AGY-1626 | Sydney Tramroad and Railway Company Provisional Committee

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'Sydney Railway Company' Provisional Committee

On September 11 1848 a meeting was convened at the offices of the Gas Company in Sydney to obtain public support for a railway venture by issuing a prospectus. A committee was formed to make preliminary arrangements of the establishment of "The Australian, Southern and Western Railway Company". The Committee consisted of -

Mr Cowper (Chairman) , Wm. Bowman, Daniel Cooper, H.T. Hood, Charles Kemp, Robert Lowe, A. Moses, T.A. Murray, H. O'Brien, F. Rossi, Thomas Rankin, Frederick Darvall, T. Iceley, Jno. Lamb, S. Lyons, George McLeay, Charles Nicholson, Jas. N Oxley, Jas. Simmons, Jas. Byrnes, T. Holt jnr, Arth. Jeffreys, Wm. Lithgow, A. Michie, T.S. Mort, Geo. Oakes, Rob. Porter, H. G. Smith, Wm. Walker, G.Weston

Local committees were formed at Bathurst, Goulburn, Parramatta, Queanbeyan, and Yass to attract investors among the pastoralists while the central committee in Sydney recruited notable businessmen. On 24 November the "Prospectus of the Sydney Tramroad and Railway Company" was published. (The tramroad refers to the intention to build an experimental line of tramway in the neighbourhood of the City).

On 13 November 1849 the general meeting of shareholders formed the Sydney Railway Company and elected the following Directors to form its first Board -

C. Cowper, C. Kemp, C. Nicholson, Jno. Lamb, Wm. Bradley, Danl. Cooper jnr

The provisional committee ceased to exist.

REFERENCES

Rae, John, Commissioner for Railways, 'Report on the Origin and Progress of the Railways of New South Wales, from 1846 to 1864 inclusive', in the Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Assembly during the session 1865-66, Volume 2