Broadstairs, which Dickens had described as a "hideous temple of flint, a petrified haystack". Crampton donated a clock as a personal gift to the church. he also donated a wrought iron bridge which was built across Goodson Steps. This is the Louisa Gap bridge, named after his youngest daughter. Crampton was elected vice-president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1883. Peto, Betts and Crampton Crampton entered a partnership with Sir Morton Peto and Edward Betts to undertake part of the construction of the London Chatham and Dover Railway. When the partnership became insolvent in 1867, Crampton was made personally bankrupt, but, unlike Peto and Betts, managed to retain his good reputation and continue in business. Railway lines constructed Crampton was, wholly or partly, responsible for the railway lines built between Smyrna and Aidin; Varna and Rustchuk; Strood and Dover; Sevenoaks and Swanley; and Herne Bay and Faversham. The latter three lines being built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LCDR). Crampton was also the contractor, and later chairman of the East and West Junction Railway. A Crampton locomotive was used to haul the first train from Kineton to Fenny Compton. Crampton was a partner in the Mont Cenis Pass Railway Electric telegraph Crampton was responsible for the laying of the first international submarine cable in the world. This was laid in the Strait of Dover in 1851. The first messages were carried on 13 November 1851 and the cable was in use until 1859. The company behind the project was an Anglo-French undertaking, known as la Compagnie du télégraphe sous-marin in France and the Submarine Telegraph Company between France and England in Great Britain. Crampton was the engineer, and Charlton Wollaston was the electrician involved in laying the cable across the Channel. The SER were another early user of the electric telegraph, and it was by use of the SER's wires that messages were able to be transmitted between Paris and London, being relayed from Dover. Channel Tunnel Crampton designed an automatic hydraulic tunnel boring machine, which was intended to be used in the construction of the Channel Tunnel. Modern drilling techniques were made possible by this invention. Family Crampton's first wife died on 16 March 1875 and he married Elizabeth Werge on 25 August 1881. He left six sons and one daughter, who married Sir Horace Rumbold, ambassador at Vienna. References Attribution Further reading On the advantages