Sir Alexander Valentine | |
|---|---|
 Sir Alexander Valentine in 1964 | |
| Born | (1899-12-22)22 December 1899 |
| Died | 1 December 1977(1977-12-01) (aged 77) |
| Occupation | Transport administrator |
| Title | Chairman ofLondon Transport Executive/London Transport Board |
| Term | 1959–1965 |
| Predecessor | SirJohn Elliot |
| Successor | SirMaurice Holmes |
Sir Alexander (Alec) Balmain Bruce ValentineOStJ (22 December 1899 – 1 December 1977),[1] was Chairman of theLondon Transport Executive from 1959 to 1963 and Chairman of theLondon Transport Board from 1963 to 1965.[2][3][4]
Valentine was born inStockport,[5] the son of Mr & Mrs Milward Valentine and grandson ofScottish theologianAlexander Balmain Bruce.[1] He married Beryl Barter in 1936 and the couple had three children, one son and two daughters.[1]
Valentine was educated atHighgate School andWorcester College, Oxford before working in the gas industry until 1927.[1] In 1928, he moved to theUnderground Group where he worked as assistant to its managing directorFrank Pick. After the Underground Group was absorbed into theLondon Passenger Transport Board (LPTB) in 1933, he remained with Pick (who became the LPTB's vice-chairman) until 1936. Valentine then held a series of senior management positions within the LPTB including Chief Commercial Officer and Operating Manager (Railways).[1]
When the LPTB wasnationalised in 1948, Valentine was made a member of the board of theLondon Transport Executive (LTE), the LPTB's replacement.[1] As part of the board, Valentine argued for the abandonment ofTrams in London, seeing them as a major cause ofroad congestion, which would be relieved by the introduction of buses, with the aesthetic benefit of doing away with overhead wires and the noisy operation of trams.[6] He was also a member of theLondon Plan Working Party between 1946 and 1948 which led planning for new transport routes in the capital including theVictoria line built in the 1960s and 1970s.[7] He served on the LTE board until 1954 when he moved to the board of the LTE's parent, theBritish Transport Commission (BTC).
In 1959, while remaining a member of the BTC board, he returned to the LTE as its chairman and remained in that position until the LTE was abolished and replaced with theLondon Transport Board of which he was also chairman until he retired in 1965.[1][2][3][4]
Valentine was a member of theChannel Tunnel Study Group from 1957 to 1962 and a director of the Channel Tunnel Company from 1956 to 1969. He was a Fellow of theChartered Institute of Transport and served as its president in 1951–1952 and was President of theDesign and Industries Association in 1963–1964.[1] He was Colonel commanding theEngineer and Railway Staff Corps of theRoyal Engineers from 1963 to 1964.[1]
Valentine was granted aknighthood in theQueen's birthday honours list in 1964.[8]
Valentine was a keen bird-watcher and walker, and, taking his pen-name from aBritish wild bird, he wrote articles on country walks asFieldfare in theEvening News during the 1930s. A collection of these was published asTramping Round London in 1933.[1]
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by SirJohn Elliot | Chairman, London Transport Executive 1959–1963 | Succeeded by Abolished |
| Preceded by New Position | Chairman, London Transport Board 1963–1965 | Succeeded by |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by Col.John Elliot | Officer Commanding, Engineer and Railway Staff Corps 1963–1964 | Unknown |
| London Passenger Transport Board |
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|---|---|
| London Transport Executive |
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| London Transport Board |
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| London Transport Executive |
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| London Regional Transport |
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| Transport for London |
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