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Robert grew to dislike the house on Haverton Hill after the death of his wife. He moved nearer Westminster, to Cambridge Square, but soon after moving the house was damaged by fire, and he lived in temporary accommodation for ten months.{{sfn|Jeaffreson|Pole|1864a|pp=259–260}} The Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway opened on 18 June 1844. A special train left Euston at 5:03 am, and travelling via Rugby, [[Leicester railway station|Leicester]], [[Derby railway station|Derby]], [[Chesterfield railway station|Chesterfield]] and [[Normanton railway station|Normanton]], reached [[Gateshead]], south of the [[River Tyne]], at 2:24 pm. Festivities were held in the Newcastle Assembly Rooms, where George was introduced as the man who had "constructed the first locomotive that ever went by its own spontaneous movement along iron rails", although there were people present who should have known better.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=275–276}}{{sfn|Jeaffreson|Pole|1864a|pp=257–258}}{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=76}}
Robert grew to dislike the house on Haverton Hill after the death of his wife. He moved nearer Westminster, to Cambridge Square, but soon after moving the house was damaged by fire, and he lived in temporary accommodation for ten months.{{sfn|Jeaffreson|Pole|1864a|pp=259–260}} The Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway opened on 18 June 1844. A special train left Euston at 5:03 am, and travelling via Rugby, [[Leicester railway station|Leicester]], [[Derby railway station|Derby]], [[Chesterfield railway station|Chesterfield]] and [[Normanton railway station|Normanton]], reached [[Gateshead]], south of the [[River Tyne]], at 2:24 pm. Festivities were held in the Newcastle Assembly Rooms, where George was introduced as the man who had "constructed the first locomotive that ever went by its own spontaneous movement along iron rails", although there were people present who should have known better.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=275–276}}{{sfn|Jeaffreson|Pole|1864a|pp=257–258}}{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=76}}
[[File:Break of Gauge at Gloucester.jpg|thumb|left|An Illustrated London News cartoon showing passengers changing trains at Gloucester]]
[[File:Break of Gauge at Gloucester.jpg|thumb|left|An Illustrated London News cartoon showing passengers changing trains at Gloucester]]
When George had built the Stockton & Darlington and Liverpool & Manchester he had placed the rails {{RailGauge|4ft8in}} apart, as this was the gauge of the railway at the Killingworth Colliery.{{efn|{{harvtxt|Smiles|1868|p=234}} states that early tramroads had rails {{RailGauge|4ft8in|disp=1}} apart, but {{harvtxt|Tomlinson|1915|pp=82–83}} challenges this, stating that the most common gauge of the early tramroads and [[waggonway]]s was about {{RailGauge|4ft}}, and some, such as the [[Wylam waggonway]], had the rails {{RailGauge|5ft}} apart.|group=note}} [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]], Chief Engineer to the [[Great Western Railway]], had adopted the {{RailGauge|exact7ft}} or [[broad gauge]], arguing that this would allow for higher speeds.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=280–281}} Railways built with the different gauges met for the first time at [[Gloucester railway station|Gloucester]] in 1844, and although an inconvenience to passengers, this became a serious problem for goods, with delays and packages being lost at Gloucester. In 1845 a [[Royal Commission]] was appointed and of the forty-six witnesses that gave evidence, only Brunel and his colleagues at the Great Western supported the broad gauge.{{sfn|Jeaffreson|Pole|1864b|pp=9–11, 17–19}} Comparisons between a Stephenson locomotive between York and Darlington and one built by Brunel between Paddington and Didcot showed the broad gauge locomotive to be superior, but the commissioners found in favour of a {{RailGauge|4ft8.5in}} gauge.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=293–294}}{{sfn|Jeaffreson|Pole|1864b|pp=27–28}}{{efn|group=note|Early documents gave {{RailGauge|4ft8in|disp=1}} as the gauge on both the S&DR and L&MR, but the distance between the rails was later measured as {{RailGauge|4ft8.5in|disp=1}}, and this became the [[standard gauge]] used by 60 per cent of railways worldwide. The difference of {{convert|1/2|in}} is a mystery.{{sfn|Davis|1975|p=75}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/VirtualArchive/robert-stephenson/ | title=Robert Stephenson (1803–1859) | publisher=Network Rail | accessdate=25 March 2014}}</ref>}} Brunel also supported propelling trains using the [[atmospheric system]]. Robert sent assistants to the [[Dalkey Atmospheric Railway]] in Ireland to observe, but advised against its use as the failure of one pump would bring traffic to a stop.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=282–283}}
When George had built the Stockton & Darlington and Liverpool & Manchester he had placed the rails {{convert|4|ft|8|in}} apart, as this was the gauge of the railway at the Killingworth Colliery.{{efn|{{harvtxt|Smiles|1868|p=234}} states that early tramroads had rails {{RailGauge|4ft8in|disp=1}} apart, but {{harvtxt|Tomlinson|1915|pp=82–83}} challenges this, stating that the most common gauge of the early tramroads and [[waggonway]]s was about {{RailGauge|4ft}}, and some, such as the [[Wylam waggonway]], had the rails {{RailGauge|5ft}} apart.|group=note}} [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]], Chief Engineer to the [[Great Western Railway]], had adopted the {{convert|7|ft}} or [[broad gauge]], arguing that this would allow for higher speeds.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=280–281}} Railways built with the different gauges met for the first time at [[Gloucester railway station|Gloucester]] in 1844, and although an inconvenience to passengers, this became a serious problem for goods, with delays and packages being lost at Gloucester. In 1845 a [[Royal Commission]] was appointed and of the forty-six witnesses that gave evidence, only Brunel and his colleagues at the Great Western supported the broad gauge.{{sfn|Jeaffreson|Pole|1864b|pp=9–11, 17–19}} Comparisons between a Stephenson locomotive between York and Darlington and one built by Brunel between Paddington and Didcot showed the broad gauge locomotive to be superior, but the commissioners found in favour of a {{RailGauge|sg|first=imp}} gauge.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=293–294}}{{sfn|Jeaffreson|Pole|1864b|pp=27–28}}{{efn|group=note|Early documents gave {{RailGauge|4ft8in|disp=1}} as the gauge on both the S&DR and L&MR, but the distance between the rails was later measured as {{RailGauge|4ft8.5in|disp=1}}, and this became the [[standard gauge]] used by 60 per cent of railways worldwide. The difference of {{convert|1/2|in}} is a mystery.{{sfn|Davis|1975|p=75}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/VirtualArchive/robert-stephenson/ | title=Robert Stephenson (1803–1859) | publisher=Network Rail | accessdate=25 March 2014}}</ref>}} Brunel also supported propelling trains using the [[atmospheric system]]. Robert sent assistants to the [[Dalkey Atmospheric Railway]] in Ireland to observe, but advised against its use as the failure of one pump would bring traffic to a stop.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=282–283}}


