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38-471: William Bliss, owner of Bliss's Tweed Mills, realised the railway could be useful to him in allowing not only for his cloth products to be taken to buyers, but also for coal to be brought to the mills, which at the time used water power instead of steam. Bliss wrote to the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway in 1846 to ask for a railway link to Chipping Norton, but this did not yield results. He wrote again to

76-712: A business as an independent railway contractor. His firm's first railway work was to build two stations in Curzon Street , Birmingham. Next, the firm built its first line of track, the Hanwell and Langley section of the Great Western Railway , which included the Wharncliffe Viaduct . Grissell became increasingly nervous about the risks taken by Peto, and in 1846 dissolved the partnership. In 1848 Peto and Edward Betts (who had married Peto's sister Ann) entered into

114-565: A combination of the failure of the bank, Overend, Gurney and Company , and their involvement in the failure of the London Chatham and Dover Railway . In 1844, Peto bought Somerleyton Hall in Suffolk . He rebuilt the hall with contemporary amenities, as well as constructing a school and more houses in the village. He next built similar projects in Lowestoft . In 1846, Peto became co-treasurer of

152-575: A formal partnership and together they were to work on a large number of railway contracts. For particular projects, Peto and Betts frequently joined in partnership with Thomas Brassey as Peto, Brassey and Betts . For extensive work on the London, Chatham and Dover Railway , Peto and Betts joined in partnership with Thomas Crampton , the LCDR engineer. Between 1846 and 1855 the partnership carried out many large railway contracts both at home and abroad, including

190-622: A formal partnership and together they were to work on a large number of railway contracts. Frequently, they also work in partnership with Thomas Brassey . In 1854 during the Crimean War Peto, Betts and Brassey constructed the Grand Crimean Central Railway between Balaklava and Sevastopol to transport supplies to the troops at the front line. In February 1855 the British government recognised Peto for his wartime services; he

228-558: A station being provided for Stow-on-the-Wold. The West Midland Railway absorbed the OW&;W in 1860, and in 1862 trains began running between Bourton and Chipping Norton Junction (despite the new stations not yet being finished). In 1864, a proposal was made by John Fowler and Edward Wilson for an extension to the Chipping Norton Railway which would run through Swerford (instead of the route through Hook Norton eventually taken by

266-473: A year (equivalent to £2,900,000 in 2023). In the 1860s, the partnership agreed to build a line between London Bridge and Victoria for the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) and to be paid entirely in the company's shares and debentures. To raise the funding for the construction they became involved in complicated finance-raising schemes, and with their overseas operations hindered by war, they overstretched themselves. The partnership's principal bank

304-430: Is a residential road built upon the old Newtown Railway Works site and was named in his honour. In Bishop's Stortford , Hertfordshire , Morton Peto Road is located close to the town's railway station. A portrait of Peto hangs outside the library at Regent's Park College, Oxford , in commemoration of his assistance with the college's move from Stepney to Regent's Park. In May 1831 Peto married Mary Grissell, one of

342-525: The Baptist Missionary Society . From 1855 to March 1867, he was sole treasurer, resigning after personal financial difficulties. In 1855 took over the lease of The Diorama, Regent's Park and paid for its conversion into a Baptist Chapel. Peto served for two decades as a Member of Parliament. He was elected a Liberal Member for Norwich in 1847 to 1854, for Finsbury from 1859 to 1865, and for Bristol from 1865 to 1868. During this time he

380-546: The Crown Commissioner was reluctant to lease the land to nonconformists because of their "dull, spire-less architecture". Peto is said to have exclaimed, "A spire, my Lord? We shall have two!" The church had twin spires until 1951, when they were removed as unsafe. In 1834 Peto saw the potential of the newly developing railways and dissolved the connection with his uncle's building firm. He and his cousin Grissell founded

418-680: The Reform Club , the Oxford & Cambridge Club , the Lyceum , St James's Theatre and Hungerford Market at Charing Cross . In addition, they built Nelson's Column the new Houses of Parliament (1843) and the vast infrastructure project of the London brick sewer . Another project, in 1848, was the Bloomsbury Baptist Chapel , the first Baptist church with spires in London. Tradition has it that

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456-627: The South Eastern Line . Either on their own account, or in partnership with Thomas Crampton, they carried out most of the construction of the London, Chatham and Dover lines. Other railways were built by the Partnership in Denmark, Russia, Algeria, South America and Australia. In the late 1850s the partnership helped to build the first railway in Algeria. Peto accompanied Napoleon III of France to

494-554: The CMR failed to live up to expectations. The CMR itself survived and began to recover after it had introduced passenger services in 1876 and was then leased by the Great Western Railway in 1877, but this improvement came too late for Peto. He died in obscurity in 1889. An extremely unfavourable portrait of Peto is included in the appendix to George Borrow 's Romany Rye , where he is described as "Mr. Flamson". When Peto promoted

