Complex sentence: In 1835 Hudson was elected to the newly reformed York city council (becoming lord mayor in 1837) and, the same year he met George Stephenson by chance in Whitby and they became friends and business associates.
Split into simpler sentences: In 1835 Hudson was elected to the newly reformed York city council (becoming lord mayor in 1837). In the same year he met George Stephenson by chance in Whitby and they became friends and business associates.