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| Volume 5, Number 1 - Spring 2002 | |
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Free Travel Ticket: Further InformationOnce again we have been fortunate to receive a response to a previous item in our Newsletter about an 1859 free travel pass, located recently in Warrington Library. Two names had been entered onto it by hand and it was thought that we would never know anything more about these individuals. This has proved to be quite wrong. Dr. J.M. Tolson, writer of "The St. Helens Railway" (The Oakwood Press, 1982), amassed considerable information about the Company signatory on the pass, Arthur Sinclair. Dr Tolson is a long-standing member of the Society, and we are grateful for the time and effort he has put into providing this information: Arthur Sinclair was born in 1822 at Mereworth in Kent, some seven miles west of Maidstone, and after his family had moved to Lancashire in 1828 he developed into one of the brighter young men of St. Helens, becoming prominent in many aspects of its public life for well over fifty years. On 4th May 1843 at the age of only 20 and in preference to fourteen other applicants he was appointed to the twin posts of Secretary and Superintendent of the St. Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway at a salary of £200 p.a. He was soon also involved in the struggle to set up the St. Helens Improvement Commission which gained Parliamentary sanction on 21st July 1845, becoming its Chairman in 1851. The very same day in 1845 saw the Royal Assent to the amalgamation of the St. Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway and the Sankey Brook Navigation as the 'St. Helens Canal & Railway Company' with Sinclair as its Treasurer. Then on 6th August he was also appointed General Superintendent of the combined enterprise at a salary of £300 p.a. He was provided with a horse - the nineteenth century equivalent of a company car - but in return he had to undertake to remain in the Company's employ for three years. In fact he stayed with the St. Helens Railway until the very end of its independent existence in 1864. In August 1847, the directors resolved that Sinclair should additionally be appointed Company Secretary on a five year contract at £700 for the first year and £800 p.a. thereafter. He could apply for a rise at the end of the third year, if the situation of the company had improved sufficiently for this to be feasible. His commercial acumen and general resourcefulness proved to be of great value to the Company and from 9th June 1851 Sinclair took over responsibility for all aspects of its operations, except for the locomotive department and permanent way maintenance, or any new construction during the expansionist phase of the 1850s. These would remain the provinces of Smith and Court respectively. This was a wise move as the Company was involved in the promotion and later the operation of the Warrington and Altrincham Junction (Warrington & Stockport from August 1853) Railway and at the insistence of the directors Sinclair became the Company Secretary. He formally relinquished this post on 7th August 1854 when he was appointed general Manager and Secretary of the St. Helens Railway, although he had to supervise W & S affairs for another year until Mr. Potter became the Secretary and Manager. Naturally, Sinclair was involved in all aspects of the Company's operations and, as described in the last issue of 'Canal Cuttings', one of his more mundane responsibilities was to sign free passes, which were only valid if they bore the signature of either Sinclair as Secretary or of James Cross, the Engineer. This was a regular task as the directors had decided that from 30th March 1855 each named man was to be allowed one free pass to the nearest market town every week. [Presumably the Pass in question came to Warrington Library via the family of the holder, C E Duffield of Prescot. It would be good to hear from any his descendants to round this item off.] As pressure built up on the local company to amalgamate with the London & North Western Railway and give the latter a second route between Liverpool and Manchester, Sinclair became increasingly focussed on legal and financial matters, as well as preparing and giving evidence before a number of Parliamentary committees. Nevertheless, as we shall see, he still devoted time to local issues in both St. Helens and Widnes. When the L.N.W.R. assumed control of the St. Helens Railway from 1st August 1864 it quickly dispensed with the services of Sinclair and Cross who went into partnership at the former company works at St. Helens Junction, a venture which lasted until 1871. To backtrack a little, Sinclair, as a member of the Improvement Committee, was involved in 1851 in wrestling the control of the town water supply from a private company. He assisted in a similar project at Widnes in 1860, when he (together with James Crow) was one of the directors of a company formed to supply the town with water and gas, building on the enterprise of John Hutchinson, who for years previously had given Widnes its first gas lights and piped water. Municipal control of gas supplies in St. Helens did not come until 1878. Sinclair was actively involved in the struggle for a municipal charter for St. Helens, which it gained in February 1868. He became a magistrate on the new Borough Board in 1882 and after the town had become a Parliamentary Borough two years later, he made an unsuccessful attempt as a Liberal to gain election to Parliament in March 1886. His activities on behalf of his fellow citizens were too numerous to mention here, but they were fittingly rewarded when he was elected Mayor of St. Helens in 1892. He died in 1900. Past Personalities on Canal and RailwayDr. Tolson has also kindly provided the following lists of the men who served on the governing bodies of the St. Helens railway and canal companies. Some of the names are still familiar in the region both in the past and today, whilst others are rarely met. Some are listed on more than one committee, before and after amalgamation, demonstrating either their foresight into the benefits of amalgamation or a tendency to have a foot in both camps so as always to be on the winning side. The lists are interesting glimpses of the past and bring it a little more alive. St. Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway Peter Greenall, Chairman St. Helens Canal & Railway Company Peter Greenall, Chairman William Fosbery, * denotes former members of the Sankey Brook Navigation Canal Committee St. Helens Canal & Railway Company Gilbert Greenall, Chairman
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