Sir William Guy Granet, GBE (13 October 1867 – 11 October 1943) trained as a barrister but became a noted railway administrator, first as general manager of the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

then as a director-general in the

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Biography

Guy Granet was the second son of William Augustus Granet and his wife Adelaide Julia Granet, ''née'' Le Mesurier. He was born in

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, where his father was a banker. His older brother was British army officer Edward John Granet. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

and Balliol College, Oxford (Modern History, 1889) and was called to the bar in 1893 at Lincoln's Inn. In 1892 he married Florence Gully, daughter of William Court Gully (later Viscount Selby). They had one child, Diana, who married the novelist

Denis Mackail Denis George Mackail (3 June 1892 – 4 August 1971) was an English fiction writer. His work was popular in his time, but much of his work has been forgotten. However, ''Greenery Street'', a 1925 novel of early married life in upper middle-class ...

. Granet moved into railway management after holding the post of secretary to the Railway Companies' Association from 1900–1905. He was appointed assistant general manager of the

(MR) in 1905 and became its general manager the following year, on the resignation of John Mathieson. E. G. Barnes (1969). ''The Midland main line 1875-1922'', London : George Allen and Unwin, , pp. 223-224 This was very unusual at that time, when managers almost always rose through the ranks of railway operators. Over the ensuing eight years his organizational skills, and the analytic brain of his appointee as general superintendent,

Cecil Paget Sir Cecil Walter Paget (19 October 1874 – 9 December 1936),''Who was who'', 1941 was an English locomotive engineer and railway administrator. Cecil Paget was the son of Sir Ernest Paget, George Ernest Paget, Chairman of the Midland Railway ...

, effected a revolution in the company's ability to handle its heavy freight traffic expeditiously and profitably. Nonetheless, their 'traffic control' solution resulted in stifling locomotive development within the MR: the departure of Chief Mechanical Engineer R. M. Deeley has been attributed to Granet's rejection of his moves to introduce 8-coupled freight locomotives and de Glehn 4-6-0s for express passenger use. Having impressed parliamentary committees as an expert witness, it was natural that Granet would be called upon by the government during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and he was successively: controller of import restrictions; deputy director of military railways at the

; and director-general of movements and railways. Granet retained his MR appointment until 1918, when he resigned and was given a seat on the company's board. At the

grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

in 1923 he became deputy chairman of the new London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company and was its chairman 1924–1927. As at the Midland, his appointee, this time Sir Josiah Stamp as President (chairman and chief executive), was crucial in the modernization of the company's management. Granet was knighted in 1911 as a

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and created GBE (Knight Grand Cross of the

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) in 1923. He died at Burleigh Court, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, two days before his 76th birthday, after some five years of ill health.

References

Sources

* Alderman, Geoffrey, ''The railway interest'', Leicester, Leicester University Press, 1973, * Hartley, Harold, 'Granet, Sir (William) Guy', in ''The dictionary of national biography, 1941-1950'', London : OUP, 1959 * 'Sir Guy Granet' bituary''The Times'', 12 October 1943, p. 6e * 'Granet, Sir (Wm.) Guy' in ''Who was who, vol.4 : 1941-1950'', London : Black, arly 1950s?

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granet, Guy 1867 births 1943 deaths Knights Bachelor Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Midland Railway people London, Midland and Scottish Railway people