Robert's step mother, Elizabeth had died in 1845. That year George was returning ill from a trip to Spain and suffered an attack of [[pleurisy]] in the cabin of the packet bound for Southampton. George retired to [[Tapton House]], near [[Chesterfield]], and married his housekeeper early in 1848. However, later that year he died on 12 August following second attack of pleurisy, and was buried in Trinity churchyard, in Chesterfield. George had been the President of the newly formed [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]], and Robert took over that role until 1853.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=288, 295–298}}
Robert's step mother, Elizabeth had died in 1845. That year George was returning ill from a trip to Spain and suffered an attack of [[pleurisy]] in the cabin of the packet bound for Southampton. George retired to [[Tapton House]], near [[Chesterfield]], and married his housekeeper early in 1848. However, later that year he died on 12 August following second attack of pleurisy, and was buried in Trinity churchyard, in Chesterfield. George had been the President of the newly formed [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]], and Robert took over that role until 1853.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=288, 295–298}}

Revision as of 20:45, 19 April 2014

For the lighthouse engineer, see Robert Stevenson (civil engineer).
For other people named Robert Stephenson, see Robert Stephenson (disambiguation).
Robert Stephenson
FRS
Robert Stephenson in 1856
Born(1803-10-16)16 October 1803
Willington Quay, Northumberland
Died12 October 1859(1859-10-12) (aged 55)
London
Resting placeWestminster Abbey
NationalityEnglish
OccupationEngineer
Spouse(s)Frances née Sanderson
(1829–1842)
Parent(s)George Stephenson
Frances née Henderson
RelativesGeorge Robert Stephenson (cousin)
Engineering career
Projects
Awards

Robert Stephenson FRS (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an early railway engineer. The only son of George Stephenson, who has been called the "Father of Railways",[1] he built on the achievements of his father. Robert has been called the greatest engineer of the 19th century.[2]

Robert was born in Willington Quay, Northumberland, to George and Frances née Henderson, before they moved to Killingworth, where Robert was taught at the local village school. Robert attended the middle-class Percy Street Academy in Newcastle and at the age of fifteen was apprenticed to the mining engineer Nicholas Wood. He left before he had completed his three years to help his father survey the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Robert spent six months at Edinburgh University before working for three years as a mining engineer in Colombia. When he returned his father was building the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and Robert developed the steam locomotive Rocket that won the Rainhill Trials in 1829. He was appointed Chief Engineer of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1833 with a salary of £1500 a year. By 1850 Robert had been involved in third of the country's railway system. He designed the High Level Bridge and Royal Border Bridge on the East Coast Main Line. With Eaton Hodgkinson and William Fairbairn he developed wrought-iron tubular bridges, such the Britannia Bridge in Wales, a design he would later use for the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, for many years the longest bridge in the world. He eventually worked on 160 commissions from 60 companies, building railways in other countries such as Belgium, Norway, Egypt and France.[3]

In 1829 Robert had married Frances Sanderson, but she died in 1842; the couple had no children and he did not remarry. In 1847 he was elected Member of Parliament for Whitby, and held the seat until his death. Although Robert declined a British Knighthood, he 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. He served as President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Institution of Civil Engineers. Robert's death was widely mourned, and his funeral cortege was given permission by Queen Victoria to pass through Hyde Park, an honour previously reserved for royalty. He is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Early life

Robert Stephenson was born on 16 October 1803,[note 1] at Willington Quay, east of Newcastle upon Tyne, to George Stephenson and Frances née Henderson, usually known as Fanny. Fanny was twelve years older than George, and when they met was working as a servant where George was lodging. After marriage George and Fanny lived in an upper room of a cottage; George worked as a brakesman on the stationary winding engine on the Quay, and in his spare time cleaned and mended clocks and repaired shoes.[5] Fanny was suffering from tuberculosis (known at the time as consumption), so George would take care of his son in the evening. Robert later recalled how he would sit on his father's left knee with his right arm wrapped around him whilst he watched him work or read books; his biographer Jeaffreson explained this is why Robert's left arm was the stronger.[6] In autumn 1804 George became a brakesman at the West Moor Pit and the family moved to a two rooms in a cottage at Killingworth. On 13 July 1805 Fanny gave birth to a daughter who only lived for three weeks, Fanny's health deteriorated and she died on 14 May 1806.[7][8]

Dial Cottage, Killingworth, where Robert grew up

George employed a housekeeper to look after his son and went away for three months to look after a Watt engine in Montrose, Scotland. He returned to find his housekeeper had married his brother Robert.[note 2] He moved back into the cottage with his son and briefly employed another housekeeper before his sister Eleanor moved in. Known to Robert as Aunt Nelly, Eleanor had been betrothed before travelling to London to work in domestic service. Summoned back to get married, Eleanor's ship had been delayed by poor winds and she arrived to find her fiancé had already married.[10][11] Eleanor could read and attended the local Methodist church, whereas George would not regularly attend church, preferring on Sundays to work on engineering problems and meet his friends.[12]

Robert was first sent to a village school 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) away in Long Benton, where he was taught by Thomas (Tommy) Rutter. On his way to school, he would carry picks to the smith's at Long Benton to be sharpened.[13][14] George was promoted in 1812 to be enginewright at Killingworth Colliery with a salary of £100 per year; he built his first steam locomotive, Blucher,[15] in 1814 and the following year was earning £200 a year. George had received little formal education but was determined that his son would have one, and so sent the eleven-year-old Robert to be taught by John Bruce at the Percy Street Academy in Newcastle. Most of the children came from middle-class families,[16][17] and it was while he was at the academy that Robert lost most of his accent.[18] At first Robert walked the 10 miles (16 km) but was liable to catch a cold; George fearing tuberculosis bought him a donkey.[19] Robert became a member of the Philosophical and Literary Society of Newcastle and borrowed books for his father and him to read. In the evening, after school, he would work with George on designs for steam engines; in 1816 they made a sundial together, which is still in place above the cottage door.[20][21]

After leaving school in 1819, Robert was apprenticed to the mining engineer Nicholas Wood, who was viewer (manager) of Killingworth colliery.[22] The following year Robert's Aunt Nelly married and George married Elizabeth Hindmarsh. George had courted Elizabeth before he had met Fanny, but the relationship had been put to an end by Elizabeth's father; Elizabeth had sworn at the time that she would not marry anyone else.[23][note 3] As an apprentice Robert worked hard and lived frugally; unable to afford to buy a mining compass, he made one that he would later use to survey the High Level Bridge in Newcastle.[25] Robert learnt to play the flute, which he played during services at the local parish church.[26]

Stockton and Darlington Railway

The opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825

Ways were investigated in the early 19th century to transport coal from the mines in the Bishop Auckland area to Darlington and the quay at Stockton-on-Tees, and canals had been proposed. The Welsh Engineer George Overton suggested a tramway, surveyed a route in September 1818 and the scheme was backed by the Quaker Edward Pease at a meeting in November.[27][note 4] A private bill for a Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was presented to Parliament in 1819, but was opposed by landowners and did not pass.[29] The route was changed, Overton carried out another survey and the Act received Royal Assent on 19 April 1821; Pease and George Stephenson met for the first time in Darlington that same day.[note 5] Pease was concerned about Overton's competence,[31] and by 23 July George had been appointed to make a fresh survey of the line.[32]

