The country is on the cusp of changes that will shape the world we know today—but long-distance freight is still carried by road or canal and there is no way faster than horseback to move people between the new urban centres.
Something has to change. How did engineers and industrialists set about finding a solution? What were their ideas, and did they succeed? And why is Rocket the name we remember today? Despite Rocket's international fame, engineer Richard Trevithick had completed the first successful steam-powered locomotive to haul a load on rails in —long before the Stephensons' engine.
The product of a guinea bet between South Wales ironmasters Samuel Homfray and Richard Crawshay, it consisted of a high-pressure boiler mounted on wheels, with pistons connected to gears that drove the wheels.
The bet was for the locomotive to haul ten tons of iron along the Merthyr Tydfil tramroad from Penydarren to Abercynon—nearly ten miles. By the s the Industrial Revolution was thundering ahead, and the mills of Manchester—Cottonopolis—were churning out so much cotton that faster, more efficient transport of goods to the coast for export was urgently needed.
It was already agreed that a self-propelled steam locomotive rather than static winding engines, for example would be used on the line, but there were an abundance of designs available. Conducted over nine days in October on a purpose-built line near Rainhill, outside Liverpool, the trials ignited public fascination with locomotive power. The first day was attended by over 10, spectators and large crowds continued to watch the engines' progress each day as they competed for engineering prestige—and the handsome prize money.
The task itself was simple: 10 return trips along 1. Applicants were sent a set of design specifications—but there was little information about how the locomotives would be tested for acceptance. As the trials began, the judges realised this was a problem, and issued a fresh set of 'stipulations and conditions' which laid down the procedure in some detail.
Before each day's trial the judges engineers John Rastrick and Nicholas Wood and industrialist John Kennedy carefully weighed the locomotive and the load it was to haul and recorded the amount of fuel and water taken on. They then timed the train over each of 10 runs along the 1. The locomotives refuelled, and then completed 10 more return trips. When the trips had been completed, the amount of fuel and water used and the average speed achieved were calculated.
The locomotive that could complete the 'ordeal' most efficiently would be selected the winner—the key conditions at Rainhill were strength, power and reliability, rather than speed alone. Efficiency was also important, as coal cost money, and having to frequently stop for water would negate any speed advantage over a horse-worked tramway.
These calculations allowed the judges to determine the overall performance and economy of each locomotive. One of the judges, John Rastrick, recorded his observations at the trials in his notebook, which is now in the Science Museum Group collection. Browse the extracts below or find out more at our online collection. Card detailing the 'ordeal' the competing locomotives would undergo at Rainhill, from John Rastrick's notebook.
Sketch of the trial distance at Rainhill from Rastrick's notebook, in which he recorded details of the trials. About 10 competitors put their names forward during the summer of , but only five actually arrived at Rainhill in time for the start.
Two of these a horse-powered platform called Cycloped and Perseverance, an adapted engine for a road-going steam coach were not seriously in contention, leaving just three strong rivals: Novelty, Sans Pareil and Rocket.
Designed by George's son Robert, it was built at his company works at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. John Braithwaite and John Ericsson designed and built Novelty in London—a considerable drawback, as there were no railways in the city in and so the engineers couldn't test it before the trials. It was very much a road-going steam coach put onto railway wheels. Perseverance was an adaptation of an engine for a road-going steam coach designed by Timothy Burstall of Edinburgh.
It was dropped while being unloaded at Rainhill and after repair performed only a few demonstration runs—it was clearly underpowered, and Burstall withdrew from the trials. Cycloped, owned by Thomas Brandreth, was powered by a horse walking on a drive belt. Though the Board of Trade were inclined to support Brunel in his challenge to the steam locomotive, Stephenson's party won a great parliamentary victory, and settled the matter for ever.
This was the final attempt to dispute the supremacy of the locomotive. In Stephenson became president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers , which was founded by him that year in Birmingham.
He remained notably aloof, however, from the more conservative Institution of Civil Engineers , founded in and a body dominated by London-based canal and turnpike engineers.
He paid several visits to Belgium in connection with railway work, and received in the honour of knighthood from Leopold I. In he also visited northern Spain in connection with a proposed railway.
Stephenson consistently refused all proffered honours in England, however, declining a knighthood on two occasions. He also declined to enter public life as a member of parliament even though he was offered a safe seat at South Shields.
