Letter from Henry Newton to Henry Pease

My dear Sir,
I write to thank you for your invitation to the celebrations of the 50th. Anniversary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, now a part of the North Eastern system, on the 27th. Inst: and I much regret that I shall not be able to attend that interesting ceremony. As the North Eastern Railway are they properly going to celebrate this event, it has been suggested to me that a few remarks on the early history of that company might not be inappropriate for the occasion.
I regret that scarcely any one is now living but myself who took part in the formation of the original York & North Midland Line, the parent of the present North Eastern Company. I feel that age & infirmities unfit me for the task, and I
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hope that the few remarks I have to make, if acceptable, will be regarded with great indulgence; and, if I am obliged to speak occasionally of myself, I trust you will not consider me egotistic, for in the earliest stages of the proceedings I had little or no help from others.
The first Act of the York & North Midland Railway Company was obtained in 1836 but, previously to that Act being got, there was much to do & many difficulties to contend with before the Company could obtain the formable notice of the public, and it is to these original operations my remarks will chiefly apply.
I had the honor of first suggesting the York & North Midland, at first called the York & Leeds Railway. My idea was that a line from York to Leeds & the West Riding would answer commercially & a good deal of time was spent in getting us statistics to satisfy those
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who were likely to join in the undertaking. Soon after the opening of the Manchester & Liverpool Railway people began, though languidly at first, to think of other lines, but still there seemed to be considerable doubt, on account of the great cost of railways, whether they would be remuneration, except in any d favourable situations, like Manchester & Liverpool when the commercial traffic was large, or like the Stockton & Darlington with its immense mineral traffic. Younger men who have seen the facilities with which Railways have since been made may feel confused at our doubts & misgivings in those early days. The fact was Railways were then in their infancy & the public g had doubts of their paying the Proprietors.
After labouring for some time in getting information, I then raised the matter to the late Mr. Meek, Mr. Hudson & Mr. Suke, all businessmen living
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In York, and all when I had opened the place to them seeming favourably disposed to our undertaking of this kind. I may state here that Mr Henderson, who took such an active part afterwards did not at first join so heartily. With such information as we had been able to [illegible] we came not to the public & got some shares taken, though they were rather slowly taken at first. Mr Meek was chosen chairman, Mr Henderson treasurer, and we had a line surveyed between York & the Leeds & Selby line near Garforth by Mr George Rennie. About this time a line was projected from London to York, which though nearly [illegible] the old coach route, (considered the most [illegible] course) did meet with much encouragement. It was in fact too great an undertaking for the time, & was ultimately only made to Cambridge; a new scheme, the Great Northern, being afterwards carried out. It has however an effect on those who were interested in the York & Leeds line, & they thought if their line could be made to
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serve the double purpose of a London & West Riding route it would greatly add to its importance. About this time the North Midland scheme (from Leeds to Derby) was talked of, and at a meeting of the York & Leeds shareholders (which Mr. Edward Pease of Darlington and Mr. George Stephenson, the Engineer, were invited to attend) it was strongly considered that we should make the line serve both purposes, & join the North Midland near Normanton. This plan was adopted, a strong feeling then arising in favor of railways we got the necessary shares taken up & went to Parliament. I take this opportunity of saying we were greatly indebted to Mr. Edward Pease & Mr. Stephenson for the suggestions they then made, & it was probably this their judicious advice that we were led on to ultimate success.
The Leeds & Selby Company were disappointed that we did not adhere to our original scheme, & were our only opponents. Surprising as it may seem now, the great difficulty was to make out a traffic case, & unless we had
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discussed that the great bulk of the traffic on the Manchester & Leeds (now the Lancashire & Yorkshire) line would go, not to Leeds, but to Hull, we should have fallen short. The Leeds & Selby Company, by way of throwing ridicule on our line, before the Committee alleged that the main articles we should have to take from York would be tarts & cheese cakes. This was said in consequence of York [illegible] being celebrated for confectionary on a large scale; our present Lord Mayor (Mr. Terry) being in that business.
After getting our Act the Directors proceeded to make the line.
Though we had sailed into Parliament with the flowing tide of popular opinion it now began to stall. When it might be supported, we were now out of all our difficulties, they were only commencing. The Money Market changed & shares began to droop. Many who had bought them in the Market refused to send them in for registry. After the passing of the Act, I knew one gentleman
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who had bought some, who, after registration, actually gave them away. So low an estimate did the public then form of our line.
The Railway was opened partially in 1839, & wholly in 1840. For some time after the opening of the line the shares were either at a discount or only at par, and when it was proposed to extend the line to Scarborough, such was the apathy of the public that we actually had to lodge the plans three times before we got to Parliament. Though the Scarborough line was made by the York & North Midland, Mr. Hudson, who was then the Chairman, was afraid of casting too great a burden on that company: few people, if any, then seeing the great traffic that was to ensue. As an instance of the doubts then entertained a York Gentleman, one of the Directors & a good man of business, gave it as his opinion that the line might pay as far as Malton but not further!! However, we at length
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got to Parliament; and as we had been t??tted for having no terminus for our original line, it being alleged that it ended in a ploughed field, so now it was said by the ?? ts in ridicule of the Leaches line, we commenced at “Thief Lane” and ended at “Folly Lane.”
The Scarboro Railway was opened in 1845, and those who knew Scarborough previously and can see it m now will, I have no doubt, think the Railway company has not been guilt of folly in making the line.
As to our treatment by the Landowners in obtaining our first Acts the Company generally was liberally dealt with, with one or two exceptions. One Landowner who greatly lamented our going thro” his estate & complained heavily of the great damage he should suffer, was attempted to be [illegible] by the Company afterwards diverting their line & avoiding him altogether. Will it be believed that the same owner was still not satisfied, & the Company had to pay him a large sum though they did not take an inch of his property !!
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Having made these remarks on the original proceedings of the York & North Midland Railway Company, I will not trouble you further. The subsequent proceedings of the Company & the formation of the Newcastle & Darlington Company by the same promoters & how they ultimately developed into the North Eastern Company are sufficiently well known & need no observation on my part.
If these remarks will be of no use to you on the approaching ceremony, or if I have troubled you unnecessarily, pray forgive me. I should not have offered them but others supposed they might be useful. But whether useful or not, pray accept this letter as a last effort on my behalf of a Company with which I have so long been connected, & which has now risen to proportions far exceeding
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all our original calculations.
Although I have now retired from the Profession, yet as a shareholder, as well as from early associations, I shall ever take a warm interest in the Company, and it is a source of satisfaction to myself, as it must also be to my Fellow Shareholders, that we have so able & efficient a Chairman to guide its affairs.

I remain
Yours very faithfully
Henry Newton

Henry Pease Esq
Darlington