During this period, the town was mostly owned by three families: the Mallocks who owned the Cockington region, the Carys who owned Babbacombe, St Marychurch and the old monastery at Torre Abbey, and the Palk family which owned central Torquay or Tormohun. Tor Mohun takes its name from the tor or conspicuous hill known as Tor Hill today, and its suffix from the Mohuns who acquired the manor from the Brewers in the 13th century. The Mallocks resisted the changes convulsing Torquay for a long time because they did not want a town on their rural property, and they threw away a fortune rather than have it. It was not until 1865 that one of them consented to grant a building lease, and that only to a family connection. Disturbances and continued growth (mid-19th century) In the 1840s railway mania hit Torquay, it is difficult for us now to imagine how important railways were to the 19th century, perhaps the situation was best described by a noted English historian G.M. Trevelyan who wrote: "The railways were England's gift to the world." In fact, a large proportion of the world's trains still roll along tracks manufactured in the last century with the words 'Made in Birmingham' stamped on them. The people of Torquay knew that the railways would bring visitors and prosperity and they wanted the railway to come to their town. Finally, on 18 December 1848, Torre railway station (some distance from the sea) was opened and Torquay was connected to the rest of the country for the first time in its history. By 1850 the town was calling itself "The Queen of Watering Places" and "The Montpellier of England". Between 1841 and 1871, the population of the town rose by over 5,000 in each decade. On a Saturday morning in 1852 a town meeting decided to continue the railway down to the sea, to the harbour. The people at the meeting imagined Torquay as an industrial town, importing raw materials through the harbour and transporting finished articles inland. This decision caused great controversy, and in the afternoon of the same day another meeting was held cancelling the decision of the morning and deciding to continue the railway to the sea but not to the harbour. As a result, Torquay kept its character as a tourist town and became the place it is today. The new railway station was opened