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Sir Henry Oakley (12 November 1823 – 8 February 1912) was a British railway administrator. He started life as a clerk in the House of Commons Library, and joined the Great Northern Railway (GNR) in the same capacity in 1850. He was chief clerk in the Company Secretary's office until taking over as Secretary in 1858. He became General Manager of the company in 1870.
He proved adept at the politics and negotiations required in railway management, and had taken on an additional role as Honorary Secretary of the Railway Companies' Association by 1873. He retained these extra duties until the Association was restructured on a more permanent basis in 1900.
Oakley was elected to the GNR board in 1897 and retired as General Manager in 1898. In June 1900, a C1 class locomotive was named in his honour by the company; after its withdrawal from service in 1937 it was preserved, and survives at the
Sir Henry Oakley (12 November 1823 – 8 February 1912) was a British railway administrator. He started life as a clerk in the House of Commons Library, and joined the Great Northern Railway (GNR) in the same capacity in 1850. He was chief clerk in the Company Secretary's office until taking over as Secretary in 1858. He became General Manager of the company in 1870.
He proved adept at the politics and negotiations required in railway management, and had taken on an additional role as Honorary Secretary of the Railway Companies' Association by 1873. He retained these extra duties until the Association was restructured on a more permanent basis in 1900.
Oakley was elected to the GNR board in 1897 and retired as General Manager in 1898. In June 1900, a C1 class locomotive was named in his honour by the company; after its withdrawal from service in 1937 it was preserved, and survives at the National Railway Museum
The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant ...
. After leaving the GNR he became Chairman of the Central London Railway
The Central London Railway (CLR), also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a deep-level, underground "tube" railwayA "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a cylindrical tunnel by the use of a tunnelling shield, usually deep below g ...
, one of the new tube railways.
In 1891 he was dubbed Knight Bachelor
The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...
at Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house himself, in ...
, Isle of Wight.
Oakley died on 8 February 1912 at 37 Chester Terrace, St Pancras, London aged 88.
Family
On 9 August 1849 Oakley married Fanny Eliza Catherine Thompson, daughter of Frederic Francis Thompson of the H.E.I.C. and his wife Caroline (née Callander) at the parish church of St. Luke's, Chelsea. Fanny died aged 33 in 1858. They had five children: # Herbert Frederick Oakley (1850–1888) m: Emma Sarah Cave # Harry Callander Oakley (1854–1900) m: Mary Barnard # Adam Robert Hamilton Oakley (1856–1925) m: Ellen Judith Cripps # Tom Edmund Livingston Oakley (1858–1932) m: Frances Emily Cripps # Fanny Caroline Elizabeth Oakley (1858–1932) UnmarriedNotes
Sources
* Alderman, Geoffrey, ''The railway interest'', Leicester, Leicester University Press, 1973, * * Harris, Michael, 'Oakley, Henry (1823–1914)' in Simmons, Jack and Biddle, Gordon (eds), ''The Oxford companion to British Railway history: from 1603 to the 1990s'', Oxford, New York: OUP, 1997, , page 356 1823 births 1912 deaths People associated with transport in London People from St Pancras, London Knights Bachelor Directors of the Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) {{London-transport-stub