CHAP. IX. DARLINGTON RAILWAY PROJECTED. 151 



sequently obtained the designation, which it still enjoys,! 

 of " The Quakers' Line." 



The engineer first employed to make a survey of 

 the line was a Mr. Overton, who had had considerable 

 experience in the formation of similar roads in Wales. 

 The necessary preliminary steps were taken in the year 

 1818 to apply for an Act to authorise the construction of 

 a tramroad from Wit ton to Stockton. The measure was 

 however, strongly opposed by the Duke of Cleveland, 

 because the proposed line passed near to one of his 

 fox covers ; and, having considerable parliamentary 

 influence, he succeeded in throwing out the bill by a 

 majority of only thirteen, above one hundred members 

 voting in support of the measure. A nobleman said, 

 when he heard of the division, " Well, if the Quakers 

 in these times, when nobody knows anything about 

 railways, can raise up such a phalanx in their support, 

 I should recommend the county gentlemen to be very 

 wary how they oppose them in future." 



A new survey was then made, avoiding the Duke's 

 fox cover ; and in 1819 a renewed application was made 

 to Parliament for an Act. But George III. dying in 

 January, 1820, while Parliament was still sitting, there 

 was a dissolution, and the Bill was necessarily suspended. 

 The promoters, however, did not lose sight of their pro- 

 ject. They had now spent a considerable sum of money 

 in surveys and legal and parliamentary expenses, and 

 wt-re determined to proceed, though they were still 

 unable to enlist the active support of the inhabitants 

 of the district proposed to be served by the railway. 



The energy of Edward Pease, backed by the support 

 of his Quaker friends, enabled him to hold the company 

 together, to raise the requisite preliminary funds from 

 time to time for the purpose of prosecuting the under- 

 taking, and eventually to overcome the opposition 

 raised against the measure in Parliament. The bill 

 at length passed ; and the royal assent was given to 