Robert had not completed his apprenticeship, but was showing symptoms of tuberculosis and the work was hazardous; he was down West Moor Pit when there was underground explosion. Wood was asked to release the 18-year-old Robert so that he could assist his father during the survey.[33][34] By the end of 1821 they reported that a usable line could be built within the bounds of the Act, but another route would be shorter and avoid deep cuttings and tunnels.[35] George was elected Engineer by shareholders with a salary of £660 per year.[36] He advocated the use of steam locomotives,[37] Pease visited Killingworth in the summer of 1822[38] and the directors visited Hetton colliery railway, on which George had also introduced locomotives.[39] During the survey of the S&DR George had been persuaded, mainly by the Scottish engineer Robert Bald, that Robert would benefit from a university education.[40] He could have afforded to send his son to Cambridge, but he did not want him to become a gentleman, wishing instead that Robert work for his living. Robert helped William James to survey the route of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and then attended Edinburgh University between October 1822 and April 1823;[41] it was whilst he was at Edinburgh that Robert met George Parker Bidder.[42]

On 23 May 1823 the second S&DR Act received Assent, with the deviations from the original route and permission for the use of "loco-motives or moveable engines".[43] In June 1823 the Stephensons and Pease opened Robert Stephenson and Company at Forth Street in Newcastle to build these locomotives, Pease lending Robert £500 so he could buy his share. As George was busy supervising the building of the railway, the 20-year-old Robert was placed in charge of the works with a salary of £200 a year. On 16 September 1824 the company received an order for two steam locomotives and two stationary engines from the S&DR.[44] Robert was also the engineer for the Hagger Leases branch, planned to serve collieries at Butterknowle and Copley Bent, and stayed in London for five weeks while the bill passed through the parliamentary process, and Assent was given in May 1824.[45] However, when the S&DR opened on 27 September 1825, Robert was working in South America.[46][47]

Colombian mines

On 18 June 1824 Robert set sail on the Sir William Congreve from Liverpool for Colombia with a contract for three years.[48] The Colombian Mining Association had been formed to reopen gold and silver mines in South America and a Robert Stephenson & Co. partner, Thomas Richardson, was a prompter. Robert Stephenson & Co. received orders for steam engines from the company, and Richardson suggested to Robert that he go to South America, which he accepted.[49] To prepare for the trip Robert took Spanish lessons, visited mines in Cornwall and consulted a doctor, who advised that such a change of climate would be beneficial to his health.[50][51] Robert had arrived in Liverpool on 8 June, and George was in Liverpool from 12 June to say goodbye to his son.[52] Rolt was not satisfied with earlier biographers' suggestions that the assignment was solely due to Robert's health. Questioning why Robert left the locomotive construction company and his other work, he suggests that there must have been a disagreement between the Stephensons over George's business dealings.[53] However, Davis argues that Robert wanted to escape from a controlling father,[54] whereas Ross considers that Robert could have been asserting his independence.[55][note 6] Michael Longbridge, who had agreed to take over management of Robert Stephenson & Co. in Robert's absence, understood that it would only be for a year.[48]

Robert's cottage at Santa Ana

After a five week journey Robert arrived at the port of La Guayra in Venezuela on 23 July 1823. He investigated building a breakwater and pier at the harbour and a railway to Caracas, estimating the cost of a pier as £6,000, but that a breakwater or railway would be uneconomic. He travelled over land with an interpreter and a servant to Bogotá, then the capital of Greater Colombia, arriving on 19 January 1825.[59] Travelling onward, Robert found the heavier equipment at Honda on the Magdalena River; there was no way to get it to the mines as the only route was a narrow and steep path. The mines were another 12 miles (19 km) from Mariquita, and Robert set up home at Santa Ana in a bungalow built from bamboo.[60] The Mining Association sent Cornish miners to work the mine, but these proved difficult to manage and drank so heavily that only two-thirds were ever available for work. They refused to accept that Robert, who had not been brought up in Cornwall, could know anything about mining.[61] One night Robert broke up a drunken party that was shouting they would not obey a bearded boy, saying that he would not fight them as he was sober.[62] Robert felt that his reports to London were being ignored, as heavy equipment continued to be sent.[63] He suffered from fevers, and once felt his "old complaint, a feeling of oppression in the breast."[64]

Robert's contract ended on 16 July 1827. He travelled to Cartagena to see if he could walk across the Panama Isthmus, but this proved too difficult. While waiting for a ship to New York, he met Richard Trevithick,[note 7] who had been looking for South American gold and silver in the mines of Peru and Costa Rica, and gave him £50 so he could buy passage home. Robert caught a ship to New York; enroute this picked up shipwrecked survivors that were so weak they had to be winched aboard, before the ship he was on sank in another storm. Everyone was saved, but Robert lost his money and luggage, and noticed that a second-class passenger was given priority in the lifeboats. The captain later said privately that he and the passenger were Freemasons and had sworn an oath to show such preference to each other in times of peril. Robert was impressed and became a Freemason in New York.[66][67][note 8] Wishing to see something of North America, Robert with four other Englishmen walked the 500 miles (800 km) to Montreal via Niagara Falls. He returned to New York, caught the packet Pacific across the Atlantic and arrived in Liverpool at the end of November.[68]

Locomotive designer

Newcastle

George was living in Liverpool at the time, working as the Chief Engineer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), and Robert stayed briefly as a guest at his father's house.[69] Robert travelled to London to meet the directors of the Colombian Mining Association, and then started on the business of the then insolvent Robert Stephenson & Co. with a visit to Brussels. He spent Christmas in London, and was impressed with the tidiness of Gurney's steam carriages, before returning to Newcastle, where he was to spend the next five years.[70][71]

Lancashire Witch (1828)
Rocket (1829)
A Planet type locomotive (1832)
The evolution of locomotive design under Robert Stephenson

In 1827 George had built the Experiment with sloping cylinders instead of the vertical ones on previous locomotives built in Newcastle.[72] Robert wanted to improve the way the wheels were driven and had a chance when an order arrived in January 1828 from the L&MR. The Lancashire Witch was built with inclined cylinders that allowed the axles to be sprung, but the L&MR withdrew the order in April; by mutual agreement the locomotive was sold to the Bolton and Leigh Railway. A number of similar locomotives with four or six wheels were built in the next two years, one being sent to the U.S. for the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company.[73] As well as working at the locomotive works, Robert was also surveying routes for railways and advised on a tunnel under the River Mersey.[74]

In March 1828 Robert wrote to a friend saying he had an attraction to Broad Street in London as Frances (Fanny) Sanderson lived there.[note 9] Robert and Fanny had known each other before he had gone to South America, and after calling on her soon after returning he had an invitation from her father to be a frequent visitor. He introduced her to his father in August 1828, and she accepted his proposal of marriage at the end of that year. Robert spent so much time in London the following year that his Quaker partners accused him of neglecting his business. Robert had not wished for a long engagement, but it took a while until a suitable house was found at 5 Greenfield Place in Newcastle, and Robert and Fanny married in London on 17 June 1829.[76][77][78]

