HUSKISSON, William (1770-1830). Statesman. Killed by a railway train.
Long Autograph Letter Signed to J. Bolton, 4 pages 4to, Whitehall Place, 29 January 1823. Accepting the offer to stand as Member Parliament for Liverpool.

'As you anticipate my acceptance of the intended invitation from Liverpool; so you will allow me to assume that it will be such an inivitation from Mr Canning's Friends, as I shall feel it a public duty not to decline. In that case, I shall be most happy to avail myself of your Hospitality during my stay at Liverpool. ...'

Huskisson succeeded George Canning as MP for Liverpool after deputising for him on Livepool business in parliament. He was present at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway when 'On 15 September, in an atmosphere of technological excitement compounded by political intrigue, Huskisson, having alighted from the train during a stop at Parkside, fell into the path of the oncoming Rocket engine while attempting to re-enter the duke of Wellington's carriage. [Samuel Smiles Lives of the Engineers gives a graphic account of his being conveyed pell-mell in a carriage hauled by the same engine with George Stephenson on the footplate in search of help] (He died later that evening at the home of the Revd Thomas Blackburne, facing death stoically but with characteristic attention to detail, correcting the signature to the hasty codicil to his will. He was the first fatality of the railway age. His widow reluctantly acceded to civic request, and Huskisson was buried at St James's Church, Liverpool, on 24 September. A monument stands by the track near the scene of the accident.' [Oxford DNB].
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