532-508: The Formulation of the Report", and that withdrawal was "already implemented". The final passenger train ran on the line on 1 December 1962. Freight traffic ended in 1964 and the line was then removed. The site that was once occupied by the station and goods yard is now part of an industrial estate, and only the cattle shed remains. The tunnel through the hill and bridge for the road still exist, but

570-786: The Lowestoft Railway and Harbour Company in the 1840s, the railway split Borrow's estate at Oulton Broad , just outside Lowestoft. Borrow deeply resented this and bore a grudge against Peto thereafter. Peto is commemorated by a portrait bust at Norwich railway station by John Pooler. Morton Peto Road, a road in Great Yarmouth, was named after him. There is a road in Lowestoft called "Peto Way" that connects Lowestoft railway station (via Denmark Road, again in connection with Peto's legacy in Denmark) to Normanston. In Ashford. Kent , Samuel Peto Way

608-483: The OW&Ws line at Bruern Crossing (which was as yet unbuilt), before joining the route which was to be later used for the Chipping Norton Railway. In 1853, William Bliss, accompanied by Mr Wilkins of Chipping Norton, led a deputation to the OW&W with a request to have a station constructed at Bledington: this was refused, with representatives from the railway company being sent to explain their reasoning. Bliss and Robert Hitchman, of Hitchman's Breweries, decided to get

646-416: The collapse of the bank and the ensuing banking crisis . At the time the partnership was suspended there were 20,000 men in their employment. In a public statement Peto and Betts declared, "We much regret to find ourselves under the painful necessity of allowing our acceptances to be returned, owing wholly to the disappointment of the arrangements we have made for their provision, which have been defeated by

684-399: The countryside. Chipping Norton was one such place, and trains brought children from Acton and Ealing Broadway to places such as Oxford and Chipping Norton. These trains were some of the longest to have ever used the platforms at the station at Chipping Norton. The line between Kingham and Chipping Norton is listed in the 1963 Beeching Report as being "under Consideration for Withdrawal before

722-667: The failure of the Peto and Betts partnership, Peto's personal reputation as a trustworthy businessman was badly damaged and never fully recovered. Between 1863-65 the current Embassy of Nepal in Kensington Place Gardens, London W8, designed by the architect James Murray, was built for Peto. In 1865 he is listed as living at Auchline House at Killin in Perthshire . In 1868, he had to give up his seat in Parliament , despite having

760-399: The official opening of the line. In partnership with Thomas Brassey they built the following: Peto and Betts themselves were amenable to major risky speculation; for example, to expedite the building of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway, the partnership undertook to lease it as operators for twenty-one years from the opening in 1854, a speculation said in 1863 to be losing £24,000

798-426: The partnership and Peto and Betts personally, eventually making a claim against them for a "staggering" £6,661,941 19s 1d. (equivalent to £779,550,000 in 2023). The LCDR later reduced their claim, their solicitor declaring, “Whether my clients had a proof upon the proceedings of £360,000 or for £6,600,000, the result would, unfortunately be the same – in neither case would there be any dividend." The partnership

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836-587: The railway company in September 1847, asking for a "passenger station at Bleddington Mill". A meeting held at the Red Lion pub, Banbury, on 21 April 1851 promoted a railway to connect Banbury with the OW&W's route: this line ran further north than the Chipping Norton Railway would eventually run. A different project to that discussed in Banbury in 1851 was the "East & West of England Junction Railway", designed to leave

874-541: The railway line built themselves. Bliss met with Sir Samuel Moreton Peto in 1854 and discussed the matter of the railway. Construction on the Chipping Norton Railway began in September 1854 by Peto & Betts . John Fowler was the engineer. The line was completed by Whit Monday 1855. The line joined the existing OW&W route at Chipping Norton Junction (now Kingham ) station. It used the standard gauge of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435mm). Sir Samuel Moreton Peto (of Peto & Betts) put £14,000 of his own money towards building

912-513: The railway). This proposal also saw the extension connect to the Great Western Railway route one mile closer to Banbury than that which was eventually built. An extension to the Chipping Norton Railway between Chipping Norton and Kings Sutton opened on 6 April 1887. The cost of building the tunnel and two viaducts at Hook Norton was £25,000. A flyover was constructed at Chipping Norton Junction in 1906, allowing for trains to run through from Banbury to Cheltenham without having to stop and reverse at

950-432: The railway; another £12,000 was raised by subscription list from the inhabitants of Chipping Norton and the area by William Bliss to meet the total price estimate of £26,000. The Chipping Norton Railway was purchased by the OW&W after the latter deemed the railway financially sound in 1859. That year also saw Parliament pass a Bill for an extension of six miles from Chipping Norton Junction to Bourton-on-the-Water, with