Stephenson's last years were devoted to horticultural pursuits at Tapton House, in which he developed particular interests in the values of various manures, stockbreeding, artificial incubation of eggs, and accelerated fattening of chickens. He took great pleasure in growing straight cucumbers by the simple expedient of enclosing the immature growths in a cylindrical glass tube.
Inclined to occasional intemperance, Stephenson was prone to remind visitors of his long struggle to promote and develop the steam locomotive, all the more so in the light of his modest origins and lack of formal education. A similar message was conveyed in his infrequent speeches to mechanics' institutes in which he consistently proclaimed his own singular contribution to the development of railways.
Never one to suffer any fool gladly, Stephenson never deferred to his social betters. To the end of his life he remained an inveterate and dogmatic deliverer of advice, often while waiting at railway stations telling engineers how to improve the efficiency of their locomotives, and demonstrating to labourers the most effective way to use a shovel and barrow.
Stephenson's second wife died in , and on 11 January 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 The foundation stone of a fine memorial hall was laid at Chesterfield by Lord Hartington on 17 October , and the building was opened in July A festival in celebration of the centenary of Stephenson's birth was held at Newcastle on 9 June , when a medal was struck in his honour.
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Username Please enter your Username. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. Search within Show Summary Details. Stephenson, George — Early mechanical experience George Stephenson's first employment was herding cows and leading horses at the plough.
A safety lamp Before assessing Stephenson's contribution to the development of railway technology it is instructive to note that his inventive capacity was applied first to a safety lamp for underground mineworkers. Early locomotives It is salutary to remember that the development of the steam railway was inextricably bound up with the transport needs of the expanding coal industry of the early nineteenth century.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway Stephenson's claim to fame as the most able of the early locomotive builders was responsible for his recruitment to the Stockton and Darlington Railway project, inaugurated by act of parliament in in order to link the collieries of south-west Durham with the mouth of the River Tees.
Liverpool and Manchester Railway It is an indication of Stephenson's increasing stature as an engineer beyond the confines of the north-east of England that from the mids onwards he began to receive numerous invitations to assist in the projection of other railway schemes.
The Rocket and the Rainhill trial, In the light of operating experience with his early locomotives on the Stockton and Darlington Railway , Stephenson calculated that if the new form of traction was to be successful, a means had to be devised of increasing the heating surface of the boiler of his locomotive. Later railway projects From onwards until , when he decided to retire completely from active work, Stephenson's life was a history of the railway progress of the country.
Last years Stephenson's last years were devoted to horticultural pursuits at Tapton House, in which he developed particular interests in the values of various manures, stockbreeding, artificial incubation of eggs, and accelerated fattening of chickens. Sources S. Smiles, Lives of the engineers , new edn, 5 Jeaffreson, The life of Robert Stephenson , 2 vols.
Skeat, George Stephenson : the engineer and his letters Rolt, George and Robert Stephenson : the railway revolution Davies, George Stephenson : a biographical study of the father of the railways , new edn Kirby, The origins of railway enterprise : the Stockton and Darlington Railway, — Tomlinson, The North Eastern railway : its rise and development [].
Stephenson died on 12 August in Chesterfield in Derbyshire. His only son Robert was also a railway engineer and worked with his father on many of his projects. Search term:. Read more. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience.
On 16th October , he hosted an Institution council meeting at Tapton House. Over the years, he had compiled a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings on all manner of subjects. As William Oswald Skeat wrote, "The universality of his interests was astonishing. He must have been one of the most stimulating of companions. It would be a great mistake to imagine that he could think of nothing but coal mines and railways Always keen to encourage younger engineers, he was also a popular speaker at various mechanics' institutes where he would recount with relish his early hardships and subsequent triumphs.
His last such engagement would be at the Leeds Mechanics Institute in December With his son Robert Stephenson fully occupied on his own engineering projects, George spent time birdwatching, poultry keeping and gardening.
He devised a method akin to modern battery farming for the fattening of chickens at twice the natural rate, and commissioned the making of glass tubes to enable the cultivation of straight cucumbers.
He also delighted in growing pineapples, melons and grapes in his greenhouses, apparently in rivalry with Chatsworth House 's gardener, Joseph Paxton , designer of the future Crystal Palace Stephenson grew fond of his housekeeper, Ellen Gregory a farmer's daughter from near Bakewell in Derbyshire. The wedding was apparently not welcomed by all.
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