George Hudson George Hudson George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King" – a title conferred on him by Sydney Smith in 1844. Hudson played a significant role in linking London to Edinburgh by rail, carrying out the first major merging of railway companies (the Midland Railway), developing his hometown of York into a major railway junction, and represented Sunderland in the House of Commons. Hudson's success was built on dubious financial practices
George Robert Smith (MP) George Robert Smith (MP) George Robert Smith (2 May 1793 – 22 February 1869) was an English banker and Whig politician. His great-grandfather was Thomas Smith, founder of Smith's Bank; his father George Smith (1765–1836) was a director of the East India Company. His uncle Lord Carrington was patron of the pocket borough of Midhurst in Sussex, for which his father was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1830 to 1831. George Robert was returned as MP at the 1831 general election, but the Reform Act abolished most of the family's pocket boroughs, and Smith was left without a seat