HUDSON, GEORGE English railway finan cier, known as the "railway king," was born in York in March 1800. He helped to secure the passing of the York and North Midland bill, and was elected chairman of the new company— the line being opened in 1839. From this time he turned his un divided attention to the projection of railways. In 1841 he initiated the Newcastle and Darlington line. With George Stephenson he planned and carried out the extension of the Midland to New castle, and by 1844 had over a thousand miles of railway under his control. In this year the mania for railway speculation was at its height, and no man was more courted than the "railway king." Deputy-lieutenant for Durham, and thrice lord mayor of York, he was returned in the Conservative interest for Sunderland in 1845. He was suddenly ruined by the disclosure of the Eastern Railway frauds. Sunderland clung to her generous representative till 1859, but on the bursting of the bubble he had lost influence and fortune at a single stroke. He died in London, on Dec. 14, 1871.