Sir William Guy Granet (13 October 1867 – 11 October 1943) trained as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

but became a noted railway administrator, first as general manager of the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

then as a director-general in the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

Biography

Guy Granet was the second son of William Augustus Granet and his wife Adelaide Julia Granet, ''née'' Le Mesurier. He was born in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, where his father was a banker. His elder brother was British army officer

Edward John Granet Brigadier-General Edward John Granet CB (August 1858 – 22 October 1918) was a British Army general. He had a long career serving in the field in the Second Anglo-Afghan War and in the 1884 Nile Expedition. He later became a staff officer and ...

. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

(Modern History, 1889), and was called to the bar in 1893 at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

. In 1892 he married Florence Gully, daughter of

William Court Gully William Court Gully, 1st Viscount Selby PC, KC (29 August 18356 November 1909) was a British lawyer and Liberal politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1895 and 1905. Background and education Gully was the son of Jam ...

(later Viscount Selby). They had one child, Diana, who married the novelist

Denis Mackail Denis George Mackail (3 June 1892 – 4 August 1971) was an English fiction writer. His work was popular in his time, but much of his work has been forgotten. However, ''Greenery Street'', a 1925 novel of early married life in upper middle-clas ...

. Granet moved into railway management after holding the post of secretary to the

Railway Companies' Association The Railway Companies' AssociationModern commentators (Bonavia, Harris) drop the apostrophe in the name of this organisation, but Alderman includes it (when not abbreviating it to 'Railway Association'). The Association doesn't seem to have been r ...

from 1900 to 1905. He was appointed assistant general manager of the

(MR) in 1905 and became its general manager the following year, on the resignation of John Mathieson. This was very unusual at that time, when managers almost always rose through the ranks of railway operators. Over the ensuing eight years his organisational skills, and the analytic brain of his appointee as general superintendent,

Cecil Paget Lt.-Col. Sir Cecil Walter Paget, 2nd Baronet (19 October 1874 – 9 December 1936),''Who was who'', 1941. was an English locomotive engineer and railway administrator. He was general superintendent of Midland Railway from 1907 until the First ...

, effected a revolution in the company's ability to handle its heavy freight traffic expeditiously and profitably. Nonetheless, their 'traffic control' solution resulted in stifling locomotive development within the MR: the departure of chief mechanical engineer R. M. Deeley has been attributed to Granet's rejection of his moves to introduce 8-coupled freight locomotives and de Glehn 4-6-0s for express passenger use. Having impressed parliamentary committees as an expert witness, it was natural that Granet would be called upon by the government during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and he was successively: controller of import restrictions; deputy director of military railways at the

; and director-general of movements and railways. Granet retained his MR appointment until 1918, when he resigned and was given a seat on the company's board. At the

grouping Grouping generally refers to the creation of one or more groups, or to the groups themselves. More specifically, grouping may refer to: * Shot grouping in shooting sports and other uses of firearms * the use of symbols of grouping in mathemati ...

in 1923 he became deputy chairman of the new

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...

Company and was its chairman 1924–1927. As at the Midland, his appointee, this time Sir Josiah Stamp as president (chairman and chief executive), was crucial in the modernisation of the company's management. Granet was knighted in 1911 as a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

and created GBE (Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

) in 1923. He died at Burleigh Court, near

Stroud, Gloucestershire Stroud is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District. The town's population was 13,500 in 2021. Sited below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills, at ...

, two days before his 76th birthday, after some five years of ill health. Granet is the great-great uncle of the French author and publisher Francois Granet.

References

Sources

* Alderman, Geoffrey, ''The railway interest'', Leicester, Leicester University Press, 1973, * Hartley, Harold, 'Granet, Sir (William) Guy', in ''The dictionary of national biography, 1941-1950'', London : OUP, 1959 * 'Sir Guy Granet' bituary''The Times'', 12 October 1943, p. 6e * 'Granet, Sir (Wm.) Guy' in ''Who was who, vol.4 : 1941-1950'', London : Black, arly 1950s?

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Granet, Guy 1867 births 1943 deaths Knights Bachelor Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Midland Railway people London, Midland and Scottish Railway people British expatriates in Italy People educated at Rugby School