Sir Alfred Watkin, 2nd Baronet

Sir Alfred Mellor Watkin, 2nd Baronet (11 August 1846 – 30 November 1914)[1][2][3] was a Liberal Party politician and railway engineer.

Alfred Watkin
Bt MP
Sir Alfred Watkin
Member of Parliament
for Great Grimsby
In office
1877–1880
Preceded byJohn Chapman
Succeeded byEdward Heneage
Personal details
Born11 August 1846
Manchester
Died30 November 1914(1914-11-30) (aged 68)
Folkestone, Kent
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal
Spouse
Catherine Elizabeth Smith
​
​
(m. 1876)​
Parent(s)Sir Edward Watkin, Bt
Mary Briggs Mellor

Railway career

In 1863, around age 17, Watkin became an apprentice in the locomotive department of the West Midland Railway before being transferred the next year to the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway where he qualified as an express engine driver. In 1866, he then became a locomotive inspector of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, and the South Eastern Railway. He became a locomotive independent of the latter in 1873, director in 1878, and chairman of its locomotive committee of directors from 1880 to 1900.[4]

Parliamentary career

He was elected Liberal MP for Great Grimsby at a by-election in 1877, gaining the seat from the Conservative Party. He did not attempt to retain the seat at the next election in 1880.[5]

Baronetage

He became the 2nd Baronet of Rose Hill upon his father Edward Watkin's death in 1901, and the title became extinct upon his own death in 1914.[4][6]

Other activities

During his life, Watkin was a Deputy Lieutenant of Middlesex, a Justice of the Peace, and a Chevalier of the Order of Leopold of Belgium.[4]

References
  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)
  2. "Sir Alfred Mellor Watkin, 2nd Bt". The Peerage. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  3. Foster, Joseph (1883). The baronetage and knightage. Nichols and Sons.
  4. "Alfred Mellor Watkin". Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  5. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3.
  6. Leigh Rayment's list of baronets – Baronetcies beginning with "W" (part 1)


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