John Brogden (2 February, 1798 – 9 December, 1869) was a railway industrialist. He formed the company John Brogden and Sons with four of his five sons. Early life Brogden was born on 2 February, 1798 on his father's farm at Worston, near Clitheroe in Lancashire. He was raised in Worston and at another farm near Clitheroe. He was educated at Clitheroe Grammar School. John Brogden and Sons As a young man he moved to a rapidly growing Manchester and established himself as a cleansing contractor. Whereas other ambitious young men in Manchester at that time chose to work in the burgeoning cotton industry, Brogden was an outdoor man, fond of riding and hunting and experienced with horses, so he preferred to work in haulage and transport. He partnered with Joseph Whitworth to use the latter's patent cleansing machines. He also started the same business in Westminster. In 1838, he obtained contracts with the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company to build their Manchester station (now Manchester Victoria station) and the viaduct from the station to Miles Platting. He formed the company John Brogden and Sons, after the eldest four of his five sons came of age and joined him in business. He took iron-mining leases in Furness. They quickly saw that a rail link from Furness to the rest of England and Wales was critical to the industrial development of Furness so they promoted the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway to run across Morecambe Bay from Carnforth to Ulverston, receiving the Royal Assent in 1851. This was an innovative, challenging and risky project but it was eventually completed in 1857 and soon purchased by the Furness Railway. Beginning in 1853 the family expanded into South Wales buying mining leases and an Iron Works in the Llynfi and Ogmore Valleys. They developed these vigorously, also building a railway in the Ogmore Valley and a new harbour at Porthcawl. Personal life In 1822 he married Sarah Hannah McWilliams, only daughter of Alexander McWilliams of Hazelhurst near Ashton-under-Lyne. She had been educated at the Moravian School in Dukinfield . From an early age Brogden was a Methodist and in later life he contributed generously in time and money to Methodist and other good causes. The family lived as Methodists. The Methodists had close connections with the Moravians and, on his many travels, John would have found Methodist chapels much easier to find than Moravian