Edward Watkin

Sir Edward Watkin Bt
Watkin by Augustus Henry Fox now in the National Railway Museum
Born	(1819-09-26)26 September 1819
Died	13 April 1901(1901-04-13) (aged 81)
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	(1) Mary Briggs Mellor (d.1888); (2) Ann Ingram
Children	2: Alfred Mellor Watkin (son)
Relatives	William Thompson Watkin (cousin)

Sir Edward William Watkin, 1st Baronet (26 September 1819 – 13 April 1901) was a British Member of Parliament and railway entrepreneur. He was an ambitious visionary, and presided over large-scale railway engineering projects to fulfil his business aspirations, eventually rising to become chairman of nine different British railway companies.

Among his more notable projects were: his expansion of the Metropolitan Railway, part of today's London Underground; the construction of the Great Central Main Line, a purpose-built high-speed railway line; the creation of a pleasure garden with a partially constructed iron tower at Wembley; and a failed attempt to dig a Channel Tunnel under the English Channel to connect his railway empire to the French rail network.