Watkin, SIR EDWARD WILLIAM

Watkin, SIR EDWARD WILLIAM, was born at Salford in 1819, and was employed in his father's counting-house till 1845, when he became secretary to the Trent Valley Railway; and from that time onward he has been known as director or manager of several of the most important railways, especially of the South-Eastern. In 1861 he undertook a mission to Canada in connection with the union of the Canadian colonies, and was returned to parliament in 1864, his long parliamentary career being most closely associated with Hythe. He has done much to help in securing parks for the people, especially in Manchester, and was made a baronet in 1880. A strenuous promoter of the Channel Tunnel, he contributed the article on that head to this work. Another undertaking of his was the (unfinished) Wembley Park Tower, between Willesden and Harrow, designed to exceed the Eiffel Tower (q.v.) in height. In 1889 he acquired by pur- chase part of Snowdon. He is a knight of various foreign orders, and was created a baronet in 1880.