Sam Fay
Sir Sam Fay (1856-1953) was a railway manager who restored the Midland and South Western Junction Railway to solvency. Was general Manager of the Great Central Railway; developed Immingham Docks. Later chairman of Beyer, Peacock and Co
1911 Testified before the Royal Commission on Railway Conciliation Boards
1953 Obituary [1]
IT is with regret that we have to record the death of Sir Sam Fay on Saturday last, May 30th, at the advanced age of ninety-six.
Sir Sam was born at Southampton on December 30, 1856, and, following his education at Blenheim House, Fareham, he joined the old London and South-Western Railway as a boy clerk in 1872, thus beginning an association with railways which lasted practically throughout his long life.
He joined the staff at Waterloo in about 1884, and from then on his promotion was rapid. He became second clerk in the traffic department, then chief clerk, and later assistant storekeeper.
In 1892 he was appointed general manager of the Midland and South-Western Junction Railway.
He returned to the London and South-Western Railway in 1899 as superintendent of the line and left it again in 1902 when he became general manager of the Great Central Railway, an office which he held for twenty years until his retirement-which coincided with the merging of the line in the London and North-Eastern Railway.
Sir Sam was knighted in 1912.
In the course of his career Sir Sam filled a number of important posts, including the Director of Movements at the War Office from January, 1917, to March. 1918, when he became Director-General of Movements and Railways and a member of the Army Council.
From 1913 till 1921 he was a member of the Railway Executive Committee and of the Ports and Transit Executive Committee. Following his appointment as chairman of the Royal Commission on the New South Wales Government Railways and Tramways, he made a report on the working of these railways to the New South Wales Government in 1925.
He was for a number of years a director of the Buenos Aires Great Southern and the Buenos Aires Western Railway Companies, and chairman of Beyer Peacock and Co., Ltd.
Sir Sam served as president of the Institute of Transport for the year 1922-23.