Liverpool and Manchester Railway

The L&MR directors had not decided whether to use fixed engines with ropes or steam locomotives, and resolved on 20 April 1829 to hold trials to see if a steam locomotive would meet their requirements.[79] On the last day of August the date was set to 1 October and the location to a two-mile (3.2 km) double-track railway that was to be built at Rainhill.[80] Robert designed the locomotive for the trials during the summer of 1829. Only two of the wheels were driven, as experience had shown wrought iron tyres had a high rate of wear that quickly resulted in wheels of different size, and gears were provided for both forward and reverse running.[81][note 10] The idea to heat water using many small diameter tubes through the boiler came from Henry Booth via a letter from his father.[83][note 11] With both George and Booth in Liverpool, Robert was responsible for the detail design, and he fitted twenty-five 3-inch (76 mm) diameter tubes from a separate firebox through the boiler. In September the locomotive was sent to Rainhill where it was coupled with its tender; when it was given the name Rocket is not known.[81]

The Rainhill Trials started on Tuesday, 6 October, and between 10,000 and 15,000 people had assembled to watch. Five locomotives had arrived, but Perseverance did not compete, having been damaged on the way to Rainhill, and Cyclops, powered by two horses in a frame, was not a serious entry. Challenging Rocket was Novelty, built by John Ericsson and John Braithwaite in London, and Sans Pareil, built at the Shildon railway works by Timothy Hackworth, the locomotive supervisor of the S&DR. None of the locomotives were ready on Wednesday. The following day at 10:30 am Rocket started its 70-mile (110 km) journey forwards and backwards across the 1+1⁄2-mile (2.4 km) course. It covered the first thirty-five miles in 3 hours and 12 minutes, the coke and water were replenished for fifteen minutes, and completed the course in another 2 hours 57 minutes. It had run at an average speed of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h), and the highest speed reached was over 29 miles per hour (47 km/h).[87][88] Novelty still had to run, and was the favourite, although George is recorded as saying "Eh mon, we needn't fear yon thing, her's got nae goots"; she tried to ran that Saturday but a steam pressurised joint rapidly failed. Sans Pareil was found to be overweight the following Tuesday, but allowed to run. She burnt fuel at more than three times the rate of Rocket before her boiler ran dry. Novelty was tried again the following day, was withdrawn after a joint failed again, and Rocket was declared the winner.[89]

The L&MR purchased Rocket and ordered four similar locomotives from Robert Stephenson & Co. before the end of October.[90] Four more similar locomotives followed, before Planet was delivered on 4 October 1830 with cylinders placed horizontally under the boiler. Hackworth was building Globe at the Robert Stephensons & Co. works at the same time, and Edward Bury delivered Liverpool the same month, both with cylinders under the boiler. It has been alleged that Robert copied Hackworth or Bury; he later said he had no knowledge of Liverpool at the time he was designing Planet.[91] John Bull, a Planet type locomotive, was shipped to the U.S. and became the first movement by steam on a railway in New Jersey when it ran on the Camden and Amboy Railroad in 1831.[92] So many orders for locomotives were received that Robert proposed in 1831 to open a second locomotive works. It was agreed that the Stephenson name would not be attached to any other works, and what was to become the Vulcan Foundry was developed at Newton-le-Willows.[93][94]

There was still opposition to the use of steam locomotives, and before the L&MR opened George and directors hosted a number of private viewings. The actress Fanny Kemble, then famous for her recent portrayal of Juliet at Covent Garden, accompanied George for a trip on the footplate.[95] The L&MR opened on 15 September 1830 with the Prime Minister the Duke of Wellington travelling in one of the inaugural trains. During a stop on the journey another passenger, a Member of Parliament William Huskisson, stepped down from a carriage and was hit by Rocket passing on the other track.[note 12] Huskisson was taken by train to Eccles and died that evening.[97]

Civil Engineer

George Stephenson & Son

George Stephenson & Son had been created on the last day of 1824, when Robert was in South America, with the same partners as Robert Stephenson & Co. Formed to carry out railway surveys and construction, George and Robert were both listed as Chief Engineers and responsible for Parliamentary business, and the list of assistant engineers included Joseph Locke, John Dixon, Thomas Longridge Gooch and Thomas Storey. The company took on too much work[98] that was delegated to inexperienced and underpaid men.[99]

Soon after he had returned from America Robert took over responsibility for overseeing the construction of the Canterbury & Whitstable Railway, and this opened on 3 May 1830 with a locomotive similar to Rocket, called Invicta, supplied by Robert Stephenson & Co.[100] He was also responsible for two branches of the L&MR, the Bolton & Leigh and Warrington & Newton railways.[101] The Leicester & Swannington Railway was built to take coal from the Long Lane colliery to Leicester, and Robert was appointed engineer. Robert Stephenson & Co. supplied Planet type locomotives, but these were found underpowered and were replaced in 1833. Robert thought that the coalfield could be developed further, and with two friends purchased an estate at Snibston when it came up at auction. George moved to Alton Grange in 1831 to supervise, and a seam of coal was found after digging through a layer of waterlogged mudstone over hard volcanic greenstone. George was to later say that Snibston colliery was his most profitable enterprise.[102][103]

The route of Grand Junction Railway authorised on 6 May 1833 had been surveyed by Locke. Although he had been instructed by George, Locke hoped to become Chief Engineer as his contract with Stephenson had expired. However, George threatened to withdraw support completely and the railway company divided the contract, with George and Locke becoming responsible for half of the route. Locke divided the work into small, well-defined contracts that had been all placed by September 1834. George, delegating the work to untrained assistants, drew up specifications and estimates that were vague or inaccurate and difficult to place. In August 1835 Locke took over supervision of the entire length of line and the Grand Junction Railway opened in 1837.[104]

London & Birmingham Railway

On 18 September 1830 George Stephenson & Son signed a contract to survey the route for the London & Birmingham Railway.[105] George recommended the route via Coventry, rather than an alternative via Oxford, but it was Robert that did most of the work;[106] that same year Robert joined the Institution of Civil Engineers as a member.[107][note 13] There were two surveys in 1830–31, which met opposition from landed gentry and those who lived in market towns on the coach route that would be bypassed.[109] Robert stood as the engineering authority when a bill was presented to Parliament in 1832[110] and it was suggested during cross-examination that he had allowed too steep an angle on the side of the cutting at Tring. Remembering that Thomas Telford had cut through similar ground at Dunstable, Robert left with Gooch in post-chaise that night, and arrived at the cutting at dawn to find it the same angle he had proposed. He returned and was in the company solicitor's office at 10 am.[111] That year the bill passed through the Commons but was defeated in the Lords. After a public campaign and another survey by Robert, the necessary Act was obtained on 6 May 1833,[112][113] and it was Robert, not yet 30 years old, that signed the contract on 20 September 1833 to build the 112-mile (180 km) railway from Camden Town to Birmingham.[114][115]

The incline and stationary steam engine chimneys at Camden Town.

