George & Robert Stephenson: Men who revolutionised locomotives & railways

This British father-son duo of engineers created the most powerful locomotive engine of their time. Renowned as the Father of Railways, George established the world’s first public inter city railway line and Robert was counted among the greatest engineers of the 19th century.

George was born on June 9, 1781 in Wylam, Northumberland. His father was a fireman with means so meagre that George could not be educated. At 17, he became an engineman at Water Row Pit in Newburn. In 1801 he began work at Black Callerton Colliery in Ponteland as a brakesman. His son Robert was born on October 16, 1803 in Willington Quay near Wallsend, Northumberland. He studied at Bruce’s Academy in Newcastle and at the University of Edinburgh.

Careers
After Robert was born, George shifted to work at the Killingworth Pit. In 1811, he was promoted as an enginewright. Three years later he devised his first locomotive named Blucher, the most successful working steam engine that had been built. Concerned with coal mine workers’ safety, he invented a safety lamp in 1815 which dramatically reduced the risk of explosion in the mining industry and protected miners from inflammable gases. He devised 16 more locomotives for Killingworth. In 1817 he built a six-wheeled locomotive for Kilmarnock and Troon Railway. Three years later, George created an 8-mile railway in the Hetton Colliery Railway. That success led to appointment as engineer for the construction of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1821. His son Robert assisted him in the project. They built the first passenger car for the Stockton and Darlington railway route, the world’s first public railways to run using steam locomotive. Thereafter, he became the chief engineer for the Liverpool and Manchester Railways.

George created the measurement of the rail gauge at four feet eight-and-a-half inches which became the standard in Britain and all over the world. Robert spent six months at the Edinburgh University before working for three years as mining engineer in Colombia. He was appointed chief engineer of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1833 and by 1850 was involved in the construction of a third of the country’s railway system. He designed the High Level Bridge and Royal Border Bridge on the East Coast Main Line. Along with other engineers, Robert developed wrought-iron tubular bridges, a design he later used for the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, the world’s longest bridge for many years.

Personal lives
George married Frances Henderson in 1802 with whom he had Robert and Fanny who died in infancy. He contracted pleurisy and died on 12 August 1848. Robert married Frances Sanderson in 1829. He died on 12 October 1859.

Honours and achievements
George was the first president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on its formation in 1847. Robert was decorated in Belgium with the Knight of the Order of Leopold, in France with the Knight of the Legion of Honour and in Norway with the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olaf. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1849 and served as president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1854, he was elected as one of the vice presidents of North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers.

Interesting Facts
In the most challenging phase of life, George Stephenson would repair shoes, would fix clocks and even cut clothes for the miners’ wives to help supplement his income.

Built by the Stephensons’ company, Locomotion No. 1 was the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line built by the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825.

George Stephenson was featured on Series E five pound currency note issued between 1990 and 2003. The George Stephenson College was founded in 2001 at University of Durham campus. Stephenson namesakes are George Stephenson High School in Killingworth, Stephenson Memorial Primary School in Howdon, Stephenson Railway Museum in North Shields and the Stephenson Locomotive Society.

Robert Stephenson’s funeral cortege was given permission by the Queen of England to pass through Hyde Park. It was an exclusive honour that was previously reserved only for the royalty.