George Hudson Bentinck introduced a bill to build a railway network in Ireland. The cost of the proposal was £16 million which George Hudson, no doubt sensing an opportunity, supported. The government did not support the bill which was ultimately defeated. In the run up to the 1852 general election Hudson – who by this time was in severe financial difficulty – spoke on several issues including a repeal of a timber tax and on a corrupt practices bill. He was re-elected by 54 votes in the election but with his railway career in decline and drinking heavily he presented rather a
George Hudson its Georgian south front. The mansion, its interior reconstructed after a fire in 1902, is now home to Queen Mary's School, a girls' independent school. When Hudson became an MP he bought a property in Albert Gate in Knightsbridge, London which became the centre of the Hudsons' social life in London. Today (2018) it is the French embassy. Octon Grange was bought as a strategic investment in August 1844. Hudson hoped his sons would both inherit a country house and this was also close to the then proposed Bridlington branch line. This estate, bought within a year, effectively ended George