Samuel Morton Peto

Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 1st Baronet (4 August 1809 – 13 November 1889) was an English entrepreneur, civil engineer and railway developer, and, for more than 20 years, a Member of Parliament. A partner in the firm of Grissell and Peto, he managed construction firms that built many major buildings and monuments in London, including The Reform Club, The Lyceum, Nelson's Column and the new Houses of Parliament; which made him a millionaire. As a partner in Peto and Betts, he then became one of the major contractors in the building of the rapidly expanding railways of the time.