Background
The son of a cotton merchant, he moved to England in 1808, and in 1820 formed the trading company Leo Schuster, Brothers & Company, cotton merchants based in Manchester, Bradford and Liverpool.
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Leo Schuster
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Career
In 1855 he moved to London, and formed the merchant bank Schuster Sons & Company in Cannon Street, City of London. Through this he became involved in financing various railway ventures, and was Chairman of the London and Brighton Railway. Chairman, LB&SCR
After Laing retired at the end of 1855 to pursue a political career, Schuster replaced him as chairman of the LB&SCR, instituting a policy of rapidly expanding new routes throughout South London, Sussex, and East Surrey.
Some of these routes were financed and built by the company itself, while others were built by independent local companies, set up with the intention of connecting their town to the growing railway network, and with the intention of sale or lease to the LB&SCR. Schuster accelerated the speed of mileage increase after appointing Frederick Banister as the new Chief Engineer in 1860.
Resultantly, between 1857 and 1865 a further 177 miles (285 km) were constructed or authorised. The growth of the LB&SCR came to a halt in 1866 with the collapse of London bankers Overend, Gurney and Company.
The subsequent United Kingdom financial crisis the following year brought the railway to the brink of bankruptcy. A special meeting of shareholders was adjourned, and the powers of the Board of Directors were suspended pending receipt of a report into the financial affairs of the company and its prospects.
The report made clear that the railway had over-extended itself with large capital projects sustained by profits from its passenger traffic, which suddenly declined as a result of the crisis.
Several of the country lines were losing money, and resultantly in restructuring the company Schuster was forced to resign in favour of new chairman Peter Northall Lawrie. Crystal Palace
The consortium persuaded the board of the LB&SCR to build a new Crystal Palace railway station to service the new location and it opened in 1854.
Membership
In the 1850s, Schuster and Laing were both members of a consortium of eight men who bought The Crystal Palace and relocated the building to south London at Sydenham Hill.
