iceship in the
cathedral city of York and subsequently became a linendraper there and a
man of property.

Many years afterwards he is reported to have said that the happiest days
of his life passed while he stood behind his counter using the yardstick,
a statement which should perhaps only be accepted under reservation. He
was undoubtedly a man of a bold and adventurous spirit, possessed of an
ambition which soared far above the measuring of calicoes or the
retailing of ribbons; but perhaps the observation was tinged by the
environment of later and less happy days when his star had set, his
kingly reign come to an end, and when possibly vain regrets had
embittered his existence. It was, I should imagine, midst the fierceness
of the strife and fury of the _mania_ times, when his powerful
personality counted for so much, that he reached the zenith of his
happiness.

[George Hudson: hudson.jpg]

Whilst conducting in York his linendraper business, a relation died and
left him money. The railway boom had then begun. He flung his yardstick
behind him and entered the railway fray. The Liverpool and Manchester
line and its wonderful success--it paid ten per cent.--greatly impressed
the public mind, and the good people of York determined they would have a
railway to London.

A committee was appointed to carry out the project. On this committee
Mr. Hudson was placed, and it was mainly owing to his energy and skill
that the scheme came to a successful issue. He was rewarded by being
made chairman of the company.

This was his entrance into the railway world where, for a time, he was
monarch. He must have been a man of shrewdness and capacity. It is
recorded that he acquired the land for the York to London railway at an
average cost of 1,750 pounds per mile whilst that of the North Midland
cost over 5,000 pounds.

On the 1st July, 1840, this linendraper of York had the proud pleasure of
seeing the first train from York to London start on its journey.

From this achievement he advanced to others. He and his friends obtained
the lease, for thirty-one years, of a rival line, which turned out a
great financial success. His enterprise and energy were boundless.

It is said that his bold spirit, his capacity for work and his great
influence daunted his most determined opponents. For instance, the North
Midland railway, part predecessor of _the_ Midland, was involved in
difficulty. He appeared before the shareholder