Robert was awarded a salary of £1,500 plus £200 expenses a year,[note 14] and he and Fanny moved from Newcastle to London, first briefly to St John's Wood and then to a house on Haverstock Hill.[117] Robert drew up plans and made detailed work estimates, dividing the line into 30 contracts, most of which were placed by October 1835. A drawing office with 20–30 draughtsmen was established at the empty Eyre Arms Hotel in St John's Wood; Bidder, Robert's friend from Edinburgh, worked there.[118][note 15] Primrose Hill tunnel, Wolverton embankment, and Kilsby Tunnel, 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Rugby railway station, all had engineering problems and were completed using direct labour. The Grand Junction Canal opposed the railway and tried to prevent a bridge being built and this was settled in court in 1835.[120] The line permitted by the 1833 Act terminated north of Regent's Canal at Camden (near Chalk Farm tube station), as Baron Southampton, who owned the land to the south, had strongly opposed the railway in the Lords in 1832. Later, Southampton changed his mind and authority was gained for an extension of the line south over Regent's Canal to Euston Square. This incline, with a slope between 1 in 75 and 1 in 66, was too steep for the locomotives of the time, and was worked by a stationary engine at Camden − trains from Euston were drawn up by rope, whereas carriages would descend under gravity.[121][122][note 16]

Robert was unable to order from Robert Stephenson & Co. due to railway company rules about conflict of interest, and so locomotives were purchased from Edward Bury and Company.[124] Charles Wheatstone, Robert's friend, installed the first electric telegraph between Euston square and Camden Town stations in autumn 1837.[125] Trains started running on 24 June, and the L&BR opened ceremonially on 15 September 1838. Construction had taken four years and three months, but had cost £5.5 million against the original estimate of £2.4 million.[126][127]

While living at Haverstock Hill, Robert would work six days a week, rising at 5 am, when he would study the sciences and read poetry; he was a firm Tory, but avoided reading political articles in newspapers.[128] He was respected and known as "The Chief",[129] but told a friend that he felt that his reputation would "break under me like an eggshell"; he smoked cigars and he used calomel, a form of mercury chloride;[130] this was commonly mixed with opium.[131] Conder said that if he was needed on site somewhere, he would catch the northbound coach, sometimes sitting on the outside seat without an overcoat on a winter's evening.[132] He did not play his flute at this time. However, Robert would be at home on Sundays attending church and spending time with his wife. Robert and Fanny had no children, but were surrounded by family. Fanny was liked by Robert's friends who would visit, such as Bidder, Gooch, John Joseph Bramah, and the company's solicitor, Charles Parker.[128][133] She was said to rule "her husband without ever seeming to do so"; to please her he commissioned a coat of arms from the Herald's College, paying for them in November 1838, but he never liked it, calling it a "silly picture" just before his death.[134]

Great George Street

In 1835 Robert travelled with his father to Belgium. George had been invited to advise King Leopold on the Belgian State Railway, and was decorated with the Order of Leopold; Robert returned with his father two years later to celebrate the opening of the railway between Brussels and Ghent. By agreement with the L&BR, Robert was not permitted to work on any other engineering project while the railway was being built, but he was permitted to act as consultant. Because of the demand for his services, Robert opened offices in Westminster, first in Duke Street, and in 1837 moved to Great George Street, first to No. 35+1⁄2 and in 1844 he moved along the street to No. 24, next door to the Institution of Civil Engineers building; this became the headquarters for both father and son.[135][136]

Robert Stephenson & Co. works in Newcastle

After Robert had moved to London, William Hutchinson filled the gap with his design and technical skills at the locomotive works in Newcastle. Longbridge left in 1836 and was replaced by Edward Cooke, Fanny's uncle; Cooke and Robert were on first name terms and Cooke was someone Robert felt he could trust. The Stephenson valve gear was developed in 1842, although whoever at Newcastle first thought of it was disputed; Robert authorised the manufacture of a full size prototype on seeing a small model.[137] The six-coupled Stephenson long-boiler locomotive design was developed into a successful freight locomotive, but was unsuitable for sustained high speeds.[138]

The Stanhope and Tyne Railroad Company (S&TR) had been formed on 20 April 1832 as a partnership to build a railway between the lime kilns at Lanehead Farmhouse and the coal mines at Consett in County Durham. The partners had decided to build a railway instead of upgrading the existing Pontop Waggonway, and commissioned Robert as surveyor and consulting engineer, and with Thomas Elliot Harrison as acting engineer, construction started at Stanhope in July 1832.[139][140] Robert accepted five £100 shares in payment of his fee of £1,000, and the line opened in 1834.[141] Instead of obtaining an Act of Parliament the company had agreed wayleaves with the land owners, requiring payment of rent. The company borrowed heavily and the debt grew to £440,000;[142] by 1840 the lime kilns and the section from Stanhope to Carrhouse had closed and the remaining Stanhope to Annfield section was losing money. A creditor sent a bill to Robert that the railway company could not pay, and Robert found that as the S&TR was not a limited company, shareholders were liable for the debt. Fearing financial ruin Robert sought the advice of Parker, the insolvent railway company was dissolved on 5 February 1841 and a new limited company, the Pontop and South Shields Railway, was created on 23 May 1842 to take over the line, Robert contributing £20,000. The southern section from Stanhope to Carrhouse was sold to the Derwent Iron Company at Consett.[143][144][145] In 1841 the Great North of England Railway had opened from Darlington to York with railway connections to London, and the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway (N&DJR) was formed to extend this line to Newcastle using five miles of the Pontop and South Shields Railway. George Hudson, a railway financier known as the "Railway King", was the chairman of the N&DJR, and Robert was appointed engineer.[146][147]

After the opening of the L&BR, some works still needed to be completed, and the North Midland Railway and lines from Ostend to Liege and Antwerp to Mons in Belgium required Robert's attention. In 1839 he visited France, Spain and Italy for three months to advise on railways, meeting Paulin Talabot. When he returned he in demand, travelling the country, giving evidence to Parliament and was often asked to arbitrate in disputes between railway companies and their contractors.[148]

"My dear Fanny died this morning at five o'clock. God grant that I might close my life as she has done, in true faith and in charity with all men. Her last moments were perfect calmness."

