ABSTRACT
The Pease family of Darlington provided the banker’s backing for the Stockton and Darlington railway, and was prominent in railway management for well over a hundred years. The business may go to nephews or even more distant relatives in large families; or the business may be sold by the widow or other heirs, and a new family takes over and perhaps solves the succession problem. The benefit that the son has, besides inheriting a going business, is the training that the father can give him, especially if the growth period corresponds with his own attainment of maturity. He sees the business grow and gets the opportunity to understand it thoroughly. The founder of the business, Richard Crawshay, began in an iron warehouse in London and bought himself into partnership in the iron works at Cyfarthfa. He wielded great power in the Welsh iron industry and became known as the ‘King of Merthyr’.
