George Stephenson was born in the pit village of Wylam near Newcastle in 1781 and started work at eight, keeping the cows off the colliery's horse-drawn wagon way. He never went to school and by ten he was working full-time in the pit. George Stephenson was born on June 9, 1781, in Wylam, near Newcastle-on-Tyne. His father Robert worked in the Wylam Colliery as a fireman, and the family's cottage was right beside the Wylam Wagonway. This wooden track took wagons from the colliery to the Tyne river for transport.
George was fascinated
by machines from an early age. He took evening classes in reading and
writing, even after he joined his father as a colliery worker. In 1802
George Stephenson became an engineman, and soon after he married Frances
Henderson. Together they had one child, Robert, but Frances suffered
from consumption and died in 1806. Stephenson later married twice more.
Stephenson moved to Killingworth Colliery as an engineman, but his fascination
with machines continued, and in his spare time he took apart the colliery
engines to discover how they worked. So swiftly did he learn that he
was appointed enginewright by the colliery in 1812.
Over the next several
years Stephenson built a further 16 engines at Killingworth. The mine
owners were so impressed with his accomplishments that they put him
to work building an 8 mile railway from Hetton to Sunderland.
Stephenson was hired by the Stockton and Darlington railway to help
build the line linking collieries at West Durham and Darlington with
the River Tees. With his son Robert Stephenson he formed Robert Stephenson
& Company, the first locomotive building company in the world, headquartered
in Newcastle. The first locomotive engine produced by the new company,
called Locomotion, was finished in the fall of 1825.
The Stockton & Darlington line was officially opened on September
27, 1825. To rapt attention from crowds of onlookers, Stephenson guided
the Locomotion along the 9 mile track in just under 2 hours.
Stephenson was hired
by other railways, such as the Bolton & Leigh. But his big triumph
came in 1829. The proposed Liverpool & Manchester railway directors
held a trial to determine which locomotive to use for their railway.
The winner also received the huge sum of £500.
The contest was held at Rainhill, and of ten engines entered, only 5
turned up and just 3 functioned well enough to take part in the Rainhill
Trials. The winner was Rocket, produced by the Stephensons.
Stephenson went from strength to strength. He was chief engineer for
the Manchester & Leeds, Birmingham & Derby, Normanton &
York and Sheffied & Rotherham railways. He was constantly innovating,
constantly improving his engines and the tracks.
He was so successful that he was able to purchase Tapton House, near
Chesterfield, in 1838. He invested in coalmines, ironworks, and quarries,
and also experimented with animal husbandry and stock breeding.
George Stephenson died at Tapton House on August 12, 1848.