Robert Stephenson diary entry on 4 October 1842[149]

Robert, like his father, planned a railway line that avoided gradients as much as possible, extending the route if necessary,[note 17] and proposed such a route for a line between London and Brighton, but an alternative was selected.[151] In August 1841 Robert himself was made Knight of the Order of Leopold for his improvements to locomotive engines. In the summer of 1842 Robert was away working on the N&DJR, in September in Cardiff and then in London working on a report for the French Railways. Fanny had been diagnosed with cancer two years previously and she grew seriously ill at the end of the month. Robert stopped work to be with her for five days before she died on 4 October 1842. Her wish was that Robert remarry and have children, but he stayed single for the rest of his life. Her funeral was on 11 October, and Robert returned to work the following day,[152] although he was to visit to her grave for many years.[153][note 18]

Cambridge Square

Robert grew to dislike the house on Haverton Hill after the death of his wife. He moved nearer Westminster, to Cambridge Square, but soon after moving the house was damaged by fire, and he lived in temporary accommodation for ten months.[156] The Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway opened on 18 June 1844. A special train left Euston at 5:03 am, and travelling via Rugby, Leicester, Derby, Chesterfield and Normanton, reached Gateshead, south of the River Tyne, at 2:24 pm. Festivities were held in the Newcastle Assembly Rooms, where George was introduced as the man who had "constructed the first locomotive that ever went by its own spontaneous movement along iron rails", although there were people present who should have known better.[157][158][159]

An Illustrated London News cartoon showing passengers changing trains at Gloucester

When George had built the Stockton & Darlington and Liverpool & Manchester he had placed the rails 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 m) apart, as this was the gauge of the railway at the Killingworth Colliery.[note 19] Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Chief Engineer to the Great Western Railway, had adopted the 7 feet (2.1 m) or broad gauge, arguing that this would allow for higher speeds.[160] Railways built with the different gauges met for the first time at Gloucester in 1844, and although an inconvenience to passengers, this became a serious problem for goods, with delays and packages being lost at Gloucester. In 1845 a Royal Commission was appointed and of the forty-six witnesses that gave evidence, only Brunel and his colleagues at the Great Western supported the broad gauge.[161] Comparisons between a Stephenson locomotive between York and Darlington and one built by Brunel between Paddington and Didcot showed the broad gauge locomotive to be superior, but the commissioners found in favour of a 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) gauge.[162][163][note 20] Brunel also supported propelling trains using the atmospheric system. Robert sent assistants to the Dalkey Atmospheric Railway in Ireland to observe, but advised against its use as the failure of one pump would bring traffic to a stop.[166]

Robert's step mother, Elizabeth had died in 1845. That year George was returning ill from a trip to Spain and suffered an attack of pleurisy in the cabin of the packet bound for Southampton. George retired to Tapton House, near Chesterfield, and married his housekeeper early in 1848. However, later that year he died on 12 August following second attack of pleurisy, and was buried in Trinity churchyard, in Chesterfield. George had been the President of the newly formed Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and Robert took over that role until 1853.[167]

Bridge builder

The Dee bridge after the collapse

The Chester & Holyhead Railway received its permission in 1845 and Robert became the Chief Engineer and designed an iron bridge to cross the River Dee just outside Chester. Completed in September 1846, it was inspected by the Broad of Trade Inspector, Major-General Paisley, on 20 October.[168] On 24 May 1847 the bridge gave way under a passenger train; the locomotive and driver made it across, but the tender and carriages fell into the river. Five people died. Conder attended the inquest at Chester: he accounts that Paisley was so agitated he was nearly unable to speak, Robert was pale and haggard and the foreman of the jury seemed determined to get a verdict of manslaughter. Robert had been prepared to admit liability, but was persuaded to present a defence that the cast-iron girder could only have fractured because the tender had derailed due to a broken wheel. Robert was supported by expert witness such Locke, Charles Vignoles, Gooch and Kennedy, and a verdict of accidental death was returned. Robert never used long cast-iron girders again and a Royal Commission was later set up to look at the use of cast iron by the railway companies.[169][170][note 21]

The Britannia Bridge was built for the Chester & Holyhead Railway to cross the Menai Straits from Wales to the island of Anglesey.[171] The bridge needed to be 1,511 feet (461 m) long, and the Admiralty insisted on a single span 100 feet (30 m) above the water.[172] Problems during the launch of the wrought-iron steamship the Prince of Wales meant that she fell with her hull not supported for 110 feet (34 m), but was undamaged. Robert was inspired by this and  with William Fairbairn and Eaton Hodgkinson designed a wrought-iron tubular bridge large enough for a train to pass through.[note 22] They experimented with models in 1845 and 1846,[174][175] and decided to use similar design on the 400 ft Conwy Bridge to gain experience.[176] The first Conwy tube was floated into position in March 1848 and lifted the following month, allowing a single line railway to open on 1 May. The second tube was lifted into position that October; on these days Brunel was with Robert supporting his friend. The positioning of the first of the four tubes for the Britannia Bridge was carried out in June 1849, when both Brunel and Locke were with Robert, and this was lifted into position in October. The second tube was in lifted into place 7 January 1850, a single line was open to public traffic through these tubes 18 March 1850, and the second line was open 19 October.[177]

The High Level Bridge in Newcastle

The route north of Newcastle to Edinburgh along the coast, via Morpeth and Berwick, had been recommended by George in 1838, and Hudson promoted this route for the Newcastle and Berwick Railway in 1843.[178] The required Act that was given Royal Assent in 1845 included a high level road and rail bridge across the Tyne at Newcastle and the Royal Border Bridge across the Tweed at Berwick. The High Level Bridge is 1,372 feet (418 m) long and 146 feet (45 m) high and made from cast-iron bows held taut by horizontal wrought-iron strings. The first train crossed the Tyne on a temporary wooden structure in August 1848; the iron bridge was formally opened by Queen Victoria in September 1849. The bridge across the Tweed is a 28-arch stone viaduct, and was opened by the Queen on 29 August 1850. At the celebratory dinner Robert sat beside the Queen; he had just been offered a knighthood, but had declined.[179]

Politics

In the summer of 1847 Robert was invited to be Member of Parliament for Whitby and was elected unopposed; he continued as their MP for the rest of his life.[180] He entered Parliament as a member of the Conservative Party, holding strong protectionist Tory views and opposed to free trade. His maiden speech was in favour of the Great Exhibition and, with Brunel, became one of the Commissioners. Robert spoke against educational reform, saying workmen only needed to learn how to do their jobs, although he made donations to educational organisations.[181] In 1850, the pope appointed Bishop Wiseman as the first English Roman Catholic Cardinal since the Reformation; Robert wrote in a private letter that this was aggressive, saying that in the "battle as to the mere form in which the creator is to be worshiped – the true spirit of Christianity is never allowed to appear."[182] He later condemned the way the British had fought the Crimean War, but Rolt and Ross differ as to whether he voted for or against the government in January 1855.[183][184]

Robert had become a member of the Société d'Études du canal de Suez in 1846, and the following year had accompanied Talabot and Alois Negrelli to look at the feasibility of a Suez canal. He advised against a canal, saying it would quickly fill up with sand,[185][186] and assisted in the building of a railway between Alexandria and Cairo, with two tubular bridges that he had designed. This opened in 1854, and was extended to Suez in 1858.[187][188] He spoke in Parliament against British involvement in a Suez canal scheme in 1857 and 1858.[185]

