Post by Derek RichardsonHi All
I am trying establish a family connection to George Stephenson, designer of the 'rocket' steam engine.
George was born in Wylam in northumberland in 1787. My possible link is through Thomas Stephenson born in Hamsterley
County durham in about 1812. Does anyone have any info on George Stephenson's family tree?
Any Info Gratefully Received
Derek
I'm sure we've been here before.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
[Extracts]
Stephenson, George (1781-1848), colliery and railway engineer, was born at Wylam, 8 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne in
the county of Northumberland, on 9 June 1781. He was the second son of Robert Stephenson, foreman at the Wylam colliery
pumping engine. His mother, Mabel, was the daughter of Richard Carr, a dyer of Ovingham, and his paternal grandfather is
reported to have come from Scotland as a gentleman's servant. Steady and honest in his work, Robert Stephenson was fond
of children and possessed a great love of birds. Both of these traits were inherited in full measure by George.
While working at the Dolly pit, Stephenson lodged at a neighbouring farm where he met Frances Henderson (1769-1806), a
farm servant and herself the daughter of a small farmer at Capheaton. The couple were married on 28 November 1802 at
Newburn church, and on 16 October of the following year, their only son, Robert Stephenson, was born. By that time
George was brakesman of a newly installed engine at Willington Quay to the east of Newcastle, responsible for emptying
ballast from coal ships returning unladen from London. In order to supplement his income he began to repair shoes,
clocks, and watches, acquiring considerable proficiency in the latter. In 1804 the Stephenson family moved to
Killingworth following George's appointment as brakesman to the West Moor colliery engine. It was there, on 14 May 1806,
that Frances Stephenson died of consumption soon after giving birth to a daughter who did not long survive.
After the completion of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Stephenson removed his home to Alton Grange, near
Ashby-de-la-Zouch. He had married again on 29 March 1820; his second wife was Elizabeth (d. 1845), daughter of Thomas
Hindmarsh, a prosperous farmer at Black Callerton; the marriage did not produce any further children. He opened large
coal pits in this neighbourhood, and spent much time and energy in developing its mineral resources. During the
construction of the midland line he took a lease of Tapton House, near Chesterfield, and lived there until his death.
Stephenson's second wife died in 1845, and on 11 January 1848 he married his housekeeper, Ellen Gregory, the daughter of
a farmer of Bakewell. But his strength was failing, and he died of pleurisy at Tapton House, Tapton, near Chesterfield,
on 12 August 1848. He was buried on 17 August in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield. The foundation
stone of a fine memorial hall was laid at Chesterfield by Lord Hartington on 17 October 1877, and the building was
opened in July 1879. A festival in celebration of the centenary of Stephenson's birth was held at Newcastle on 9 June
1881, when a medal was struck in his honour.
________________________________________________________
Stephenson, Robert (1803-1859), railway and civil engineer, was born on 16 October 1803 at Willington Quay, near
Newcastle upon Tyne, the only son of George Stephenson (1781-1848), colliery and railway engineer, and his wife, Frances
Henderson (1769-1806), a farm servant. In 1804, after his father's appointment as brakesman to the West Moor colliery
engine, the family moved to Killingworth, where on 14 May 1806 Stephenson's mother died of consumption.
On 17 June 1829 Stephenson married Frances (1803-1842), daughter of John Sanderson of London. There were no children,
and Frances died at Hampstead on 4 October 1842, aged thirty-nine. On 30 July 1847 Stephenson was elected MP for Whitby.
He represented the town until his death, being re-elected in July 1852, March 1857, and April 1859. He was a high tory
and protectionist, believing that the adoption of free trade was an unwarranted leap in the dark, a paradoxical view,
perhaps, for a person responsible for far-reaching economic and social changes consequent upon the development of
railways. He rarely spoke in the house except on railway administration and engineering matters. In the latter respect,
he was an opponent in the house of the Suez Canal scheme, in the belief that although it was technically feasible it was
commercially unsound. In 1830 he became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and a regular contributor to its
discussions. He was eventually elected president, occupying the chair during 1856 and 1857. Although he declined a
knighthood, he accepted numerous foreign distinctions, including the order of Leopold from the king of the Belgians in
1841 and the grand cross of St Olaf of Norway in 1848. He was elected FRS on 7 June 1849, and on 24 June 1857 he was
created a DCL of Oxford University in company with his friend I. K. Brunel and Dr Livingstone.
Death and burial
For an individual of prodigious talents which were acknowledged publicly in his lifetime, Stephenson was remarkably
modest and, unlike his father, lacking in self-confidence. Careless of his own health and inclined to overwork, he was
unfailingly kind and considerate to subordinates. As a professional engineer he surpassed his father's achievements,
notably in the field of civil engineering. The works that he accomplished were on an altogether larger scale than
anything connected with his father and were characterized by an approach to design and construction rooted in the
scientific method of careful observation and calculation. This applied also to the development of the locomotive after
the innovation of the Rocket. Apart from his numerous reports on professional matters, Stephenson undertook little
literary work, his only important work being the article 'Iron bridges' for the Encyclopaedia Britannica (8th edn,
1853-60).
Stephenson's health had been unsatisfactory since at least the later 1840s, perhaps accounting for an increasing
tendency towards melancholy and irritability. Afflicted by Bright's disease he was advised to stop all work in 1859 and
embark on a cruise in his yacht Titania. In September 1859 he left for Norway, but after a temporary rally he rapidly
grew worse following a severe attack of jaundice and was brought back in great haste to die at his own home at 34
Gloucester Square, London, on 12 October 1859. He was buried on 22 October in Westminster Abbey, by the side of Thomas
Telford. With the assent of the queen, the funeral cortège was permitted to pass through Hyde Park: crowds lined the
route and on the Thames, Tyne, Wear and Tees, all shipping displayed flags at half-mast. In Newcastle upon Tyne the 1500
employees of Robert Stephenson & Co. were allowed to march through the streets to a memorial service at the church of St
Nicholas. He was mourned generally throughout the engineering world.
Data Junkie
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