Edward Watkin

Sir Edward William Watkin, 1st Baronet (26 September 1819 – 13 April 1901) was a British Member of Parliament and railway entrepreneur. He was an ambitious visionary, and presided over large-scale railway engineering projects to fulfil his business aspirations, eventually rising to become chairman of nine different British railway companies.

Among his more notable projects were his expansion of the Metropolitan Railway (part of today's London Underground network); the construction of the Great Central Main Line, a purpose-built high-speed railway line; the creation of a pleasure gardens with a partially constructed iron tower at Wembley and a failed attempt to dig a channel tunnel under the English Channel to connect his railway empire to the French rail network.

Watkin was born in Salford, Lancashire, the son of wealthy cotton merchant Absalom Watkin, who was noted for his involvement in the Anti-Corn Law League.

After a private education, he went to work in his father's mill business. In 1845 at age 26 he founded the Manchester Examiner, by which time he had become a partner in his father's business.

He lived at Rose Hill, Northenden, a suburb of Manchester, in a house bought by his father in 1832. He is buried in St Wilfrid's churchyard in Northenden, where a memorial plaque commemorates his life.

...
Wikipedia