Huddersfield, Halifax and Bradford Union Railway (1845)

The Huddersfield, Halifax & Bradford Union Railway was a proposed line announced in mid-June 1845:[1]

The object of this Line is to connect, by Railway, the important Manufacturing Towns of Huddersfield, Halifax, and Bradford. It will also, by its Junction with the Huddersfield and Sheffield Railway at Huddersfield, afford a direct Line of Railway Communication between the Metropolis and the Towns of Halifax and Bradford.

Railway Times (31/Oct/1846)

The capital was to be £300,000 issued in 15,000 shares (later reduced to 7,500 public shares), with a deposit of £1 2s. per share. An agreement was also made with the Huddersfield & Sheffield Junction Railway (H&SJR) who took a portion of the capital stock.[2]

The Consulting Engineer was named as Joseph Locke (F.R.S.) and the Engineer was to be Alfred S. Jee. The provision committee was announced as comprising:[3]

  • Joseph Armitage (J.P.), Milnsbridge House, near Huddersfield
  • B.N.R. Batty (J.P.), Fenay Hall, Almondbury
  • John Rawson (J.P.), Stony Rod, Halifax
  • John Starkey, Thornton Lodge, near Huddersfield
  • W.W. Battye (J.P.), Thorp Villa, Almondbury
  • Edward Akroyd, Halifax
  • George Crosland, Crosland Moor House, near Huddersfield
  • William Huntriss, Halifax
  • John Brooke, Armitage Bridge, Huddersfield
  • William Rand, Bradford
  • Charles Henry Jones, Huddersfield
  • George Henry Brook, Edgerton Lodge, near Huddersfield
  • Ely Bates, Halifax
  • John Travis Clay, Rastrick
  • John Russell, Bradford
  • Joseph Senior, Dalton, near Huddersfield
  • Thomas Mallinson, New House, near Huddersfield
  • George Haigh (jnr), Halifax
  • George Rogers, Bradford
  • Joseph Kaye, Huddersfield
  • Walter Milligan, Myrtle Grove, Bingley
  • S.B. Clapham, Aireworth, Keighley
  • James Wrigley, Netherton, near Huddersfield
  • J.S. Brown, Halifax
  • Frederic Schwann, Huddersfield
  • John Darlington, Bradford
  • Robert Butterworth, Huddersfield
  • John Tallents Fisher, Marsden
  • James Shaw, Huddersfield
  • John Hannah, Finthorpe, Almondbury
  • William Willans, Huddersfield
  • John Houldsworth, Shaw Lodge, Halifax
  • Joseph Webb, Huddersfield
  • R. Whitworth, Halifax
  • Abraham Eastwood, Huddersfield
  • John Beaumont, Dalton, near Huddersfield
  • John Dowse, Marsden
  • Sidney Morehouse, New Mill, near Huddersfield
  • Joseph Norton, Clayton West
  • William Sugden, Eastwood House, Keighley
  • Joseph Craven, Steeton
  • Joseph Stocks, Shibden Hall
  • John Brigg, Guardhouse, Keighley
  • Thomas Kilner, Carr House, Huddersfield
  • William Shaw, Bottom Hall, near Huddersfield
  • John Haigh, Leeds
  • James Tolson, Dalton, near Huddersfield
  • J.H. Ramsbotham, Fixby Hall

By the end of June, the following more detailed description was published in the Leeds Times:

This projected Line of Railway is intended to complete the Chain of Railway Communication between the Metropolis and the important Manufacturing Districts of Yorkshire.

It will commence near to the proposed Station behind the George Inn, at Huddersfield, and proceed by way of Raistrick and Brighouse to Halifax and Bradford, so as to form two Junctions with one of the projected Lines between Halifax and Bradford, at such points as the Engineers now engaged may determine upon ; but in case neither of the said projects should receive the sanction of Parliament, then it is proposed to carry the present Line forward to Halifax and to. Bradford, by such route as may be found most practicable.

The primary object of this undertaking is to afford a direct route to the South for Halifax, Bradford, Shipley, Keighley, Skipton, Settle, Bingley, Wharfdale, Otley, Low Moor, Lightcliffe, Wyke, Northowram, Southowram, Brighouse, Raistrick, Elland, Salterhebble, and the vast population of those Districts.

By the proposed Line, the Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction, and the Sheffield and Manchester Railways, the route is direct to Sheffield, and from that town there are several Railways now before Parliament, which will open a direct communication with the Midland Railway to the South and Centre of England, and with Newark and Lincoln, and the Corn Districts, and with Great Grimsby or Gainsborough, and the Trent and Humber, to the East and South East.

Controversially, the directors of the scheme reduced the final number of public shares (from 15,000 to 7,500) by allocating shares to other railway companies. In what was a common, if dubious, practise at the time, some of those who had applied for shares began trading them straight away for profit — in this instance however, some subsequently discovered that their application had been rejected or the number of shares allotted reduced.

Together with the West Yorkshire Railway (WYR) and the Leeds & West Riding Junction Railway (L&WRJR), it was amalgamated into the West Riding Union Railway (WRUR) on 18 August 1846, which was then subsequently acquired by the Manchester & Leeds Railway (M&LR) on 17 November 1846.[4]

In 1874, a Parliamentary Bill with a similar name submitted by the Midland Railway (MR) was unsuccessful.

Extracts

The Railway Shareholder's Manual (1845):

To commence at Huddersfield, passing through Rastrick and Brighouse to Halifax and Bradford, affording a direct communication between the Metropolis and the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire. Capital £300,000. 15,000 Shares of £20 each.

Further Reading

Notes and References

  1. Leeds Times (14/Jun/1845).
  2. "Local News" in Leeds Times' (28/Jun/1845).
  3. Leeds Times (28/Jun/1845).
  4. Wikipedia: Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.