William
James,
the son of a solicitor, was
born in Henry-in-Arden in 1771. He trained as a solicitor and in 1804
was appointed as the Earl of Warwick's land agent. This included
organizing the drainage and levelling of Lambeth Marsh.
James purchased a colliery in South Staffordshire and was the first
to open the West Bromwich coalfield. He became chairman of the West
Bromwich Coalmasters' Association, and was active in the campaign
for a canal to Birmingham.
James formed a company with Lord Whitworth and the Duchess of Dorset,
but his attempts to find coal in Bexhill in Sussex ended in failure.
However, his investments in collieries and the Stratford Canal made
him a rich man and it was estimated that by 1815 he was worth £150,000.
Although mainly concerned with canals, William James was aware of
the developments being made with locomotives. In 1803 he had met Richard
Trevithick and saw his Penydarren
locomotive at Merthyr Tydfil. As a result
of seeing the Penydarren locomotive
decided to form the General Railroad Company. However, for many years
he was to busy with his land agency and canal interests to develop
his ideas on railways.
After meeting George Stephenson
at Killingworth Colliery in 1821, the two men agreed to build a railway
between Liverpool and Hull.
However, they were unable to carry out the project.
William James also had plans for
a railway between Liverpool and Manchesterand
in 1822 James produced his Preliminary Report
on the Survey of Investigation for a Line of Engine Railroad from
Liverpool to Manchester. James persuaded Joseph
Sandars, a wealthy merchant, to support his plans. James
also began plans to build other railways including: Canterbury &
Whitstable, Shoreham & Portsmouth, Bishop's Stortford & Cambridge
and Stratford & Moreton. However, James over-stretched himself
and in 1823 he was declared bankrupt and was imprisoned for debt.
With James in prison, Joseph
Sandars formed the Liverpool
& Manchester Railway Company and asked George
Stephenson to produce a new survey to decide the best route between
Liverpool and Manchester.
As a result of Stephenson's report, Parliament agreed in 1826 to give
permission for the Liverpool & Manchester
Railway Company to build their railway.
After his release from prison, James retired to Bodmin in Cornwall.
He continued to make plans for other railways but none of these were
built. William James
died in Bodmin in 1837.
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