Sir Sam Fay
TD (30 December 1856 – 30 May 1953), born in
Hamble-le-Rice
Hamble-le-Rice is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It is best known for being an aircraft training centre during the Second World War and is a popular yachting location. The village and the River Ha ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
, England, was a career railwayman who joined the
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
as a clerk in 1872
and rose to become the last General Manager of the
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
after a successful period in charge of the almost bankrupt
Midland and South Western Junction Railway
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' tr ...
. He also played an important role during the
First World War
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 ...
as part of the
Railway Executive Committee
The Railway Executive Committee (REC) was a government body which controlled the operation of Britain's railways during World War I and World War II. It should not be confused with the Railway Executive which was a division of the British Transp ...
.
Early years
Samuel Fay was born in
Hamble-le-Rice
Hamble-le-Rice is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It is best known for being an aircraft training centre during the Second World War and is a popular yachting location. The village and the River Ha ...
, on 30 December 1856. He was the second son of Joshua Fay (b. 1824 in
Awbridge), a farmer of
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
origin, and Ann Philpott (b. 1820 in
Eling).
Fay was educated at Blenheim House school in
Fareham.
Railway career
L&SWR
At the age of 15½ Fay joined the
London and South Western Railway
The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...
. His first post was as a junior clerk at , from where he moved to
Stockbridge on the
Sprat and Winkle Line
The Sprat and Winkle Line was the common name of the Andover to Redbridge railway line which ran between Andover and Redbridge in Hampshire, England. In the Romsey area it joined, and then left, the Salisbury to Southampton line. It was built by ...
. After a 12-month period spent on the relief staff at various stations, Fay joined
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...
where, in 1881, he launched the ''South Western Gazette'' together with two clerks in the general manager's office. The profits of the publication went to the L&SWR Orphanage Fund. Two years later, Fay wrote his first book, ''A Royal Road'', which was a brief history of the L&SWR.
In 1884, Fay was transferred to
Waterloo as second clerk in the Traffic Superintendent's office.
After a few months he was promoted to chief clerk. He was subsequently considered for manager of the
Waterford and Central Ireland Railway, but withdrew his candidature on account of the poor prospects of the job. He became Assistant Storekeeper at
Nine Elms in 1891. In the same year, he was elected to Kingston Council, but this proved to be a short-lived experience.
M&SWJ
In early 1892, Fay was seconded to the
Midland and South Western Junction Railway
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' tr ...
as Secretary and General Manager; at the time, the railway was in a poor condition, almost bankrupt and in the hands of a
receiver. Within a period of twelve months, he had turned the situation around and restored the company to solvency, taking the place of the receiver. He also succeeded in promoting a bill for the
Marlborough and Grafton Railway which completed the missing link between the two parts of the MSWJR, thereby avoiding the need to use the
Great Western Railway's Berks & Hants Extension and Marlborough Railway from Savernake to Marlborough.
Great Central
![Sam Fay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Sam_Fay.jpg)
In 1899, Fay returned to Waterloo as the L&SWR's Superintendent of the Line. It was from here that he was appointed by
Lord Faringdon, Chairman of the
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
, to succeed
Sir William Pollitt
Sir William Pollitt (24 February 1842 – 14 October 1908) was an English railway manager and civic dignitary. From 1886 to 1902, he served as general manager of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MSL&R), which was renamed Grea ...
as General Manager of the line in 1902. The Great Central was at that time in a precarious financial position due to the costs of constructing its
London Extension, yet Fay was confident in his ability to repeat his performance with the M&SWJ. He was to be paid £3,000 per year and his contract was subject to six months notice on either side.
[Dow, p. 28.] Presumably as a result of his experience with the M&SWJR, Fay appears to have been head-hunted to become
General Manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
of the
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
. Whilst he was successful in maintaining the Great Central as an effective railway, Fay was not able completely to turn round the financial position of the company.
One of his first decisions was to extend the operation of through passenger services between
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
and , supplemented by express excursions between
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
,
Leicester and Bournemouth. Fay also reintroduced services between
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
and
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
via the
Swinton and Knottingley Joint Railway, as well as through services from Marylebone to
Stratford-upon-Avon. Journey times for expresses between Marylebone and Sheffield were cut to 3 hours, a reduction of 8 minutes at an average speed of 54.9 mph.
Fay introduced several notable innovations to the Great Central including the setting-up of a Publicity Department in 1902, and the rolling-out of the first weekly zone
season tickets in Manchester in 1904. He was also responsible for the setting-up of the ''Great Central Railway Journal'' in 1905 and the initiation of competitive examinations in 1907 to create promotion opportunities for promising young members of staff.
Following his service with the
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
, Fay returned to the Great Central in May 1919. The Great Central's Board of Directors held their final meeting before the
railway grouping on 15 December 1922. It was agreed to award Fay a pension of £3,000 per year.
Other railway interests
In 1913, Fay became part-owner of the struggling
Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway
The Freshwater, Yarmouth and Newport Railway was a railway line on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, connecting Freshwater and Yarmouth to Newport. It was intended to connect the thinly populated west of the island, and it opened in 1889. At N ...
. He ran the line until the railway grouping and made a profit upon its disposal to the
Southern Railway.
In 1924, Fay together with
Sir Vincent Raven
Sir Vincent Litchfield Raven, KBE (3 December 1859 – 14 February 1934) was an English railway engineer, and was chief mechanical engineer of the North Eastern Railway from 1910 to 1922.
Biography
Vincent Raven was born the son of a clergy ...
was appointed by the
Government of New South Wales to the
Royal Commission on the
New South Wales Government Railways
The New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was the agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932.
Management
The agency was managed by a range of differen ...
