Sir Alfred Mellor Watkin, 2nd Baronet (11 August 1846 – 30 November 1914) was a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician and railway engineer.

Railway career

In 1863, around age 17, Watkin became an apprentice in the locomotive department of the

West Midland Railway The West Midland Railway was an early British railway company. It was formed on 1 July 1860 by a merger of several older railway companies and amalgamated with the Great Western Railway on 1 August 1863. It was the successor to the Oxford, Worc ...

before being transferred the next year to the

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...

where he qualified as an express engine driver. In 1866, he then became a locomotive inspector of the

London, Chatham and Dover Railway The London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR or LC&DR) was a railway company in south-eastern England created on 1 August 1859, when the East Kent Railway was given parliamentary approval to change its name. Its lines ran through London and no ...

, and the South Eastern Railway. He became a locomotive independent of the latter in 1873, director in 1878, and chairman of its locomotive committee of directors from 1880 to 1900.

Parliamentary career

He was elected Liberal MP for

Great Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linc ...

at a by-election in 1877, gaining the seat from the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. He did not attempt to retain the seat at the next election in 1880.

Baronetage

He became the 2nd Baronet of Rose Hill upon his father

Edward Watkin Sir Edward William Watkin, 1st Baronet (26 September 1819 – 13 April 1901) was a British Member of Parliament and railway entrepreneur. He was an ambitious visionary, and presided over large-scale railway engineering projects to fulfil his b ...

's death in 1901, and the title became extinct upon his own death in 1914.

Other activities

During his life, Watkin was a Deputy Lieutenant of Middlesex, a Justice of the Peace, and a Chevalier of the Order of Leopold of Belgium.

References

External links

* Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 Deputy Lieutenants of Middlesex 1846 births 1914 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Great Grimsby Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom {{Liberal-UK-MP-stub