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 father’s 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 family’s 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 canal’s 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 Stephenson’s 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 winter’s journey in a mail coach and died in Bodmin on 10th March 1837.

Robert Ferris

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