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Description
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George Stephenson was born in Northumberland in 1781. Aged 17 he began his career as an engineman. George married Frances Henderson (b.17??-1806) in 1802 and they went on to have a son, Robert (1803-1859), and a daughter Frances (1805-1805) who died as an infant. In 1811, Stephenson was promoted to become the enginewright for the Killingworth collieries with responsibility for the maintenance and repair of the colliery's engines. In 1815, Stephenson began experiments to create a safety lamp that could be burned in the gaseous environment of a mine without causing the explosions associated with naked flames. His lamp, the "Geordie Lamp" achieved this aim but led to controversy and accusations of stealing the idea from Humphry Davy. Stephenson married Elizabeth Hindmarsh (1779-1845) in 1820. They had no children. Stephenson designed his first locomotive, for use hauling coal at the Killingworth Colliery, in 1814. In 1821 Stephenson surveyed the new Stockton and Darlington Railway and was a Partner in the firm Robert Stephenson and Company who manufactured the locomotives. The line opened on 27 September 1825 and marked the first occasion that passengers had been transported on a Railway. In October 1829 George and Robert Stephenson's engine "Rocket" won the Rainhill Trials - a competition initiated by the directors of the London and Manchester Railway to decide who to award the contract for building the locomotives for their new line. As a result of this success George Stephenson went on to acts as the Chief Engineer for several other railway companies. In 1847 Stephenson was the inaugural President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. In 1848 he married Ellen Gregory (1808-1865). George Stephenson died, aged 67 on 12 August 1848 at his home. Places
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