Edward James Reed Sir Edward James Reed ( 20 September 1830 – 30 November 1906 ) , KCB , FRS , was a British naval architect , author , politician , and railroad magnate . He was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870 . He was a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1906 . Early life . Edward Reed was born in Sheerness , Kent and was the son of John and Elizabeth Reed . He was a naval apprentice at Sheerness and subsequently entered the School of Mathematics and Naval Construction at Portsmouth . In 1851 he married Rosetta , the sister of Nathaniel Barnaby . Barnaby was at that time a fellow student ; he would subsequently succeed Reed as Chief Constructor . In 1852 he entered employment at Sheerness Dockyard , but resigned after a disagreement with the management . He then worked in journalism , including editing the " Mechanic ' s Magazine " . In 1860 , Reed was appointed secretary of the newly formed Institute of Naval Architects . Naval architect . In 1863 , at the early age of 33 , succeeded Isaac Watts as Chief Constructor . His term of office saw the final transition from wooden to ironclad warships . Notable warships constructed under his direction included : His tenure was marred by intense controversy with the naval officer , MP and inventor Captain Cowper Phipps Coles . This culminated in the funding by Parliament of a new battleship , HMS Captain , to be built to Coles ' requirement without reference to Reed ' s department and contrary to his advice . Embittered , Reed resigned in July 1870 . " His departure was described as a national disaster by the Controller , Vice - Admiral Robert Spencer Robinson . " The following September , the " Captain " foundered in a gale with the loss of nearly 500 lives , including Captain Coles . He was a trenchant , though ultimately reactionary , critic of the policy of his successors as Chief Constructor . After leaving the Admiralty , he continued to design warships for the navies of other nations . These included Brazil , Germany , Chile and Japan . A number of these vessels were subsequently purchased by the Royal Navy . Reed visited Japan in 1879 at the invitation of the imperial government which was building up its navy , and wrote a history of the country which was published the following year . Reed was appointed Companion of the Bath ( CB ) in 1868 , during his term as Chief Constructor , and subsequently Knight Commander of the Bath ( KCB ) in 1880 . He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society ( FRS ) in 1876 . He was also a Knight Commander of the Imperial Russian Order of St Stanislus , a Knight of the Austrian Order of Franz Joseph , and of the Turkish Order of the Medjidie . Parliamentary career . At the 1874 general election Reed was elected as Liberal member of parliament for Pembroke . At the next election in 1880 he was elected as member for Cardiff . In 1886 he was appointed Lord of the Treasury in Gladstone ' s third ministry . Reed lost his parliamentary seat in 1895 , but regained it in 1900 . In 1905 he indicated that he would retire from parliament at the next election that occurred in 1906 . Florida railroad magnate . In 1881 , Reed and several English and Dutch investors purchased the Atlantic , Gulf , and West India Transit Company , the 1872 reorganization of the Florida Railroad , which ran cross - state in Florida from Fernandina southwest to Cedar Key , and which operated two subsidiaries : the Peninsular Railroad , running to Ocala and Silver Springs from a junction with the Florida Railroad at Waldo ; and the Tropical Florida Railroad , which ran from Ocala to Wildwood . Reed reorganized the three railroads as the Florida Transit Company , which he reorganized again as the Florida Transit and Peninsular Railroad in 1883 . In 1882 , Reed acquired the Jacksonville , Pensacola and Mobile Railroad ( JP & M ) , which ran from Quincy east through Tallahassee to Lake City , and its subsidiary , the Florida Central Railroad , which ran east from Lake City to Jacksonville . Reed reorganized both the JP & M and the Florida Central as the Florida Central and Western Railroad . In 1884 , Reed merged the Florida Central and Western with the Florida Transit and Peninsular and , in 1885 , after signing lease agreements with two smaller Florida lines , brought all of these entities under the umbrella of one large firm , the Florida Railway and Navigation Company . Reed subsequently withdrew from active control and , in 1886 , after a brief receivership , the corporation was reorganized as the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad ( FC & P ) . In 1900 , a year after purchasing the majority of FC & P stock , the newly organized Seaboard Air Line Railway ( now CSX Transportation ) leased the FC & P and , in 1903 , acquired it outright . Death . Reed died from heart failure at his home in The Strand , London in November 1906 . He was buried in Putney Vale Cemetery on 4 December . Works . Notable works include