“ WATKIN, SIR EDWARD WILLIAM, 1st Bart. (1819-1901) , English railway manager, was born in Manchester on the 26th of September 1819. He was the son of Absalom Watkin, a merchant in Manchester, and was employed in his father's counting-house, ultimately becoming a partner; but in 1845 he was appointed secretary of the Trent Valley railway, which was soon afterwards absorbed by the London & North-Western Company. ”

“ The latter scheme, however, failed to obtain the necessary public and political support. Other projects had even less success. His plans for a tunnel between Scotland and Ireland under the North Channel, and for a ship canal across Ireland from Galway to Dublin, did not come to anything ”