Stephenson
Stephenson names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Stephenson ROBERT, a British civil engineer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
ROBERT, a British civil engineer, only son of George Stephenson; born near Newcastle-upon- Tyne, Oct. 16, 1803; joined his father in ROBERT STEPHENSON his operations on the Liverpool line; became the permanent engineer of that company; surveyed several new lines, visited South America to inspect the gold and silver mines of that country; and established a name as the first civil engineer in Europe. Among the works with which Robert Stephenson's name is associated, are the High Level Bridge over the Tyne, the Tweed Viaduct, the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits, the Victoria Bridge at Montreal across the St. Lawrence, one of the grandest of engineering achievements, and the Alexandria and Cairo railway. In 1847 he entered Parliament for Whitby; he was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a member of nearly all the scientific societies of Europe. He published two valuable works, "The Locomotive Steam Engine," and "The Atmospheric Railway System." He died in London Oct. 12, 1859, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where there is a memorial window in his honor.
Stephenson GEORGE, an English engineer
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
GEORGE, an English engineer; born in Wylam, England, June 9, 1781. At the age of 14 he joined his father in his work as fireman in a colliery. In 1812 he was appointed engineer to the colliery. Soon after this he built his first traveling engine to draw the wagons along the tramway. Improvement followed on improvement in rapid succession, in every department to which steam was applicable. In 1822 he opened the first railway, 8 miles long. The whole system of railway locomotion with all its complications of stations, signals, tenders, and carriages, was completed by the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester railway in 1830. In 1845 he retired from all railway undertakings, after having been instrumental in estab- GEORGE STEPHENSON lishing all the foreign and home lines. He died near Chesterfield, England, Aug. 12, 1848.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's wrote in 1921 while the Stephensons' works were still in daily service; most have since been transformed. Robert's tubular Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait, praised here, was gutted by fire in 1970 and rebuilt as a steel arch carrying a road deck above the rail line, while the tubes of his Victoria Bridge at Montreal had already been replaced by an open truss in 1898; the High Level Bridge at Newcastle still stands and carries trains. Modern historians also date the first public steam-hauled railway to the Stockton and Darlington of 1825 rather than the eight-mile line of 1822 mentioned here, and George's Rocket, which won the Rainhill trials of 1829, survives as a museum piece. Steam traction that the Stephensons launched ended on British main lines in 1968, and the biographical facts in both notices otherwise still stand.
Written for this edition, 2026.