George Francis Train

George Francis Train was a tramway engineer who arrived in Britain in 1860, where he constructed the first horse-drawn trams in Birkenhead and London, though they were heavily criticised as ‘sub-par’ by local authorities.

When the American Civil War broke out the following year, the rather eccentric character gave speeches throughout London, mostly in working-class areas, in favour of the North, in spite of his being pro-slavery.  His speeches tended to not only be anti-Confederate, but also anti-British.

With the exception of The London American, the capital’s press was very hostile towards Train.

He was deported from Britain before war’s end, and eventually was institutionalised in the United States in 1873 after becoming more eccentric.  He died in New York in 1904.