BRUNEL- and the Stephensons
Robert Stephenson (1803-59)
Robert was the son of George Stephenson 1781-1848.
George was appointed engine-wright
at Killingworth Colliery (1812) where he invented a safety lamp for miners.
(same time as Davy). He built his first locomotive 1813 which could pull
30 tons at 4 mph and was appointed to construct the Stockton and
Darlington railway. In 1825 he built the Locomotion.
George became engineer to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and
his Rocket (Robert's design) won the Rainhill trials in 1829.
Robert was 20 when he became engineer in charge of his father's locomotive
works in Newcastle. Like Brunel he is also remembered for his bridges -
the High level bridge at Newcastle and, with William Fairbairn, the bridges
at Conway and over the Menai Strait in North Wales.
See also Trevithick
