Hugh Beaver Roberts was a successful solicitor practising in Bangor, the second son of Hugh Roberts of Glan-y-Menai, Anglesey. Educated at Rugby school he became a solicitor, taking over the practise of John Hughes in Bangor following the death of Hughes in 1849. Roberts succeeded Hughes as Clerk to the Bangor Magistrates, Diocesan Registrar, Chapter Clerk and agent to the Bishop. He became District Registrar of the Court of Probate following its establishment in Bangor in 1859 and was appointed Justice of the Peace for Caernarvonshire, Denbighshire and Merioneth, and Deputy Lieutenant for Merioneth. He was a member of the Bangor Board of Health, 1850 - 1854, and the political agent of the Hon. George Sholto Douglas Pennant during the parliamentary election campaign of 1868.
Roberts married Harriet Wyatt and lived at Bryn Menai in Upper Bangor where their five children were born. In 1858 he purchased the Plas Madog estate near Llanrwst and the family moved to live at Plas Madog.
Roberts had interests in several quarries, and particularly important for our story, the rail links to some of them. He owned the Ffridd Nant Quarry at Penmachno and the Braich Quarry in the Moel Tryfan area. He was a director of the Bowydd and Maenofferen Quarries in Blaenau Ffestiniog and the Croesor Fawr Slate Quarry. Within the Croesor valley, Roberts was a landowner, owning the land on which several quarries were located, including the Croesor Fawr Slate Quarry.
Roberts first makes an appearance in connection with railway promotion in 1853 when he circularised all landowners likely to be involved in the proposed Conway & Llanrwst Railway. By 1857, Roberts was acting on behalf of the Festiniog Railway, Charles Spooner writing to Roberts asking him to collect debts owed to the FR by the Wrysgan Slate Co. In 1858 he drew up a lease for the operation of the Gorseddau tramway.
In October 1863 a Deed of Covenant was made between Roberts and the Rhosydd Slate Co. Ltd. Roberts granted the quarry a wayleave to build a tramway and incline to meet the Croesor tramway, specifying the rates of carriage, a useful controlling influence that Roberts had over one of the main quarries to use the Croesor Tramway.
On the creation of the formal Croesor & Portmadoc Railway, Roberts was listed as the chairman. Roberts was already trying to persuade the Festiniog to work the tramway by 1869, the FR board agreed that they did not wish to purchase, operate or amalgamate with the line until its track was put in order.
In 1872 Roberts appears in connection with the North Wales Narrow Gauge Railways proposals, Roberts was to upgrade the tramway to the appropriate standards as part of the grand plan to build a network of narrow gauge railways across North Wales. Roberts was himself one of the NWNGR proposers, another being Livingston Thompson, director of the FR.
In April 1872, the NWNGR and Roberts agree to the latter undertaking to operate the Moel Tryfan undertaking on a 21-year lease. This was a remarkable arrangement, Roberts was required to cover the six per-cent debenture interest, the NWNGR's administrative expenses, a six per-cent dividend on share capital and a proportion of the profits. He was allocated £10,000 to purchase rolling stock, which was to be returned on expiry of the lease to the full £10,000 value. In addition, Roberts was obliged to provide locomotives on the Fairlie principle, paying the £300 royalty on each locomotive. The terms of this lease suggest the Roberts was in no doubt as to the likely success of the line, it seems unlikely he would have agreed to these onerous terms unless he had total confidence in the ability of the line to pay its way.
By August 1874, construction work had ceased on the NWNGR and Roberts repudiated his lease. The company claimed he had no right to do so, but after taking legal advice decided not to stand in Roberts' way. By this time Roberts was no longer on the board of the NWNGR. The issue clearly dragged on for some time, a circular to the shareholders dated September 1876 stated that Roberts was prepared to pay double the going rate on all slates shipped over the line from his quarry until gross receipts for the line exceeded £10,000 per annum. It appears that Roberts was by far the biggest user of the line during the early years of the line, which opened to goods traffic during May 1877.
Roberts was still actively attempting to expand the Croesor Tramway, the 1879 Portmadoc, Croesor & Beddgelert Tram Railway Company had Roberts as Company Secretary. In 1882 Roberts was still trying to get the Festiniog interested in the Croesor Tramway, using Spooner as an intermediary.
Roberts sold Braich Quarry in 1881 at around the same time that his interests in the Croesor Tramway ended, following this he faded from the North Wales narrow gauge scene.
Boyd J.I.C. - Narrow Gauge Railways In South Caernarvonshire, Volume 1, Oakwood Press 1988
Boyd J.I.C. - The Festiniog Railway, Volume 1, Oakwood Press 1975
Boyd J.I.C. - Narrow Gauge Railways In North Caernarvonshire, Volume 3, Oakwood Press 1986
Johnson P. - Portrait of the Welsh Highland Railway, Ian Allan, 1999