page_title: Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
section_title: William Huskisson
hierarchical_section_title: Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway / Background / William Huskisson
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of William Huskisson. Killed by "Rocket"....See source website for additional information. This set of images was gathered by User:Dcoetzee from the National Portrait Gallery, London website using a special tool. All images in this batch have been confirmed as author died before 1939 according to the official death date listed by the NPG.
context_page_description: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened on 15 September 1830. Work on the L&M had begun in the 1820s, to connect the major industrial city of Manchester with the nearest deep water port at the Port of Liverpool, 35 miles away. Although horse-drawn railways already existed elsewhere, and a few industrial sites already used primitive steam locomotives for bulk haulage, the L&M was the first locomotive-hauled railway to connect two major cities, and the first to provide a scheduled passenger service. The opening day was a major public event. Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, the Prime Minister, rode on one of the eight inaugural trains, as did many other dignitaries and notable figures of the day. Huge crowds lined the track at Liverpool to watch the trains depart for Manchester.
  The trains left Liverpool on time and without any technical problems. The Duke of Wellington's special train ran on one track, and the other seven trains ran on an adjacent and parallel track, sometimes ahead and sometimes behind the Duke's train. Around 13 miles out of Liverpool the first of many problems occurred, when one of the trains derailed and the following train collided with it.
context_section_description: William Huskisson was born at Birtsmorton Court, Malvern, Worcestershire, on 11 March 1770. In 1783, Huskisson went to Paris to live with his great-uncle Dr. Richard Gem, witnessing the early years of the French Revolution, and was present at the Storming of the Bastille. Learning economics from the Marquis de Condorcet, he became an assistant to Earl Gower, who would later become the Marquess of Stafford. In 1792 Britain severed diplomatic relations with the French revolutionary government and Huskisson returned to London.
  On Huskisson's return to London Henry Dundas, the Home Secretary, appointed him to oversee the execution of the Aliens Act, which dealt with refugees arriving in Britain from areas affected by the French Revolution. He performed this task well, and in 1795 he was appointed Under-Secretary of State for War at the age of 24. In 1796 he was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Morpeth. In 1799 he married Eliza Emily Milbanke (known as Emily), daughter of Admiral Mark Milbanke, and shortly afterwards moved to Eartham House near Chichester. He resigned from public office in 1801 following the fall of William Pitt the Younger's government. In 1804 he was re-elected to Parliament for Liskeard, and appointed to the post of Secretary to the Treasury by the returning Pitt. In 1809 Huskisson resigned from the government along with George Canning following Canning's duel with fellow cabinet minister Lord Castlereagh. In 1814 he re-entered public life as First Commissioner of Woods and Forests; although this was a relatively minor post, he was very influential in the development of detailed legislation and policy, particularly regarding the controversial relaxation of the Corn Laws.
  In 1823 Huskisson was appointed to the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade and Treasurer of the Navy. In the same year he succeeded George Canning in the important constituency of Liverpool. He oversaw a number of reforms aimed at developing industry and free trade, including reform of the Navigation Acts and reduction of taxes on manufacturing and on the import of foreign goods. He drove through the restructuring of Britain's network of overseas outposts and colonies into the network of economically and politically interdependent states which became the British Empire, aiming for a gradual abolition of slavery and accelerating British colonisation.
  In April 1827 Huskisson's mentor George Canning became Prime Minister, but died less than four months later and was succeeded by Viscount Goderich. Goderich appointed Huskisson Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Goderich resigned in January 1828 and was replaced as Prime Minister by Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. Huskisson, along with many other protégés of Canning, resigned later that year over the issue of the lack of parliamentary representation for Manchester. Huskisson remained in Parliament as MP for Liverpool, and devoted himself to working on behalf of the growing industrial towns of north west England; the Manchester Guardian described him as "perhaps the most useful practical statesman of the present day". Although still weak from a previous serious illness, he felt it was his duty as Liverpool's MP to attend the opening of the railway.
caption: William Huskisson
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