Edward Betts
Encyclopedia
Edward Ladd Betts was an English civil engineer
ing contractor
who was mainly involved in the building of railways.
, near Dover
, son of William Betts (1790–1867), a successful contractor's agent and railway contractor.
He was apprenticed to a builder at Lincoln
. However, becoming more interested in engineering, he then worked as agent for Hugh McIntosh building the Black Rock lighthouse at Beaumaris, Anglesey..
on the Grand Junction Railway
for Hugh McIntosh under George Stephenson
as engineer. After the death of McIntosh in 1840, William Betts & Sons - the family firm now named for Edward and his father - gained contracts on the South Eastern Railway
for stretches that included the Marsden-Ashford line, Maidstone Branch, and the Saltwood tunnel. They also obtained large contracts on behalf of David McIntosh for the Midlands County Railway, whereby the Betts family relocated to Leicester
, and for the Manchester-Birmingham Railway. After that, Edward Betts continued to gain contracts, especially in the Chester
area.
In 1843, Betts married the sister of another railway contractor, Samuel Morton Peto
. Upon his father's retirement at Bevois Mount, Southampton
in 1845, he assumed full responsibility for the Betts company business. Peto's partnership with Thomas Grissell
was dissolved in 1846, and Betts worked with Peto on parts of the Great Northern Railway
. In 1848, the pair established a formal partnership and together they were to work on a large number of railway contracts, frequently also working in partnership with Thomas Brassey
. Possibly the greatest enterprise of this trio was the building of the Grand Trunk Railway
in Canada
. Betts undertook the actual management of the venture which included the Victoria bridge
across the Saint Lawrence River
at Montreal
. Other railways were built by Peto and Betts in Denmark, Russia, Algeria, South America and Australia.
which enabled supplies, particularly heavy ammunition, to be transported from Balaclava
to the British troops engaged in the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War
. Betts in particular was responsible for obtaining the enormous amount of supplies and equipment, the fleet of ships to convey them from England to the Black Sea
and the navvies and skilled workers needed to carry out the work, also in a very short period of time.
near Aylesford
in Kent
, and had it rebuilt in a Jacobean
style, where he employed a staff of 18. Also in the 1850s, he acquired a London home at 29 Tavistock Square
where he employed a further 8 servants and by 1860 he had moved to Great George Street, Westminster
. In 1858, already a magistrate
and a deputy lieutenant
, he became high sheriff
of Kent. In the general election
of 1865, he contested the Maidstone
seat as a Conservative
but was unsuccessful.
and an abortive attempt to improve the navigation of the River Danube
. After his bankruptcy he moved to Bickley
, near Bromley
, Kent. For the sake of his health he was sent by his doctors to Egypt
in 1871 but he died the following year in Aswan
. He was buried at Aylesford. His estate was valued at less than £16,000.
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
ing contractor
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
who was mainly involved in the building of railways.
Early life
Edward Betts was born at BucklandBuckland, Kent
Buckland is a village near Dover, England. It is noted for its Saxon cemetery whose finds now belong to the British Museum but are on display at Dover Museum.English railway contractor, Edward Betts, was born in Buckland....
, near Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
, son of William Betts (1790–1867), a successful contractor's agent and railway contractor.
He was apprenticed to a builder at Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
. However, becoming more interested in engineering, he then worked as agent for Hugh McIntosh building the Black Rock lighthouse at Beaumaris, Anglesey..
Railway contractor
Edward Betts's first railway undertaking was to supervise the building of the Dutton ViaductDutton Viaduct
Dutton Viaduct is a railway viaduct on the West Coast Main Line where it crosses the River Weaver and the Weaver Navigation between the villages of Dutton and Acton Bridge in Cheshire, England . It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.It was built during 1836...
on the Grand Junction Railway
Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...
for Hugh McIntosh under George Stephenson
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
as engineer. After the death of McIntosh in 1840, William Betts & Sons - the family firm now named for Edward and his father - gained contracts on the South Eastern Railway
South Eastern Railway (UK)
The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...
for stretches that included the Marsden-Ashford line, Maidstone Branch, and the Saltwood tunnel. They also obtained large contracts on behalf of David McIntosh for the Midlands County Railway, whereby the Betts family relocated to Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, and for the Manchester-Birmingham Railway. After that, Edward Betts continued to gain contracts, especially in the Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
area.
