Thomas Savin
Thomas Savin (* 1826 in Llwynymaen near Oswestry , Wales ; † July 23, 1889 there ) was a Welsh railway pioneer and investor in the mid-19th century. He was also a member of the Oswestry City Parliament. Due to its innovations and investments , which benefited this hitherto backward area - also in other areas outside of railway construction - it achieved a high level of popularity, but has now largely been forgotten again.
Life
Savin was born the son of a textile merchant and did an apprenticeship with his father. In 1852 he married Elizabeth Hughes and they moved to Plasffynnon . In 1856 Savin joined the Oswestry Town Council, seven years later he was elected mayor. At the same time he was active in the seed and hop trade and became the owner of the “Old British Colliery” coal mining field . It was around this time that railroad construction began across the UK . This field of activity must have inspired him from the start; henceforth he called himself only "Railway Contractor".
Savin built a total of ten different railway lines in Wales and across the border into England over the years. At times he was employed by the Bishops Castle Railway , which was in crisis from the start due to insufficient capital. During this time, Savin also acquired and built several hotels on the coast. Having already quicklime - mine , he bought in Porth-y Waen-possessed now Llanymynech -Steinbrüche both English as well as the Welsh side of the border, previously the Earl of Bradford and the Earl of Powis belonged. The large ovens built for the production are still partially visible today.
To carry out his railroad projects, he met David Davies (1818–1890), another pit owner and railroad enthusiast from Llandinam , Montgomeryshire , in the mid-1850s . Their first joint project was the almost twenty kilometers long route from Llanidloes to Newtown . The construction was a major challenge because there was no other railway line within 50 kilometers. All material was shipped to Newtown via a canal, and the locomotives were brought across the road from the nearest Oswestry train station using special transporters. Their second project was the Vale of Clwyd Railway , which was opened to traffic on August 31, 1859. Immediately afterwards they won the tender for the Oswestry and Newtown Railway , which was completed in the summer of 1862, together with the 37-kilometer-long Newtown and Machynlleth Railway, which ran westwards .
Their last common railway line was to be the extension to Aberystwyth . Savin also expected his partner to connect the coastal cities further north, probably also in order to get more guests to his hotels. But Davies stubbornly refused for reasons of profitability, which ultimately led to a falling out between the two.
To complete the Savin-built Oswestry and Newtown Railway, the bells allegedly rang for two days. The former men's outfitter himself was carried shoulder-high through the streets of Oswestry and celebrated like a hero. On July 25, 1864, several of the railway lines built by Savin were merged into a new company, the Cambrian Railways . The seat of the company was Oswestry.
But already on February 5, 1866, Savin had to file for bankruptcy because he had taken over financially. On the one hand, the costs for the route at Aberdovey were incorrectly calculated because the construction of the numerous tunnels was not taken into account. On the other hand, he usually only built his railroads with share certificates . The shareholders were all over the United Kingdom , and sometimes even all over the world. However, he needed cash for post-construction services for salaries and maintenance. The bankruptcy sum was more than £ 2 million . Of his many creditors , only four smaller companies waived when bankruptcy was opened, one of them the Llanymynech quarries, which he still owned in part. In the following years he also used most of his energy to keep society alive despite the financial problems.
But Savin had even bigger projects: In the autumn / spring of 1867/68, two large explosions were carried out for demonstration purposes. His Llanymynech pit became the site of the effects of large quantities of explosives. On September 17, 1867, he used one and a half tons of gunpowder , on March 11, 1868 more than four times that amount. In another experiment with dynamite four years later, six workers lost their lives, prompting Savin to issue strict safety guidelines.
In 1878 Savin was charged and brought to justice because heavy tractors, which transported lime and earth to and from his mine in Llanymynech, made deep grooves in the road and made a lot of noise and noise, which angered the population against him. The trigger was the prevention of the construction of the Tanat Valley Light Railway to Llangynog, where Savin owned pits. The approval was not granted for life. The rejection came three days before his death, which may have promoted him. A final concession was not granted until 1902. The Justice of the Peace judge was his old friend Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 6th Baronet, who put the case down.
Such and similar adversities preoccupied Savin in the last ten years of his life. He died at the age of 63 and is buried in the Oswestry cemetery.
literature
- Neil Rhodes: On the Border, The story of Llanymynech and Pent, ed. by Brian Piddock, 2008 ISBN 978-0-9555557-1-8
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Savin, Thomas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Welsh railroad pioneer and investor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1826 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Llwynymaen near Oswestry , Wales |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 23, 1889 |
| Place of death | Llwynymaen near Oswestry , Wales |