Hudson, GEORGE

Hudson, GEORGE, the 'Railway King,' was born near York in March 1800. There he subsequently carried on business as a linen-draper. Inheriting a fortune of £30,000 in 1828, Hudson withdrew from business, and began to interest himself in local politics and in railway speculation. He became the ruling spirit of the York and North Midland Railway Company; and his ventures and schemes for amalgamating various railway companies were attended with extraordinary success. Hudson was elevated to the dictatorship of railway speculation. Everything he touched turned to gold. He bought large estates, was three times elected lord mayor of York, and was sent to parliament by the electors of Sunderland (1845). But the railway mania of 1847-48 plunged him into ruin. He was accused of having 'cooked' the accounts of companies with which he was connected, and of having paid dividends out of capital. Legal proceedings were instituted against him, and his suddenly-acquired gains were almost entirely swept away. The constituency of Sunderland, however, continued to elect him as their representative until March 1859. He afterwards lived in comparatively narrow circumstances, and died in London, December 14, 1871.