"Geo Stephenson - Father of the Railways"

Born: 9 Jun 1781 in Wylam near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Died: 12 Aug 1848. Buried in Chesterfield/Trinity Church. The father of George, Robert Stephenson, was an engineman at the old pumping engine at Wylam Colliery. 1795: George works as an assistant fireman. 1798: George works as engineman/plugman on Newburn Colliery. 1802: On 28 Nov 28 he married Francis Henderson at Willington. 1803: On 16 Oct his son Robert was born. 1804: The family moves to West Moor Colliery near Killingworth. 1806: His wife Frances dies. 1811: George repairs a Newcomen pumping engine. 1812: George works as engine-wright at Killingworth Colliery. First steam engines are used for coal transportation. 1820: George marries Elizabeth Hindmarsh.

It was during the period, l812-1813, that George Stephenson began to think seriously about the possibility of building a steam locomotive to replace the horse drawn cars that were then used to haul the coal about the collieries. The horses were used to pull the cars loaded with coal along tracks made with wooden rails. At least in their general appearance the wooden tracks were somewhat like our modern railroad tracks.

The thought of a steam locomotive to draw the cars along these tracks was not entirely new to George. Several attempt had been made to build a steam locomotive but the prototypes produced seemed to lack any commercial value and were rather impractical for one reason or another - an engine called the "Puffin Billy" was a typical example. However, the extensive knowledge that George had with all features of steam engines and associated mechanical arrangements enabled him to see the shortcomings of these early locomotive designs and to recognise the possibility of building a really practical and useful steam locomotive.

George discussed the idea of building such a locomotive to replace the horses with the mine owners and found them very interested in such a venture. Lord Ravensworth, one of the mine owners, offered to finance the building of the locomotive and to furnish George with a suitable place where the locomotive could be constructed. Armed with his drawings and calculations he set to work and in 1814 he completed work on his first locomotive. He named it the Blucher.

In Jul 1814 George made the first trial run with his new engine on the wooden tracks used by the horse drawn vehicles at the colliery. The trial run was an outstanding success and with that trial run George Stephenson ushered in the great age of rail transportation that was destined to revolutionise the industrial development of the nation. The Blucher was, in fact, the first practical and commercially feasible locomotive ever built.

"The Rocket"

Many developments and improvements followed the first model of George's locomotive. A model called the "Rocket" became a famous early design. Progress continued in the building of both the railroad track and in locomotive design until in George's lifetime he was able to see engines traveling at speeds approaching sixty miles an hour and hauling passengers and freight across a continent. George's talents were evident in other fields as well. For example, he invented and built safety lamps used by coal miners in their work underground.

Comment

"Killingworth Mine 1903"

The problem for the researchers of Branch No12 is proving the link between William Hindmarsh (born circa 1785) and Thomas and Elizabeth (second wife of Geo Stephenson) Hindmarsh who may have been his brother and sister. William appears to have been working at the Westmoor pit at Killingworth at the same time as George and it is likely that they knew each other. However, Elizabeth is reputed to have been the daughter of the wealthiest farmer in Black Callerton (see notes on family tree)and to have sought permission from her father to marry George before 1802, when he married his first wife Florence Henderson. This permission was denied - presumably because George's "prospects" at that time were not seen as good enough.

An interesting feature of this tree is that William, with links to Newburn became involved in lead mining at Alston, presumably to seek his fortune. It is here that he marries his wife, Ann Beck, at Stanhope, and she seems to have been the daughter of Joseph Dodds of Allenhead. It is noted that there is a William Hindmarsh born at Allenhead and he is likely to have been a Quaker connected with lead mining. Interestingly, William's son James 1812) is recorded as being a Quaker (see family tree notes). All of these issues may be resolved by scrutiny of the Census returns for 1841 and 1851 and examination of the mining records.

To view the family tree for this Branch click here