ABSTRACT
Introduction By the latter part of the nineteenth century, the early twentieth century and probably well into the inter-war period, British investment in railways took place across many borders throughout the world and on a colossal scale. It became a huge, and arguably, the most decisive force in creating and sustaining railways throughout the world. Estimates that provide an overview of the scale and geographical distribution patterns of British investment in railways abroad for the entire period from 1830 to 1914 are practically impossible to obtain. However David Fieldhouse, using earlier estimates produced by Herbert Feis, considers that by 1914 British-based markets had some 1.5 billion British pounds invested in railway capital throughout the world.1 This made up 40.68 per cent of Britain’s total capital investment overseas which equalled 3.8 billions by that year.2 The following chapter attempts to provide a more detailed examination of British investment in overseas railways throughout the period of 1830 to 1914, together with a consideration as to why this level of investment was so significant throughout this time period. Was it the ‘Imperial Dream’ that contemporary British society held; the assurances regarding investment that railway engineers and promoters forwarded, or the fact that the British capital market was at such a pitch that the British public were ‘hungry’ for investment opportunities wherever they presented themselves, that drew British capital across so many borders throughout the world?3
