who were very happy with their work, wages, food and social conditions. Their letters home encouraged more people to come. Many of today's New Zealanders have ancestors who were members of the families who emigrated at this time. Other work Brogdens built part of the Northampton and Peterborough Railway, from Oundle to Peterborough. They also doubled the line from Oundle to Peterborough (contracted 11 December 1845). They built sluices and tidal gates at St Germans, Norfolk, one of the outlets of The Fens. In July 1850 they joined Mr McClean in a lease of the South Staffordshire line. Alexander Brogden was general manager and Henry locomotive manager. This continued until February 1860 when the LNWR took a new lease. This line ran through Wednesbury and Alexander was elected as the first M.P. of that town in 1868. He held the seat until 1880. In the Netherlands Brogdens held the concession to construct about of railway – the Tilburg and Nijmegen in North Brabant and Gelderland, which formed part of the Dutch South Eastern Railway Company (DSERC) and a new direct route from London to Berlin via Flushing (Vlissingen). There was some dispute with the DSERC but the nature of this dispute is not clear. Richardson (1881) page 46 also refers to an ironworks in Finland and copper mines in Russia. An obituary of Henry Brogden refers to work in Australia and South America. The End of the Company The partnership of Alexander, Henry and James Brogden, trading as Brogdens from 52 Queen Victoria Street in the City of London, was dissolved on 31 July 1880 by order of the Chancery Division of Her Majesty's High Court of Justice with effect from 26 July. On 11 January 1884 the liquidations of Alexander and Henry were announced in the London Gazette. They had presented petitions for liquidation estimating their liabilities upwards of £500,000 with assets of £3,830. The properties associated with the Brogdens in Tondu and Maesteg were purchased by North's Navigation Collieries Ltd in 1889. The new company, initially led by Colonel John T. North, the 'Nitrate King', produced iron at the Tondu site until 1896 before concentrating on the booming coal trade in the Llynfi and Ogmore valleys. Notes and references Sources Manchester and Birmingham Railway Directors' Minutes: Public Record Office RAIL 454 Manchester and Leeds Railway Directors' Minutes: Public Record Office RAIL 343 Note: These two J D Marshalls