The house that has no knocker

The first Titania in 1850, as reported by the Illustrated London News

Robert had moved to 34 Gloucester Square in 1847, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1849. When in London he would socialise at the Athenaeum and Carlton clubs, delaying returning home until late. By 1850 Robert had been involved in third of the country's railway system, and had prematurely aged and become ill with chronic nephritis, then known as Bright's Disease.[3][189][131] Robert found that he attracted the unwelcome attention of inventors and promoters; if he was too ill be at Great George Street they found him at home in Gloucester Square. In 1850 he commissioned a 100-ton yacht, calling her Titania. Finding he that he had no unwanted visitors when aboard, he referred to her as "the house that has no knocker"; when he went aboard, he seemed to grow younger and would behave as an excited schoolboy.[190] He joined the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1850, becoming its first member not from an upper-class background.[191] Titania missed the 1851 Royal Squadron Cup race, which America won and started the America Cup challenge, but lost to America in a private race a few days later.[192] A second yacht, also Titania but 90 feet (27 m) long and 184 tons, was built in 1852 after the first was destroyed by fire.[190]

In 1850 the route for the Norwegian Trunk Railway from Oslo (then Christiania) to Lake Mjøsa was surveyed, and Robert became Chief Engineer. Bidder stayed on as Resident Engineer, Robert returning in 1851, 1852 and 1854.[193][194] In August 1852 Robert travelled to Canada to advise the Grand Trunk Railway on crossing the St Lawrence River at Montreal. The 8,600-foot (2,600 m) Victoria Bridge had a 6,500 feet (2,000 m) long tube made up of 25 sections,[195] and was for a while the longest bridge in the world.[20] Robert had become close friends with Brunel and Locke, and although weak and ill in 1857 he responded to a plea for help from Brunel when he was launching the SS Great Eastern. Robert fell into the mud, but continued without an overcoat until the end of the day. The following day he was confined to his bed for two weeks with bronchitis.[196] Robert was decorated Knight of the Legion of Honour by the Emperor of France in 1855.[197][198] Having served as vice president of the Institution of Civil Engineers since 1847, he was elected President in 1856, and the following year received a Honourary Doctorate of Civil Law at Oxford with Brunel and Dr Livingstone.[199]

In late 1858 Robert sailed with some friends to Alexandria,[note 23] where he stayed on board Titania or at Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo. He dined with Brunel on Christmas Day before returning to London, arriving in February 1859. He was ill that summer, but sailed to Oslo to celebrate the opening of the railway and receive the Knight Grand Cross of the order of St. Olaf. He fell ill at the banquet on 3 September and returned to England with a doctor on board, but the journey took seven days after the yacht ran into a storm. When he landed in Suffolk, Brunel was seriously ill and died the following day. Robert rallied, but died on 12 October 1859.[200]

Legacy

Robert Stephenson statue outside Euston station

Robert's death was deeply mourned throughout the country, especially since it happened just a few days after the death of Brunel. His funeral cortege was given permission by the Queen to pass through Hyde Park, an honour previously reserved for royalty. Two thousand tickets were issued, but 3000 men[note 24] were admitted to the service at Westminster Abbey, where he was buried beside Thomas Telford. Ships on the Thames, Tyne, Wear and Tees placed their flags at half mast. Work stopped at midday on Tyneside, and the 1,500 employees of Robert Stephenson & Co. marched through the streets of Newcastle to their own memorial service.[198][202] Robert left about £400,000:[note 25] the Newcastle locomotive works, Snibstone collieries and £50,000 went to his cousin George Robert Stephenson, the only son of George's younger brother Robert, £10,000 was left to Parker, Bidder and the Newcastle Infirmary, and the rest was left to friends or as legacies to institutions.[198][203]

The Victorian self help advocate Samuel Smiles had published his first biography of George Stephenson in 1857, and although attacked as biased in the favour of George at the expense his rivals as well as his son, it was popular and 250,000 copies were sold by 1904. The Band of Hope were selling biographies of George in 1859 at a penny a sheet, and at one point there was a suggestion to move George's body to Westminster Abbey.[204][205][206] The centenary of George's birth was celebrated in 1881 at Crystal Palace by 15,000 people,[207] and it was George who was featured on the reverse of the Series E five pound note issued by the Bank of England between 1990 and 2003.[208] The Stephenson Railway Museum in North Shields is named after George and Robert Stephenson.[209]