. The Commissioners reported in October 1924 that the metropolitan railway network was at saturation point and recommended the construction of a circular railway around Sydney, as well as the transfer of control over railway finances from the government to the Railway Commissioners. The construction of the
City Circle line
The City Circle Line ( da, Cityringen) or M3 is a loop line of the Copenhagen Metro. It has been claimed by COWI A/S that the City Circle Line is the largest construction project to have taken place in Copenhagen during the last 400 years. was subsequently commenced and a bill was passed amending the constitution of the Railway Commission.
Fay held two Argentine railway directorships – the
Buenos Aires Great Southern and
Buenos Aires Western Railway
The Buenos Aires Western Railway (BAWR) (in Spanish: Ferrocarril Oeste de Buenos Aires), inaugurated in the city of Buenos Aires on 29 August 1857, was the first railway built in Argentina and the start of the extensive rail network which was ...
Companies. In 1923, he replaced
Stanley Jackson on the board of directors of
Beyer, Peacock and Company
Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...
, constructor of numerous Great Central locomotives, of which he became Chairman on the retirement of Sir Vincent Caillard. For some time he also acted in an advisory capacity to the
London and North Eastern Railway which had taken over the Great Central upon the railway grouping. Had Fay not been of retirement age at the time of the grouping, he would have been a strong contender for becoming general manager of the new company. In the event,
Sir Ralph Wedgwood was appointed to the position.
Government work
Committees
Fay served on two committees unconnected with railways – the Committee on
Post Office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...
wages in 1904 and the Departmental Committee on Inshore Fisheries in 1912.
First World War
Fay had, in 1911, been invited by the
Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane to join the Ports and Transit Executive Committee bringing together the railway managers of six principal railway companies to examine the problem of feeding London in the event of enemy action on the south coast. Upon the outbreak of the
First World War
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 ...
, Fay together with the eight other managers of leading railways became part of the
Railway Executive Committee
The Railway Executive Committee (REC) was a government body which controlled the operation of Britain's railways during World War I and World War II. It should not be confused with the Railway Executive which was a division of the British Transp ...
chaired by the LSWR's
Herbert Walker.
At the beginning of 1917, Fay took over the post of Director of Movements at the
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
, an experience which he was to write about in his book ''The War Office at War'' published in 1937; he refused to wear a military uniform or to remove his beard, even though his post carried the rank of general.
In March 1918, he succeeded
Sir Guy Granet, the
Midland's General Manager, as Director-General of Movements and Railways, with a seat on the
Army Council. During the period of his absence from the Great Central, Fay's assistant, E.A. Clear, took charge of the day-to-day running of the system.
Grouping proposals
In December 1918, he had proposed to the
coalition government the creation of a "Transport Authority" which would be composed of the representatives of railway and dock companies, the
Board of Trade, trade unions and agricultural and industrial bodies. The Authority would acquire, using public stock, the capital of the country's railways and canals, and divide their operations into five regional groups which the Authority could take over and control in the public interest. The
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
,
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...
, had previously dealt with Fay in 1906, when he adopted the latter's plans for a conciliation system to settle industrial disputes on the railways. Although the power of nationalisation was withdrawn in the face of opposition in Parliament, an Act came into force on 15 August 1919 which created the
Ministry of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...
headed by
Sir Eric Geddes
Sir Eric Campbell Geddes (26 September 1875 – 22 June 1937) was a British businessman and Conservative politician. With a background in railways, he served as head of Military Transportation on the Western Front, with the rank of major-ge ...
.
Personal life
In 1883, Fay married Frances Ann Farbrother (b. 1856 or 1857 in
Kingston), with whom he had four daughters and four sons, including
Edgar Fay, the judge. A heavy cigar-smoker, he lived in
Cirencester
Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...
,
Gerrards Cross
Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and ...
and finally
Awbridge Danes near
Romsey in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
.
In June 1902 he was gazetted a
Lieutenant-Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...
in The Engineer and Railway Volunteer Staff Corps, and re-gazetted at the same rank when E&RVSC became the
Engineer and Railway Staff Corps
The Engineer and Logistic Staff Corps is a part of the Royal Engineers in the British Army Reserve. It is intended to provide advisers on engineering and logistics to the British Army at a senior level. Following its work creating the NHS Nighti ...
of the
Royal Engineers in April 1908. He received the
Territorial Decoration
__NOTOC__
The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer Officer's Decoration when the Te ...
in October 1920, and resigned his commission in January 1924.
Fay was knighted by
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
in somewhat theatrical fashion during the royal opening of the
Immingham Dock
The Port of Immingham, also known as Immingham Dock, is a major port on the east coast of England, located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary in the town of Immingham, Lincolnshire. In 2019, the Port of Grimsby & Immingham was the largest ...
on 22 July 1912. In 1944, he published a small volume of poems and essays.
Fay died in Awbridge on 30 May 1953, seven years after his wife, who had died on 10 July 1946. He is buried in the churchyard of All Saints Church. He had intended to write his memoirs but never got beyond the stage of rough notes.
Legacy
Fay had a
Great Central locomotive named in honour of his 1912 knighthood, the locomotives in the class becoming known informally as "Sam Fays".
A bar/restaurant named ''Sam Fay's'' complete with railway memorabilia operated from the former
Nottingham High Level station ticket office during the mid/late 1990s,
although the station had always been on the
Great Northern railway network until the
LNER LNER may refer to:
* London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947
* London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018
* Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...
grouping in 1923.
References
Bibliography
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External links
Portrait caricatureby
Spy
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fay, Sam
1856 births
1953 deaths
People from Hamble-le-Rice
Knights Bachelor
Engineer and Railway Staff Corps officers
Great Central Railway people