George Hudson was born near York in 1800. A substantial amount of money left to him by an uncle allowed him to become an investor in the new fangled wonder of the age...the Railway.
A gutsy and daring entrepreneur, he provided employment for thousands of labourers in Sunderland and the North East.
The development of railways revolutionised the speed of travel and communications and the growth of towns. It transformed the way wars were fought and empires were run. It was the internet of its day and at the forefront of this wave of change was George Hudson.
By the end of 1848, the face of Britain had changed. In less than 25 years over 5000 miles of railway track had been laid in Britain, and ‘the Railway King’, George Hudson, controlled 1500 of those miles.
By Sir Francis Grant (1803-1878)
On display at Monkwearmouth Station Museum
www.sunderland.gov.uk
