Henry Archer
From Festipedia, hosted by the FR Heritage Group
FR Director from 1832 - 1837
FR Company Manager from 1832 - 1837 as Managing Director under the Act of Incorporation
Henry Archer was the principal founding shareholder of the Festiniog Railway Company
He was the son of a Dublin City Treasurer and was the inventor of the first postage stamp perforating machine.
He left actively running the company after a split with other directors in 1836, though he continued to have a shareholding. It seems possible that the major dispute was over the Moelwyn Tunnel; Archer was in favour of the inclines which were built, but the expense of them was such that it might have been cheaper to have built the tunnel in the first place; in any event it was built 1839-42. It may also have been Archer who induced Robert Stephenson to visit in 1832 and see the site. It has been plausibly argued that it was at this visit that the confined horse-and-cart loading gauge of the FR was settled. The original silver trowel (now in the Archives) for the first stone laying by William Gruffydd Oakeley in 1833 has a Dublin hallmark of 1828 and one may imagine Archer buying it in Dublin and having it engraved for the occasion.
Born: 1799. Died: France 1863. Source: Lewis
[edit]Referencess
Boyd, James I.C. [1959] (1975 / 2002). The Festiniog Railway 1800 - 1974; Vol. 1 - History and Route. Blandford: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-8536-1167-X. OCLC 2074549.
More detailed information on Henry Archer and his relationship with the FR can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Archer