The London and Brighton Railway (Local Associations)
At this time (1842), the London and Brighton Railway, before the company's undertaking of a branch to St. Leonards and Hastings was charged with being badly managed. At one of the half yearly meetings, Mr. Troup, of Warrior square was one who accused the Company with mis-management, but he then figured ingloriously, in consequence of not having paid up the amount of his shares. Yet, although this generally restless and fault-finding critic was the only one who dissented from an otherwise unanimous approval of the Report there must have been something wrong in the management, or the following paragraph would not have appeared in the Brighton Guardian -In our columns, we reprint from the Railway Times a report of the half yearly meeting of the proprietors of the unfortunate London and Brighton Railway undertaking. The shareholders are now beginning to smart for the reckless conduct which throughout their career has been pursued by those who have had the management of their affairs, and show a disposition to introduce an extensive reform.
The best thing that can be done will be to call in a new broom in Angel Court and sweep out the whole lot. A more melancholy aspect than the affairs of this ill-fated company present, it is difficult to imagine!
In the mismanagement - if such it was - of the London and Brighton Railway, the St. Leonards people of that period had cause to regret that two of their number (one the secretary of the Company and the other in some other capacity), felt it necessary to leave their homes and their country for some abiding place abroad, where they ultimately finished their existence.
