Edward Ladd Betts (5 June 1815 - 21 January 1872) was an English civil engineering contractor who was mainly involved in the building of railways. June 5 is the 156th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (157th in leap years), with 209 days remaining. ... April 5-12: Mount Tambora explodes, changing climate. ... January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The English are an ethnic group and nation primarily associated with England and the English language. ... The term civil engineer refers to an individual who practices civil engineering. ... A general contractor is an organization or individual that contracts with another organization or individual (the owner) for the construction of a building, road or other facility. ...

Early life

He was born at Buckland, near Dover, the son of a contractor's agent, William Betts. He was apprenticed to a builder at Lincoln but becoming more interested in engineering he then worked as agent for Hugh McIntosh building the Black Rock lighthouse at Beaumaris, Anglesey. Buckland is a village near (and now merged with) Dover, England. ... Arms of Dover Borough Council This article is about the English port town. ... Lincoln (pronounced //) is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England. ... The Royal Borough of Beaumaris is the former county town of the island of Anglesey and is located on the shore of the eastern entrance to the Menai Straits - the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from the coast of North Wales. ...

Railway contractor

His first railway undertaking was to supervise for McIntosh the building of the Dutton viaduct on the Grand Junction Railway under George Stephenson as engineer. After the death of McIntosh in 1840 William Betts & Sons gained contracts on the South Eastern Railway in a stretch which included the Saltwood tunnel. After that Edward Betts continued to gain contracts, now on his own, especially in the Chester area. Torontos Bloor Street Viaduct bridges the Don valley; road traffic uses the upper deck, rail traffic uses the lower deck. ... The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1833 and 1846. ... George Stephenson George Stephenson For the British politician, see George Stevenson. ... The London and Greenwich Railway (LGR), together with the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (CWR) in East Kent were the earliest railways to serve the then county of Kent: eventually both became parts of the South Eastern Railway (SER). ... For the larger local government district, see City of Chester. ...

In 1843 Betts married the sister of another railway contractor, Samuel Morton Peto. When Peto's partnership with Thomas Grissell was dissolved in 1846 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 St Lawrence River at Montreal.^[1] Other railways were built by Peto and Betts in Denmark, Russia, Algeria, South America and Australia. Sir Samuel Morton Peto Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 1st Baronet (August 4, 1809 – November 13, 1889) was an English entrepreneur in the 19th century. ... The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company, founded by the London & York Railway Act of 1846. ... Thomas Brassey (1805-1870) was an English railway contractor, born in Cheshire. ... 1885 map The Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) was a historic railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. ... Victoria Bridge, Montreal The Victoria Bridge at Montreal, Quebec is the name for the first bridge spanning the St. ... The Saint Lawrence River (French fleuve Saint-Laurent) is a large west-to-east flowing river in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. ... Nickname: City of Mary Motto: Concordia Salus Coordinates: Country Canada Province Québec Founded 1642 Established 1832  - Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area [1] [2]    - City 185. ...

The Grand Crimean Central Railway

Peto, Betts and Brassey built at great speed the Grand Crimean Central Railway 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.^[2] Balaclava and gun A balaclava, balaclava helmet or ski mask is a form of headgear covering the whole head, exposing only the face (and often only the eyes). ... Combatants United Kingdom France Russia Commanders General François Canrobert (later replaced by General Pélissier) Lord Raglen Admiral Kornilov (later replaced by Admiral Pavel Nakhimov) Lt. ... Combatants Allies: Second French Empire United Kingdom Ottoman Empire Kingdom of Sardinia Russian Empire Bulgarian volunteers Casualties 90,000 French 35,000 Turkish 17,500 British 2,050 Sardinian killed, wounded and died of disease 256,000 killed, wounded and died of disease The Crimean War (1854–1856) was fought... NASA satelite image of the Black Sea Map of the Black Sea The Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Anatolia that is actually a distant arm of the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Mediterranean Sea. ... Navvy is a shorter form of the word navigator and is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects. ...

Domestic and civil

Around 1850 Betts bought a 'palatial residence', Preston Hall near Aylesford in Kent, and had it rebuilt in a Jacobean style, where he employed a staff of 18. Also in the 1850s he had 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.^[1] Aylesford is a large village on the River Medway in Kent, 4 miles NW of Maidstone in England. ... This article is about the county in England. ... Jacobean - an early phase of English Renaissance architecture and decoration. ... Tavistock Square Tavistock Square is a square in Bloomsbury, London. ... Westminster is a district within the City of Westminster in London. ... A magistrate is a judicial officer. ... The Deputy Lieutenant is the deputy to the Lord Lieutenant of a county. ... The High Sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement position in Anglosphere countries. ... A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ... Maidstone (pronounced either mādstun or mādstone) is the county town of Kent, in South East England, United Kingdom. ... Conservatism is a political philosophy that usually favors traditional values and strong foreign defense. ...

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 Railway 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 under £16,000.^[1] This is a historical article. ... The Danube (ancient Danuvius, ancient Greek Istros) is the longest river of the European Union and Europes second-longest[3] (after the Volga). ... Bickley is a residential area in the London Borough of Bromley (formerly in the county of Kent). ... Bromley is the principal town in the London Borough of Bromley, England. ... Aswan (Arabic: أسوان Aswān) (, population 200,000) is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Port, M. H., 'Betts, Edward Ladd (1815-1872)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004. Online edn, Oct 2006, accessed 16 February 2007.
2. ^ Cooke, Brian The Grand Crimean Central Railway, pp. 22-26. Cavalier House, Knutsford, 1990. ISBN 0-9515889-0-7

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Further reading

• Joby, R S The Railway Builders: Lives and Works of the Victorian Railway Conctractors, David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1983, ISBN 0-7153-7959-3