Thomas Savin (1826 – 23 July 1889) was a British railway engineer who was the contractor who built many railways in Wales and the Welsh borders from 1857 to 1866. He also in some cases was an investor in such schemes.
Early life
Savin was born in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...
at
Llwynymaen near
Oswestry in 1826.
He married in 1852 Eliza Hughes with whom he had two sons who survived him. He initially worked in Oswestry running a
mercery
Mercery (from French , meaning "habderdashery" (goods) or "haberdashery" (a shop trading in textiles and notions) initially referred to silk, linen and fustian textiles among various other piece goods imported to England in the 12th centur ...
business in partnership with Edward Morris, who subsequently purchased then sold the
Van lead mines.
Railway contractor
In 1857 Savin formed a partnership with
David Davies to build the
Vale of Clwyd Railway
The Vale of Clwyd Railway (VoCR) was a standard-gauge line which connected the towns of Rhyl and Denbigh via St Asaph in North Wales.
It opened in 1858, at first without a connection to the main line at Rhyl, but this was provided in 1862. At D ...
. The partnership was the principal contractor for many of the lines that became the
Cambrian Railways.
The partnership was dissolved in 1860. He also had an interest in or worked on a number of secondary and minor railways, including the
Oswestry and Newtown Railway
The Oswestry and Newtown Railway was a British railway company that built a line between Oswestry in Shropshire and Newtown Montgomeryshire, now Powys. The line opened in stages in 1860 and 1861. It was conceived to open up the area to rail tran ...
,
Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway, the
Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway
The Hereford, Hay and Brecon Railway (HH&BR) was a railway company that built a line between Hereford in England and a junction with the Mid-Wales Railway at Three Cocks Junction. It opened its line in stages from 1862 to 1864. It never had enoug ...
, the
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
Corris Railway
The Corris Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Corris) is a narrow gauge preserved railway based in Corris on the border between Merionethshire (now Gwynedd) and Montgomeryshire (now Powys) in Mid-Wales.
The line opened in 1859 as a horse tramway, runni ...
,
the Kington & Eardisley Railway, the
Bishop's Castle Railway. and
Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway
The Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway was a standard gauge railway company, running a line along the west coast of Wales.
The railway was planned to run between Anglicised place name spellings were used during most of the history of the line ...
which connected the interior of mid-Wales from
Machynlleth
Machynlleth () is a market town, community and electoral ward in Powys, Wales and within the historic boundaries of Montgomeryshire. It is in the Dyfi Valley at the intersection of the A487 and the A489 roads. At the 2001 Census it had a pop ...
to the coast with the completion of the line and the opening of
Aberystwyth station in 1864, and became part of the Cambrian Railways in 1865.
Savin followed up the opening of the last-named line with the creation of
Aberystwyth's Castle Hotel to capitalise on the local seaside trade. He bought Castle House and converted it into a large hotel. He produced 'probably the first package holiday deal'
whereby tickets bought by passengers at various railway stations in parts of England would entitle the buyer not only to the journey to and from Aberystwyth but board and lodging at the resort.
[ It was opened in June 1865 while still incomplete but he had to stop work after £80,000 had been spent on it when he became bankrupt amid the failure of Overend, Gurney in 1866, at which point his enterprises involved a total of about £1.5 million. It was sold for £10,000 in March 1867 when it was purchased to become the first building for the ]University College of Wales
, mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all
, established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'')
, former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth
, type = Public
, endowment = ...
.
Industry
Savin owned a number of industrial companies across Wales. He owned a colliery, The New British Coalpit, at Coed-y-go, served by a branch line he built privately off the Oswestry & Newtown line, which carried twenty wagons of coal daily each way before the colliery closed in 1869.
He was the owner of the Cooper's Lime Rocks limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
quarry at Porthywaen in 1872, which suffered from a significant accident. Kegs of gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...
were hauled up the incline to the magazine in the quarry. As the most recent set of kegs were being moved into the magazine, an empty wagon broke loose and collided at high speed with one of the kegs. The resulting explosion killed six workers employed by Savin.
Politics and other interests
David Davies had entered active politics in 1865 when he unsuccessfully fought at Cardiganshire in the General Election. Later that year Savin was briefly mentioned as a possible Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
candidate for Brecon
Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...
. Savin served in local politics in Oswestry, to whose borough council he was elected in 1856, became Mayor of the town in 1866, and was alderman from 1871 until his death. He left the Liberal party and became a Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
because of his support for Benjamin Disraeli's stance over Bulgaria and Turkey against Russia in the 1870s.
Savin served in the volunteer force
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...
as lieutenant in the Montgomeryshire Rifles and was captain of the 15th (Oswestry) company of the Shropshire Rifle Volunteers in 1864. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity.
The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...
and Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
.
Later life
Savin died at his home, Ivy House, in Salop Road, Oswestry on 23 July 1889, aged 63, and was buried in Oswestry Cemetery on 26 July (Section D, Grave 34).
References
Bibliography
* Gasquoine, C. P.; The Story of the Cambrian – a biography of a railway; Woodall, Minshall, Thomas & Co, 1922
* Johnson, Peter; An Illustrated History of the Great Western Narrow Gauge; Oxford Publishing Co, 2011 (Savin's involvement with the Corris Railway)
* Williams, Herbert; Davies the Ocean – railway king and coal tycoon; University of Wales Press, 1991
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savin, Thomas
British railway civil engineers
1826 births
1889 deaths
People from Oswestry