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GWR Route: Moreton-in-Marsh to Shipston-on-Stour
Moreton-in-Marsh to Stratford upon Avon Tramway:
gwrmt3135
William James (Father of the Railways) 1771 1837
Born in Henley-in-Arden on 13th June 1771, he was the second
of seven children of William and Mary James. His father was a solicitor and
after being educated at The Kings School in Warwick, he trained and qualified
as a solicitor in Birmingham, subsequently returning to Henley-in-Arden to work
in his fathers practice. In 1793 he married Dinah Tarleton, the daughter
of a local landowner and they lived at the Yew Trees in Henley-in-Arden and had
eight children. The familys fortune was detrimentally affected by the
financial crisis of 1797 and James started a new career as a land agent
representing many local estates, including the Earl of Warwick. Using his
understanding of geology he advised clients to exploit the mineral wealth of
their estates. He became a prominent colliery owner in South Staffordshire,
which drew his attention to railways as a means of transport for both freight
and passengers. He also had inherited a significant interest in the Stratford
Canal and served on the management committee during the canals
construction. Following this, he actively promoted several railway schemes,
including the Central Junction Railway in 1820 (of which the Stratford and
Moreton Tramway was part) and in 1821 made an agreement with the
Stephensons to act as their agent to market locomotives in the south of
England. In 1822 he surveyed a route for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
and the following year surveyed the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, but
managing his diverse interests resulted in financial problems, illness and
bankruptcy in 1823. Following the completion of the Stratford and Moreton
Tramway in 1826, he moved to Cornwall where his first wife died in 1830. He
married Elizabeth Butt in 1832 and they had two daughters. Still working at 65,
he contracted pneumonia after a winters journey in a mail coach and died
in Bodmin on 10th March 1837.
Robert Ferris
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