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STEPHENSON, GEORGE (1781–1848)

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 889 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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STEPHENSON, See also:
GEORGE
GEORGE, 8TH MARQUESS OF TWEEDDALE (1787-1876)
GEORGE, HENRY (1839—1897)
GEORGE, LAKE
GEORGE, SAINT (d. 303)
GEORGE (1781–1848) , See also:

ENGLISH

English engineer, was the second, son of See also:

Robert Stephenson, fireman of a colliery See also:

engine at Wylam, near See also:

Newcastle, where he was See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born on the 9th of See also:

JUNE

June 1781. In boyhood he was employed as a cowherd, and afterwards he drove the ginhorse at a colliery. In his fourteenth See also:

YEAR

year he became assistant fireman to his See also:

FATHER

father at a See also:

SHILLING

shilling a See also:

day, and in his seventeenth year he was appointed plugman, his See also:

DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu, dil, past participle of devoir; Lat. debere, debitum; cf. " debt ")

duty being to attend to the pumping engine. As yet he was unable to read, but, stimulated by the See also:

DESIRE

desire to obtain See also:

fuller See also:

INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information regarding the inventions of See also:

BOULTON, MATTHEW (1728-1809)

Boulton and See also:

WATT, JAMES (1736-1819)

Watt, he began in his eighteenth year to attend a See also:

NIGHT

night school and made remarkably rapid progress. In 18o1 he obtained a situation as a brakesman, in 1802 he became an engineman at Willing-ton See also:

Quay, where he took up See also:

WATCH (in O. Eng. wcecce, a keeping guard or watching, from wacian, to guard, watch, wacan, to wake)

watch and See also:

CLOCK

clock cleaning, and in 1804 he moved to Killingworth, where in 1812 he was appointed engine-See also:

wright at the High See also:

PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

Pit at a See also:

SALARY

salary of £See also:

LOO (formerly called " Lanterloo," Fr. lanturlu, the refrain of a popular 17th-century song)

loo a year. It was at Killingworth that he devised his miner's safety See also:

LAMP (from Gr. Xag ras, a torch, Xaµaav, to shine)

lamp, first put to See also:

PRACTICAL

practical tests in the autumn of 1815, at the same See also:

time that See also:

Sir See also:

HUMPHRY, OZIAS (1742-1810)

Humphry See also:

DAVY, SIR HUMPHRY

Davy was producing his lamp. There was considerable controversy as to which of the two men was entitled to the See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour of having first made an invention which was probably worked out independently, though simultaneously, by both, and when the admirers of Davy in 1817 presented him with a service of See also:

PLATE

plate, those of Stephenson countered with an address and £l000 See also:

early in 1818. In 1813 his See also:

INTEREST

interest in the experiments with See also:

steam See also:

TRACTION (Lat. trahere, to draw)

traction that were being carried on at Wylam led him to propose an experiment of the same See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind to the proprietors of the Killingworth colliery, and he was authorized to incur the outlay for constructing a " travelling engine " for the tramroads between the colliery and the See also:

SHIPPING

shipping See also:

PORT

port 9 M. distant. The engine, which he named " My See also:

Lord," ran a successful trial on the 25th of See also:

JULY

July 1814. In 1822 he succeeded in impressing the advantages of steam traction on the projectors of the See also:

Stockton & See also:

DARLINGTON

Darlington railway, who had contemplated using horses for their wagons, and was appointed engineer of the railway, with See also:

LIBERTY (Lat. libertas, from liber, free)

liberty to carry out his own plans, the result being the opening, on the 27th of See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September 1825, of the first railway over which passengers and goods were carried by a See also:

LOCOMOTIVE

locomotive. His connexion with the Stockton & Darlington railway led to his employment in the construction of the See also:

Liverpool & See also:

Manchester railway, which, notwithstanding prognostications of failure by the most eminent See also:

ENGINEERS, MILITARY

engineers of the day, he carried successfully through Chat See also:

MOSS

Moss. When the See also:

LINE

line was nearing completion he persuaded the See also:

DIRECTORS

directors, who were rather in favour of haulage by fixed engines, to give the locomotive a trial.

In consequence they offered a See also:

PRIZE, or PRIZE OF WAR (Fr. prise, from prendre, to take)

prize of 500 for a suitable See also:

machine, and in the competition held at Rainhill in See also:

OCTOBER

October 1829 his engine " The See also:

ROCKET

Rocket " met with approval. On the 15th of September in the following year the railway was formally opened, the eight engines employed having been made at the See also:

WORKS

works started by Stephenson with his See also:

cousin See also:

Thomas See also:

Richardson (1771–1853) and See also:

EDWARD

Edward See also:

PEASE, EDWARD (1767–1858)

Pease (1767–1858) at Newcastle in 1823. Subsequently Stephenson was engineer of, among others, the See also:

GRAND

Grand Junction, the See also:

LONDON

London & See also:

BIRMINGHAM

Birmingham (with his son Robert), Manchester to See also:

Leeds, See also:

Derby to Leeds, Derby to Birmingham, and See also:

NORMANTON

Normanton to See also:

York; but he strongly disapproved of the railway See also:

MANIA

mania which ensued in 1844. He was also consulted in regard to the construction of See also:

RAILWAYS

railways in See also:

Belgium and See also:

Spain. The last year or two of his See also:

LIFE

life was spent in retirement at Tapton See also:

House, See also:

Chesterfield, in the pursuit of farming and See also:

horticulture, and there he. died on the 12th of See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August 1848. Stephenson was thrice married, his only son Robert being the See also:

child of Fanny See also:

Henderson, his first wife, who died in 18o6. A See also:

NEPHEW

nephew, George Robert Stephenson, who was born at Newcastle in T819 and died near See also:

CHELTENHAM

Cheltenham in 1905, was placed by him on the See also:

ENGINEERING

engineering See also:

STAFF (O. Eng. staef, cf. Du. staf, Ger. Stab, &c.; Icel. stafr meant also a written letter, and O. Eng. stafas, the letters of the alphabet; " stave," one of the thin pieces of wood of which a cask is made, is a doublet)

staff of the Manchester & Leeds line in 1837, and subsequently constructed many railways in See also:

England, New See also:

ZEALAND (also SEALAND Or SEELAND; Danish Sjaelland)

Zealand and See also:

Denmark. He was See also:

PRESIDENT (Fr. president, from Lat. praesidens, post-Augustan Lat. for praeses, director, ruler, from praesidere, to sit in front of, preside)

president of the Institution of See also:

CIVIL

Civil Engineers in 1876–1877. See See also:

Story of the Life of George Stephenson, by See also:

SAMUEL

Samuel See also:

SMILES, SAMUEL (1812-1904)

Smiles (1857, new ed., 1873) ; and Smiles's Lives of See also:

BRITISH

British Engineers, vol. in.

End of Article: STEPHENSON, GEORGE (1781–1848)

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