Stephenson, George
George (1781-1848), the inventor of the locomotive. He was born in a mining village near Newcastle, England, June 9, 1781, and died at his country seat near Chesterfield, August 12, 1848. He was one of a family of six children, maintained on a colliery engine tender's salary of twelve shillings (three dollars) per week. George's first earning was twopence or four cents a day for herding cows and later fourpence for weeding turnips. When he was able to earn fifteen shillings a week as a fireman, he felt rich and ventured to marry. He studied evenings by the light of his engine fire, mastering reading, writing, and arithmetic steadily. By mending shoes and cleaning watches at odd hours he managed to save a little money. The invention of a safety lamp for mines brought his name before the public.
While still employed in the Killingworth colliery he drew plans for a steam road wagon-the first locomotive. His project found financial backing. In 1821 he was appointed to lay out and construct the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first passenger line built. He proposed a speed of twelve miles an hour. "As well trust oneself to be fired off on a Congreve rocket," shouted the Quarterly Review. When a speed of thirty-five miles was attained, critics relapsed into silence.
From this time on Stephenson was the leading railway man of Great Britain. The railway company paid him a salary of $10,000 a year. His office was besieged by capitalists eager to enlist his professional services. In the midst of prosperity he remained simple in manner, and, though in position to amass wealth, he remained incorruptible. Investors in railway enterprises felt sure that if Stephenson allowed his name to appear in connection with a scheme that it was managed honestly. Although one of the busiest men in the nation, he insisted to the last on having time off to cultivate his garden, study birds, and, in autumn, to go nut gathering.
His son Robert was the designer of the Britannia Tubular Bridge at Menai Strait and of the Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence at Montreal.
See Locomotive; Steam Engine; Railroad