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ Robert and George both gave the month of Robert's birth variously as October, November or December.[4] Jeaffreson & Pole (1864a, p. 7) states that although he celebrated his birthday on 16 November, the October date was determined by looking at an extract from the register. Most biographies, such as Rolt (1984, p. 10) and Davis (1975, p. 8), give this date of birth except Ross (2010, pp. 21, 288), who gives the November date because George Parker Bidder was invited by Robert to a birthday party on 16 November 1852, and Robert's birthday is noted in Bidder's diary in 1853, 1854 and 1875.
  2. ^ George's younger brother Robert laid out the Bolton and Leigh Railway and the narrow gauge Nantlle Railway in Wales and was in charge of one of the locomotives on the opening day of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, before coming manager of Pendleton Colliery. His only son, George Robert Stephenson, inherited the Robert Stephenson & Co. works after Robert's death.[9]
  3. ^ Smiles had this story of Elizabeth and George meeting in early edition, but removed it in later editions after being told by Elizabeth's brother that he had introduced the couple to each other in 1818 or 1819.[24] However, subsequent biographers, such as Jeaffreson & Pole (1864a, p. 49) and Rolt (1984, p. 17) repeat the earlier account.
  4. ^ The S&DR became known as "the Quaker line" after approximately a third of the shares were bought by Quakers, and Pease, his family and other local Quakers had control of the managing committee.[28]
  5. ^ In Smiles' biography, George had travelled down with Wood to see Pease uninvited, but Wood later stated publicly that the meeting had been by appointment. However, notes probably dictated by an elderly George were published in 1973 that said he had travelled to Darlington to see Pease because of the advice of friends.[30]
  6. ^ When George was commissioned to survey the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, William James was left without a job, and was eventually bankrupt. Rolt argues that Robert's sympathies were with James, using a letter from Robert Stephenson to James as evidence,[56] but after Rolt wrote his book this letter was re-attributed to George's brother, Robert.[57] Davis quotes a letter from Robert to Longbridge, sent before George had got the L&MR contract, in which Robert is excited about going to Colombia.[58]
  7. ^ In a contemporary account of the meeting, Trevithick claims to have sat talking to George with an infant Robert on his knee.[65] However Davis (1975, pp. 158–159) and Ross (2010, pp. 94–95) both consider it unlikely that the Cornish Trevithick had met the Stephensons in Newcastle.
  8. ^ Ross (2010, pp. 164, 297) notes that Robert was not seen at any meetings and did not join an English lodge, and considers the membership as a form of insurance.
  9. ^ Fanny (1803–1842) was the daughter of John Sanderson of London.[20] A relative has been quoted as saying that Fanny was intelligent and able to influence others without them knowing, and not beautiful, but had expressive dark eyes.[75]
  10. ^ To reverse earlier locomotives the driver had to manipulate the valves manually in sequence; with no brakes on the locomotive and wooden brakes on the tender this was the only way of stopping. There was only one S&DR driver that could do this in the dark, the others required the firemen to hold up a light.[82]
  11. ^ Marc Seguin, engineer to the St Etienne and Lyon Railway, had the idea at about the same time, and had a French patent. He built such a boiler that summer and fitted it to a locomotive two months after the Rainhill Trials. Although Seguin had visited the S&DR and ordered locomotives from Robert Stephenson & Co,[84][85] the Booth-Stephenson design was different, and Seguin and the Stephensons had not discussed the idea.[86]
  12. ^ The L&MR was built with the tracks 4 feet 8+1⁄2 inches (1.435 m) apart, although later the distance was increased to 6 feet (1.8 m).[96]
  13. ^ In 1830 a civil engineer was any engineer not in military service.[108]
  14. ^ This increased to £2,000 to match the salary Isambard Kingdom Brunel was awarded when he became Chief Engineer of the Great Western Railway.[116]
  15. ^ After gaining the contract for the Great Western Railway, Brunel borrowed copies of Robert's drawings and modelled his system of draughting on that used by Robert.[119]
  16. ^ Locomotives were used after July 1844 and the stationary engines were moved to a silver mine in Russia.[123]
  17. ^ Later, British locomotive manufacturers were absent when the builders of the line through the Semmering Pass in Austria held trials in 1851 to select a locomotive that could haul 140 long tons (142 t; 157 short tons) up a 1 in 40 gradient. The competition was won by Bavaria, built in Munich with eight coupled wheels.[150]
  18. ^ In 1857 Robert became godfather to Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell,[154] and Ross (2010, p. 305) notes that Addeyman, John; Haworth, Victoria (2005). Robert Stephenson: Railway Engineer. North East Railway Association. p. 150. ISBN 1-873513-60-7 {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |separator= ignored (help) repeats the rumour that the child resulted from an long-term affair between Robert and Henrietta Baden-Powell, but there is no evidence for this other than gossip.[155]
  19. ^ Smiles (1868, p. 234) states that early tramroads had rails 4 ft 8 in apart, but Tomlinson (1915, pp. 82–83) challenges this, stating that the most common gauge of the early tramroads and waggonways was about 4 ft (1,219 mm), and some, such as the Wylam waggonway, had the rails 5 ft (1,524 mm) apart.
  20. ^ Early documents gave 4 ft 8 in as the gauge on both the S&DR and L&MR, but the distance between the rails was later measured as 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in, and this became the standard gauge used by 60 per cent of railways worldwide. The difference of 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) is a mystery.[164][165]
  21. ^ For more details see Lewis, Peter (2007). Disaster on the Dee: Robert Stephenson's Nemesis of 1847. History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-4266-2 {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |separator= ignored (help).
  22. ^ Fairbairn claimed credit for the design in his book Fairbairn, William (1849). An account of the construction of the Britannia and Conway tubular bridges {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |separator= ignored (help), to which Robert responded with Clark, Edwin; Stephenson, Robert (1849). General description of the Britannia and Conway tubular bridges on the Chester & Holyhead Railway {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |separator= ignored (help).[173]
  23. ^ For details of this journey see Bidder, Elizabeth (2012). The Elizabeth Bidder Diary. Robert Stephenson Trust {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |separator= ignored (help).
  24. ^ It was reported in The Morning Post that "Great disappointment was felt at the entire exclusion of ladies", but that space was limited.[201]
  25. ^ Sources differ as whether the legacy was valued over[198] or under £400,000.[203]

References

  1. ^ Davis 1975, Title of book.
  2. ^ "Robert Stephenson". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  3. ^ a b Bailey, Michael R., ed. (2003). Robert Stephenson; The Eminent Engineer. Ashgate. p. XXIII. ISBN 0-7546-3679-8.
  4. ^ Rolt 1984, p. 10.
  5. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. 9–10.
  6. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 8–9.
  7. ^ Rolt 1984, p. 11.
  8. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, p. 13.
  9. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. xix, 12, 197, 201.
  10. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. 11–12.
  11. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 15–17.
  12. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 18, 22–23.
  13. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. 15–16.
  14. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 19–17, 29.
  15. ^ Smiles 1868, pp. 165–166.
  16. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 30, 33–34.
  17. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. 16–17.
  18. ^ Davis 1975, p. 14.
  19. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 35–36.
  20. ^ a b c Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26400, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/26400 instead.
  21. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 42–44.
  22. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, p. 46.
  23. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. 8–9, 17.
  24. ^ Ross 2010, p. 54.
  25. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 47–49.
  26. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, p. 50.
  27. ^ Allen 1974, pp. 15–16.
  28. ^ Kirby, Maurice W. (4 July 2002). The Origins of Railway Enterprise: The Stockton and Darlington Railway 1821–1863. Cambridge University Press. pp. 33, 37. ISBN 978-0-521-89280-3.
  29. ^ Allen 1974, p. 17.
  30. ^ Davis 1975, pp. 62–65.
  31. ^ Rolt 1984, p. 65.
  32. ^ Tomlinson 1915, p. 74.
  33. ^ Rolt 1984, p. 69.
  34. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 53–54.
  35. ^ Allen 1974, p. 20.
  36. ^ Tomlinson 1915, pp. 79–80.
  37. ^ Allen 1974, p. 19.
  38. ^ Rolt 1984, p. 77.
  39. ^ Tomlinson 1915, p. 83.
  40. ^ Ross 2010, pp. 58–59.
  41. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. 90–92.
  42. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 60–61.
  43. ^ Tomlinson 1915, pp. 85–86.
  44. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. 80–81.
  45. ^ Tomlinson 1915, pp. 86–87.
  46. ^ Allen 1974, p. 24.
  47. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. 101–102.
  48. ^ a b Rolt 1984, p. 102.
  49. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 66–68.
  50. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 69, 72.
  51. ^ Smiles 1868, pp. 301–302.
  52. ^ Jeaffreson & Pole 1864a, pp. 74–75.
  53. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. 95–96.
  54. ^ Davis 1975, pp. 103, 112–113.
  55. ^ Ross 2010, pp. 66–69.
  56. ^ Davis 1975, pp. 100–101.
  57. ^ Davis 1975, pp. 102, 322–323.
  58. ^ Davis 1975, pp. 111–112.
  59. ^ Rolt 1984, pp. 119–120.
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Sources

Further reading

  • Addeyman, John; Haworth, Victoria (2005). Robert Stephenson: Railway Engineer. North East Railway Association. ISBN 1-873513-60-7.
  • Bailey, Michael R., ed. (2003). Robert Stephenson; The Eminent Engineer. Ashgate. ISBN 0-7546-3679-8.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Stephenson.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Whitby
1847–1859 		Succeeded by
Professional and academic associations
Preceded by President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
1849–1853 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Institution of Civil Engineers
December 1855 – December 1857 		Succeeded by

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