a director of the Midland from 1854 to 1857, but returned to being the general manager. When he retired in 1880 he was given an honorary directorship, and was knighted in 1884. Allport was sponsor of an Act of Parliament in 1883 to install a network of high-pressure cast iron water mains under London. It merged two of Edward B. Ellington's companies to form the London Hydraulic Power Company, which eventually powered machinery in docks and buildings across large areas of central London. Allport died at the Midland Grand Hotel, St. Pancras, on 25 April 1892, from acute inflammation of the lungs, the result of a chill. His funeral at Belper Cemetery took place on 29 April 1892. References Sources External links Billson, P., (1996) Derby and the Midland Railway, Derby: Breedon Books 1811 births 1892 deaths Midland Railway people Great Central Railway people Knights Bachelor People from Birmingham, West Midlands Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway 19th-century English businesspeople