988-503: The risks taken by Peto, and in 1846 dissolved the partnership. Betts' father, William Betts, was a successful contractor's agent and railway contractor. On William's retirement, Betts assumed full responsibility for the business. Peto and Betts had known each other for some time and, indeed, Betts was married to Peto's sister, Ann. They had also worked together on part of the Great Northern Railway . In 1848, they established

1026-438: The station. The new stations on the extension were Rollright Halt , Hook Norton , Bloxham , and Adderbury . Stations were planned for Edward's Lime Kiln, Charlton Kings, and Great Rollright, but the former was not served. The Great Western Railway had, according to J.H. Russell, "already agreed to work the line in perpetuity" by 1875. World War Two saw many children from London being evacuated to small towns and villages in

1064-567: The support of both Benjamin Disraeli and William Ewart Gladstone . He exiled himself to Budapest and tried to promote railways in Russia and Hungary. When he returned he became the main contractor for the Cornwall Minerals Railway which opened in 1874, but the failure of the related Cornish Consolidated Iron Mines Corporation meant that he sustained heavy losses when iron ore traffic on

1102-663: The tunnel has been closed and has become flooded due to the filling-in of the bridge. Peto and Betts Peto and Betts was a civil engineering partnership formed in 1848 between Morton Peto and Edward Ladd Betts that was mainly involved with the construction of railways in the UK and abroad. At times, for particular projects, they joined in partnership with Thomas Brassey and Thomas Crampton . In 1834, Peto and his cousin Thomas Grissell went into partnership as railway contractors. However, Grissell became increasingly nervous of

1140-412: The unexpected turn which has taken place in the money market within the last few days." The statement went on to say that Peto and Betts thought the cash shortfall of the partnership was temporary and given a little time they would be able to liquidate sufficient assets and be able to pay off their debts. Initially, the cash shortfall was thought to be "not above half a million" Peto and Betts optimism

1178-528: The workforce needed to undertake them, made him the world's largest employer. As a partner in Peto and Betts , he then became one of the major contractors in the building of the rapidly expanding railways of the time. Along with a small group of other Master Builders in London he is credited as a founding member of the Chartered Institute of Building in 1834. Samuel Morton Peto, normally called Morton Peto,

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1216-417: Was Overend, Gurney and Company . As a consequence of a run on the bank caused by persistent rumours and speculation in the London financial markets, the bank closed its doors and ceased trading at 3pm, 10 May 1866. The collapse of Overend, Gurney and Company was disastrous for the partnership and the next day the partnership suspended trading. Indeed, the partnership was probably the most prominent casualty of

1254-461: Was an English entrepreneur, civil engineer and railway developer, and, for more than 20 years, a Member of Parliament (MP). A partner in the firm of Grissell and Peto , he managed construction firms that built many of London's major buildings and monuments, including the Reform Club , The Lyceum Theatre , Nelson's Column and the replacement Houses of Parliament - commissions which brought him great wealth. The scale of his operations, and that of

1292-455: Was born on 4 August 1809, in Woking , Surrey. As a youth, he was apprenticed as a bricklayer to his uncle Henry Peto , who ran a building firm in London. When his uncle died in 1830, Peto and his older cousin, Thomas Grissell (who had been a partner to his uncle for five years), went into partnership. The firm of Grissell and Peto (1830–1847) built many well-known buildings in London, including

1330-686: Was made Baronet of Somerleyton Hall in the County of Suffolk. King Frederick VII of Denmark honoured Peto for establishing the Flensburg–Husum–Tönning Railway Company and its construction of railways in the Duchy of Schleswig , which led to a growing export/import trade with the port of Lowestoft . Another project abroad was the Homburg Railway built from 1859 to 1860. The Peto and Betts partnership became insolvent in 1866 due to

1368-402: Was misplaced. In the ensuing crisis, railway stocks were particularly badly affected and the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR) became insolvent Consequently, the shares that the partnership had been paid in became worthless. Furthermore, the illegal loan schemes that they had been involved in at the LCDR ruined their reputations. The new management of the resurrected LCDR resolved to pursue

1406-442: Was one of the most prominent figures in public life. He helped to make a guarantee towards the financing of The Great Exhibition of 1851 , backing Joseph Paxton 's Crystal Palace . In 1855 Peto was made a baronet ; but in the 1860s his businesses ran into trouble, so that in 1863 he sold Somerlyton Hall and in 1866 became bankrupt. After his involvement with the insolvency of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in 1866, and

1444-508: Was unable to pay their creditors and became insolvent in the following year. Neither Peto nor Betts' reputations for financial propriety recovered from the LCDR debacle. Both died in obscurity, Betts in 1872 and Peto in 1889. The partnership insolvency rumbled on with the final dividend meeting, making payments to their creditors being held on 6 June 1898, over 30 years after the insolvency commenced. Morton Peto Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 1st Baronet (4 August 1809 – 13 November 1889)

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