In 1843, Betts married the sister of another railway contractor, Samuel Morton Peto
Samuel Morton Peto
Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 1st Baronet was an English entrepreneur and civil engineer in the 19th century. A partner in Grissell and Peto, he managed construction firms that built many major buildings and monuments in London...
. Upon his father's retirement at Bevois Mount, Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
in 1845, he assumed full responsibility for the Betts company business. Peto's partnership with Thomas Grissell
Thomas Grissell
Thomas Grissell was an English public works contractor who was responsible for constructing a number of prestigious buildings in England.-Early life and education:...
was dissolved in 1846, and Betts worked with Peto on parts of the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
. In 1848, the pair established a formal partnership and together they were to work on a large number of railway contracts, frequently also working in partnership with Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey
Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the world's railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain, and by time of his death in 1870 he had built one...
. Possibly the greatest enterprise of this trio was the building of the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Betts undertook the actual management of the venture which included the Victoria bridge
Victoria Bridge (Montreal)
Victoria Bridge , formerly originally known as Victoria Jubilee Bridge, is a bridge over the St. Lawrence River, linking Montreal, Quebec, to the south shore city of Saint-Lambert....
across the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
at Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. Other railways were built by Peto and Betts in Denmark, Russia, Algeria, South America and Australia.
The Grand Crimean Central Railway
Peto, Betts and Brassey built at great speed the Grand Crimean Central RailwayGrand Crimean Central Railway
The Grand Crimean Central Railway was built in 1855 during the Crimean War. Its purpose was to supply ammunition and provisions to Allied soldiers engaged in the siege of Sevastopol who were stationed on a plateau between Balaclava and Sevastopol...
which enabled supplies, particularly heavy ammunition, to be transported from Balaclava
Battle of Balaclava
The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Anglo-French-Turkish campaign to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea...
to the British troops engaged in the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War
Crimean War
The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. Betts in particular was responsible for obtaining the enormous amount of supplies and equipment, the fleet of ships to convey them from England to the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and the navvies and skilled workers needed to carry out the work, also in a very short period of time.
Domestic and civil
Around 1850 Betts bought a 'palatial residence', Preston HallPreston Hall, Aylesford
Preston Hall is a manorial home in Aylesford, Kent, England, dating back at least to 1102. Once owned by Henry Brassey and the Culpepper family and latterly used as a hospital, part of the estate became the Royal British Legion Village in the 1920s, and with some of the remaining land now given...
near Aylesford
Aylesford
Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, 4 miles NW of Maidstone in England.Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. One pub, a Post Office and four small independent shops remain...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, and had it rebuilt in a Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
style, where he employed a staff of 18. Also in the 1850s, he acquired a London home at 29 Tavistock Square
Tavistock Square
Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden with a fine garden.-Public art:The centre-piece of the gardens is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which was installed in 1968....
where he employed a further 8 servants and by 1860 he had moved to Great George Street, Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
. In 1858, already a magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
and a deputy lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
, he became high sheriff
High Sheriff
A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...
of Kent. In the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
of 1865, he contested the Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
seat as a Conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
but was unsuccessful.
Later life
In the 1860s, Betts and Peto overstretched themselves with the result that they ran into financial difficulties in the banking crisis of 1866. They became insolvent in the following year. Only minor works were to follow for Betts; small alterations to the Metropolitan RailwayMetropolitan railway
Metropolitan Railway can refer to:* Metropolitan line, part of the London Underground* Metropolitan Railway, the first underground railway to be built in London...
and an abortive attempt to improve the navigation of the River Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
. After his bankruptcy he moved to Bickley
Bickley
Bickley is an affluent residential area and electoral ward in the London Borough of Bromley, England. It is a suburban development situated 10.4 miles south east of Charing Cross...
, near Bromley
Bromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
, Kent. For the sake of his health he was sent by his doctors to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in 1871 but he died the following year in Aswan
Aswan
Aswan , formerly spelled Assuan, is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate.It stands on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract and is a busy market and tourist centre...
. He was buried at Aylesford. His estate was valued at less than £16,000.