Plaque

George Hudson plaque.

One must take great care in saying that the title of Railway King was bestowed on George Hudson for bringing the railways to York. Hudson did accumulate a railway empire stretching from Bristol to Berwick, and he did so using methods which would be criminal today and which led to his downfall and the tremendous loss to most railway speculators. It must also be pointed out that the railway line by which most visitors arrive in York (that from London) was actively suppressed by Hudson as it would (and did) prevent his midland route to the capital from becoming the main line from London to the north via Newcastle.

As a York politician he was involved in much more bribery and corruption than was the norm even for the time. And his third appointment as Lord Mayor was declared illegal, though not until 6 months after he had served his year in office.

Oh, and he was MP for Sunderland, not York.

Locomotive enlarged.

Photo: taken Sunday morning, 29 April 2007.
Photo Copyright Dave Woodcock 2008.