P., Vivian and Toozes, Thos. Wilson, Sons, and Co.. Eowland Winn, M.P., Stephen West, Chas. Wells. Of the above, the following firms and gentlemen were subscribers of £5,000 and upwards : — Bailey and Leetham, Thos. Wilson, Sons, and Co., Beadle, Sykes and Co., G. D, and L. W. Longstaff, Samuel Smith Brothers, Christopher Sykes, M.P., Eowland Winn, M.P., Hy. John Atkinson, T. W. Flint, John Fowler, Fred B. Grotrian, Eobert Jameson, and Stephen West. Although, by a decision of the Lords Committee, a work of very great public utility and benefit has been retarded upon the opposition of railway interests to preserve their monopoly of the port of Hull, HISTORY OF RAILWAYS INTO HULL 164 still tills monopoly is attended with such serious disadvantages to the place and the public that in course of time it must be broken through. It can hardly be supposed that the North-Eastern Railway Company, having such enormous interests in Hartlepool and the Tyne, will do otherwise than continue to favour and support those places to the continued detriment and disadvantage of Hull which, by reason of much lower rates of carriage being given to all the traffic to those rival ports, is entirely denied the advantages of her natural and geographical position, which before the days of railways contributed mainly to the increase and prosperity of the place. There can be no doubt a large amount of trade and traffic which would otherwise have come here has been thus diverted and the disadvantage will be felt more and more. The Hull Dock Company will, among other interests, feel in an ever- increasing degree the consequences of the unfair basis upon which the traffic is conducted and the serious disadvantage of being entirely in the hands of one railway company, amd that one company having larger interests in rival ports. It may be safely predicted that before long, and especially if business competition becomes keener, Hull will again realise that emancipation from railway thraldom is a necessity of ter existence as a first-class trading port. CHAPTER XVI. 5jRN 1874 the North-Eastern Railway Company, with a view of more J[j firmly securing the open country round Hull, promoted a line from Hull to Kirkella, but it was opposed by the Hull Corporation, and the decision of a town’s meeting was against it. It was withdrawn. The present year, 1879, sees the revival of a Hull and Barnsley Railway, with an independent entrance into Hull. I shall be glad to record its successful history in a future edition. G. G. MACTURK. By eland Hill, South Cave, November 29, 1879. My thanks are due to many friends who have helped me with information, and especially to Mr. H. J. Atkinson and Mr. T. B. Grotrian, who have written chapters at my request. — G. G. MacTurk, f -r ■ %