Background

George Stephenson was born on June 9, 1781, in Wylam, Northumberland to Robert and Mabel Stephenson. His father was a fireman with meagre means.

Education

Born in a financially weak household, education was a luxury which Stephenson could not afford. He took to working as a Newcomen engineman when he was 17. The money gained from the job was spent studying in a night school where he learned how to read and write. He even learned mathematics.

Career

At the age of 17, he entered a coal mine, working as an engineer in Water Row pit, Newburn. He later got jobs as a brakesman in different Northeast pits around the area of Newcastle.

He gained a reputation as an excellent engineer and impressed with his ability to fix a pumping engine at High Pit, Killingworth in 1811. In particular, he became an expert in steam-driven engineering. His knowledge was essentially practical, learning through trial and error, rather than through theoretical science.

In 1818, his common sense and willingness to experiment led him to develop a miner's safety lamp. At the time, many explosions were caused by naked flames and, as a result, the Royal Society offered a large reward for a successful lamp. George invented his version of the safety lamp around the same time as Sir Humphrey Davy. Davy was convinced that Stephenson had copied his idea. Though this was never proved. It may have been the fact that Davy didn't trust a largely uneducated miner to develop a lamp without the science Davy had used. Stephenson said: "The principles upon which a safety lamp might be constructed I stated to several persons long before Sir Humphrey Davy came into this part of the country. The plan of such a lamp was seen by several and the lamp itself was in the hands of the manufacturers during the time he was here."

A local inquiry exonerated Stephenson, and his lamp was used in the northeast and Davy's in the rest of the country. In 1833, a House of Commons committed found Stephenson had an equal share in the invention of the lamp.

Stephenson wasn't the first to design a realistic steam engine (that is credited to Richard Trevithick in 1804.) However, Stephenson was able to improve on these initial designs creating a much more powerful and practical locomotive that was capable of carrying substantial amounts of coal. In 1814, he developed his first engine - Blucher.

In 1820, Stephenson built the first railway which didn't use animal power but relied on steam. The line ran from Hetton colliery to Sunderland.

This was followed by the Stockton - Darlington railway of 1825. The 25-mile railway was an important development in steam only railways. It was opened to great fanfare, and the engine, Locomotion, reached a speed of 24 miles per hour on one stretch - carrying 8 tons of coal and flour. It was also the first engine to have a passenger car. The gauge used in the construction of this line - 8 and a half inches - became the world's standard gauge.

After Stephenson had demonstrated the power of steam engines in Darlington, a more ambitious scheme was pushed forward linking the towns of Liverpool and Manchester. The proponents of the railway hoped it would make it much easier to transport cloth, produced in Manchester to the port of Liverpool. It was potentially a very lucrative project and could be very profitable. After initially being blocked by Parliament, the project was given the go-ahead and Stephenson was responsible for overseeing the construction. Because of the limited power of early steam engines, Stephenson tried to keep the railway as flat as possible, therefore the new line required many bridges, viaducts, and tunnels. He also required great ingenuity to "float" the railway over Chat Moss (a local peat bog).

In 1829, with the line nearing completion, the L & MR (Liverpool and Manchester Railway) had a competition for the best design of a train. George's entry - "The Rocket" easily won - reaching up to 30mph.

In 1830, the Liverpool to Manchester railway was opened to great enthusiasm. Crowds came out in force to see this exciting new technology. Even the current Prime Minister - The Duke of Wellington was in attendance. Stephenson had great faith in the power of railways and he was an important figure in their early development.

This double-track line between the great cities of Manchester and Liverpool was really the start of the great railway age. It led to a period of rapid railway building which transformed transport within the United Kingdom, and later the world. Journeys which took days could now be completed in a matter of hours. The railway became an integral element in the new industrial age. George was one of the first to realize the individual railways would soon be joined together so he insisted on a common gauge, which would become the national and global standard.

Stephenson became inundated with request to help build railways. His reputation was very high, though he was often more cautious in the building of railways and he became eclipsed by other engineers such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

He has often been called "The Father of the Railways" and indirectly played a key role in the acceleration of the industrial revolution which swept Britain and then the rest of the world.

Achievements

• For his outstanding contribution to civil and mechanical engineering, George Stephenson has been commemorated variedly. His birthplace home in Wylam has been converted into a historic house museum.
  
  Several colleges, schools, institutions, and pubic societies have been named after him. He also has a railway museum in North Shields by the name Stephenson Railway Museum.
  
  From 1990 until 2003, his portrait appeared on the reverse of the E £5 notes series issued by the Bank of England.
  
  In 2002, he was named in the BBC's list of 100 Greatest Britons.

Views

George Stephenson believed that railways will supersede almost all other methods of conveyance in the United Kingdom.

Personality

George was fascinated by machines from an early age.

Interests

• Gardening

Connections

Stephenson was involved in a number of romantic relationships before marrying Frances Hindmarsh on November 28, 1802, at Newburn Church. The couple was blessed with two children, Robert and Fanny. Fanny died in infancy.

Following the death of his wife Frances due to tuberculosis, Stephenson remarried Elizabeth Hindmarsh at Newburn on March 29, 1820. They did not have any children. Elizabeth passed away in 1845.

Stephenson married for a third time to Ellen Gregory, his housekeeper, on January 11, 1848, at St John's Church in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

His only son Robert was also a railway engineer and worked with his father on many of his projects.

Father:

Robert Stephenson

Mother:

Mabel Stephenson

Spouse:

Ellen Gregory

late spouse:

Frances Hindmarsh

late spouse:

Elizabeth Hindmarsh

Son:

Robert Stephenson

Daughter:

Frances Stephenson

References

• George Stephenson: A Life From Beginning to End by by Hourly History