The life of George Stephenson, railway engineer - Lighthouse ...

CHAP. XXXII.] MK. HUDSON'S RAILWAY CAEEER. 397
CHAPTEE XXXII.
ME. Stephenson's connection with mr. hudson.
Amongst the most prominent railway men of the day with
whom Mr. Stephenson was necessarily brought into frequent and
close connection,—more especially with reference to the com-
pletion of the East Coast route from London to Edinburgh,
was Mr. George Hudson of York, afterwards known to the
public as " The Railway King." Mr. Stephenson, at the dinner
•which followed the opening of the York and Scarborough line,
in June, 1845, thus described his first introduction to Mr.
Hudson : " I happened," said he, " to be visiting Whitby ; and
whilst I was conversing with a gentleman of that town as to
what might be done with regard to the formation of a line from
Leeds to York, a few of the Whitby gentlemen came up to introduce
me to Mr. Hudson and several York gentlemen. At
that time Mr. Hudson was not to be led into a rapid movement
with respect to railway speculations. He then looked very
coolly at those undertakings ; but in time_ he became so
thoroughly convinced of the certainty of great results from
improved railway communication, that he stretched out his
gigantic arms, and was prepared to go north, south, east, or
west, wherever a line could be pointed out as being calculated
to confer benefit upon the public and the proprietors of rail-
ways."
When the first line from Leeds to York was projected, Mr.
Hudson was a respectable draper in the latter place. He was
esteemed as a shrewd, practical man of business, had accumu-
lated property, was a member of the corporation, and an active
politician. As one of the managing directors of the Union
.Bank, he exercised considerable influence on the commercial
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