How he Reigned and How he Mizzled : a railway raillery by Alfred Crowquill.

Book. How he reigned and how he mizzled : a railway raillery by Alfred Crowquill. London : J. Harwood, 1849. Caricatures on a scandal involving George Hudson, the "Railway King."

This satirical book was written in the aftermath of the fall of George Hudson. It charts his meteoric rise to influence and spectacular fall from grace. The opening pages detail Hudson’s beginnings as a draper. After some successful business he is shown surrounded by the aristocracy and even the Queen. At the height of his power, he is depicted as a spider at the centre of a web. The final page shows Hudson being shaken down for money and left deserted as a steam engine drives away.

George Hudson was a railway promoter who became known as the ‘Railway King’ because of his substantial railway interests. Born near York in 1800, he helped promote the York & North Midland Railway, securing the city’s place as a major railway junction. Hudson became involved in several more railway companies in the following years. He was elected MP for Sunderland in 1845, allowing him to further advance his railway interests.

Hudson gained notoriety for his fraudulent handling of railway finance; this emerged from multiple investigations, and he resigned from his railway positions in 1849. Heavily in debt and pursued by his creditors, Hudson fled abroad after losing his Sunderland seat in 1859.