Samuel Carter (15 May 1805 – 31 January 1878) was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for his native city of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, and solicitor to two major railway companies (the London and North Western Railway and

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 ...

) for nearly four decades during the development of Britain's rail network.

Life and family

Born into a family of the Unitarian faith, his father Samuel Snr was the Coventry prison keeper for many years and his mother Jane was the daughter of Josiah Corrie Snr, a minister in

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a tributary of the River Sowe, which joins the ...

. He attended the school of his uncle John Corrie FRS, who was long-time President of the

Birmingham Philosophical Institution The Birmingham Philosophical Institution was a society established in Birmingham, England for the exchange of scientific knowledge. The Institution was established in either 1800 or 1803 (sources are uncertain) in cramped premises in Cannon Street ...

. Marrying Sir

Francis Ronalds Sir Francis Ronalds FRS (21 February 17888 August 1873) was an English scientist and inventor, and arguably the first electrical engineer. He was knighted for creating the first working electric telegraph over a substantial distance. In 1816 ...

' youngest sister Maria in 1833, they had four children: Alexander, Hugh,

John Corrie John Alexander Corrie (born 29 July 1935) is a Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party politician and chief of Clan Corrie. He describes himself in '' Who's Who'' as a "consultant on African affairs and financial adviser to developing countri ...

and Jane. In the 1855–1875 period, they resided at

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in a substantial estate called Quarry Hill. Samuel died in

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, and was buried in the family vault in Kenilworth.

Railway solicitor

Samuel had been articled to his uncle Josiah Corrie, a lawyer in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, and their partnership was appointed as solicitors to the proposed London & Birmingham Railway (L&BR) in 1830. They also acted as solicitors to various lines that were planned to connect other communities with the new trunkline. One was the Birmingham & Derby Railway (B&DR) to which Corrie & Carter was appointed in 1835. B&DR joined with other companies in 1844 to form the

, with Carter being one of the solicitors to the amalgamation bill (Corrie having died). Some sources suggest that Carter was instrumental in the decision to establish the

Railway Clearing House The Railway Clearing House (RCH) was an organisation set up to manage the allocation of revenue collected by pre-grouping railway companies for the conveyance of passengers and goods over the lines (or using the rolling stock) of other compani ...

in 1841, when he and his good friend

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson FRS HFRSE FRSA DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of his father ...

advised the directors of L&BR and B&DR, two of the founding members, on its merits. Carter was also a solicitor to the bill enabling L&BR to amalgamate with other companies to form the

London & North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lon ...

(L&NWR) in 1846. By now he had opened a second office in London and he soon acquired a home near Hyde Park. He later purchased a property at

. L&NWR and Midland Railway were quite commonly aligned in the years following and he was able to represent them jointly. This happened for example with the Worcester & Hereford Railway, where he spoke on behalf of both companies at shareholder meetings and served as solicitor to its parliamentary bills. The 1845–1846 parliamentary session saw the peak of Railway Mania and the beginnings of the

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, in both of which Carter was much occupied. He and

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...

apparently negotiated a territorial boundary in early 1846 between Brunel's Great Western Railway (GWR) and its affiliates on the broad gauge, and the standard gauge L&NWR and Midland companies, but it was overturned. Thereafter, Carter fought the spread of the broad gauge in various contests in parliament and the courts. He and Stephenson cited the dangers of rival companies using the same infrastructure on different gauges, requiring GWR to build its own stations in Birmingham and elsewhere. Some of his last parliamentary contests enabled Midland to build its own routes into London to its new

St Pancras station St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. It ...

and to Scotland on its

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Member of parliament

Carter was a staunch

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in his politics and had participated in the Birmingham Political Union in the 1830s. In a by-election in March 1868, he was elected to parliament for Coventry, which triggered his retirement from railway business. His

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in the house was in support of the proposed Irish Church Act to disestablish the (Anglican) Church of Ireland. He had only a very short parliamentary term however as he and his Liberal colleague Henry Jackson were defeated in the general election in November 1868. He lost again in 1874.

Benefactor to Coventry

Carter funded the building of the Coventry School of Art, laying the foundation stone in 1862. He also donated £1,000 towards the Free Library.

Publications

Carter published several

pamphlets A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

in the 1870s illustrating to railway

shareholders A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal ow ...

that the new Railway Commissioners had been given powers to reduce rates and tolls from the amounts permitted in the companies'

acts of parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament be ...

, thereby jeopardising their investments. His warnings created little consternation at the time but there was uproar a decade later when these powers became more explicit in the 1886 Railway and Canal Traffic bill.

References

External links

* (''Note: This source incorrectly confuses with Samuel Carter (Tavistock MP)'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Samuel Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1865–1868 1805 births 1878 deaths Members of Parliament for Coventry