Life of Robert Stephenson by William Pole: Chapter V

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CHAPTER V. Preparations for America (age 20-21)

IN forming his new connection at Darlington, George Stephenson made the acquaintance not only of Mr. Pease, but also of Mr. Michael Longridge of the Bedlington Iron Works, and the influential associates of both those gentlemen; and by his conduct towards them he gained their respect and confidence. Unfortunately, however, in acting honourably towards his new friends, he was compelled to give offence to an old patron. On being asked what rails he would recommend to be laid down on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, he frankly replied to the directors- ‘Gentlemen, I might put £500 into my pocket by getting you to buy my patent cast-iron rails. But I know them. Take my advice, and don’t lay down a single cast-iron rail.’ Of course it was his paramount duty to give this advice to his employers, but his condemnation of cast-iron rails, and recommendation of malleable bars, not only kept £500 out of his own pocket, but withheld the same sum from the purse of his co-patentee and old employer, Mr. Losh. The latter, not then believing in the relative inferiority of the cast- iron rails which he and George Stephenson had patented in 1816, was naturally irritated, and imprudently wrote a letter to Mr. Pease reflecting on George’s conduct in violent and unjust terms. The contents of this epistle were inconsiderately imparted by Mr. Pease to George Stephenson; and the consequence was a stormy interview between the latter and Mr. Losh, in which the capitalist accused the engineer of ingratitude, and the engineer retorted on the capitalist a charge of self-interest and cupidity. The consequence of this was, that the rupture between the elder Stephenson and Messrs. Losh, Watson, and Bell was final; and George attached himself to another interest.

Whilst he was superintending the construction of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, George Stephenson induced Mr. Edward Pease, Mr. Richardson, and Mr. Longridge, to join him in establishing the ‘manufactory,’ now celebrated, wherever locomotive engines are used, under the name of ‘ Robert Stephenson and Co.’ It has been already seen how he put Robert Stephenson’s name on the map as engineer of the Stockton and Darlington fine. In like manner, now that he was about to embark in a great commercial speculation, he made his son the prominent engineer, as well as an actual partner, and was pleased to keep himself in the background. The partnership was formed in 1823, and forthwith the ground was purchased on which the factory of ‘Robert Stephenson and Co.’ yet stands — an imposing and extensive mass of building, visible to travellers through smoke and fog, as the train bears them along the superior road of the High Level Bridge. The originators of the factory, interested deeply in the Stockton and Darlington Railway, were bent on supplying the new line with the steam locomotives, which their influence would cause to be adopted in preference to fixed engines. With the commencement of 1824 the factory was at work. George Stephenson, fully engaged with the Stockton and Darlington fine, thirty or forty miles distant from Newcastle, could give but little personal care to the new factory. Robert Stephenson was, therefore, called upon to superintend its earhest operations. It was a trying position for a young man, only twenty years of age. To be so trusted was the grandest sort of education—but it was an education fitted only for an able man. He had to supervise the building operations, engage men, take orders, advise on contracts, draw plans, make estimates, keep the accounts, and in all matters, great or small, govern the young establishment on his own responsibility.

All this, however, was mere child’s play compared with his next task.

A more fascinating scheme than that of the ‘ Colombian Mining Association had not for years roused the imaginations of speculators. The proposal was to recommence working in Spanish America the gold and silver mines, which, it was averred, had been wrought with great profit before the Revolution. The cautiously expressed opinion of Humboldt, that such operations might lead to successful results, induced men of wealth and high reputation in the money market to support the project with their names and their gold. The first plan of the projectors was departed from in important particulars; and when the Company took form as a working power, its title was the ‘ Colombian Mining Association,’ and the attention of the directors was concentrated on the mineral Wealth of Colombia.

Amongst the most sanguine projectors of this speculation was Mr. Thomas Richardson, the founder of the famous discount house of Richardson, Overend, and Gurney. Mr. Richardson was an intimate friend and family connection of Mr. Pease of Darlington. He took shares in the Stockton and Darhngton Railway, and became a partner in the firm of ‘Robert Stephenson and Co., of Newcastle.’ Frequently coming into contact with George Stephenson, he admired his soundness of judgement as much as he did his genius for mechanical contrivance, and consequently consulted him on the arrangements of the ‘ Colombian Mining Association.’ Of course, steam-engines and iron goods would be required in abundance for effectually working the old. mines ; and Mr. Richardson calculated that his influence would obtain large orders for the house of ‘ Robert Stephenson and Co.’ On George Stephenson, therefore, it eventually devolved to select miners, artisans, inspectors, and implements, and to make heavy shipments of iron and goods for America. Indeed, not only Mr. Richardson, but the general body of directors, relied on George’s guidance in all the engineering part of their preliminary operations.

Although the earlier commissions were sent to his father, young Robert Stephenson had to attend to many of them ; and he did the work in such a manner that Mr. Richardson formed a yet higher opinion of his energy and capacity. Mr. Longridge, with whom George Stephenson had now, for more than three years, been in communication, also formed the highest estimate of Robert’s abilities. Overtures were then made through Mr. Richardson to Robert Stephenson, sounding him whether he would like to accompany the expedition. The proposal put the young man in a fire of excitement. He was pining to get away from Newcastle. The threatening symptoms of pulmonary disease, which had from childhood made his friends anxious for him, seemed decidedly on the increase; and in his secret heart he believed that the harsh winds of Newcastle would, before many years, lay him in a premature grave. In the warm luxurious atmosphere of Colombia, surrounded by the gorgeous beauties of animal and vegetable fife, which had stirred Humboldt from his philosophic calm, he anticipated renewed vigour of mind and body. Moreover, the dreams of wealth, which had fascinated apparently cautious and practical men like Mr. Richardson, seemed to Robert Stephenson’s young mind no visionary hopes, but realities beyond the reach of doubt. He argued, not unreasonably, the Spaniards, with imperfect appliances and a rude knowledge of their art, extracted from those mines vast revenues, and therefore greater wealth will flow to labourers aided by the latest inventions of science, and having a supply of skilled artisans.

It was true ‘ the works ’ had been scarcely established at Newcastle, and needed vigilant direction. But the principal object for which they had been started—the construction of locomotives—could not be attained until there was a public demand for the commodity; and even to Robert Stephenson, not less sanguine than his father as to the ultimate success of the locomotive, it seemed highly improbable that the demand would be either urgent or general for some years. At all events he might with advantage to his health and prospects go to South America for three years. George Stephenson did not at all like the proposal. Not even the annual salary of £500, with allowances for travelling expenses, could lessen his disapproval.

In the spring of 1824, Robert Stephenson, at the direction of the Colombian Association, went on a trip to Cornwall, accompanied by his uncle Robert (the father of the present Mr. George Robert Stephenson), and made a careful examination of the mining system of that country. The result of this trip was an elaborate report by the uncle and nephew on Cornish mining — its usages, implements, engines, and commercial organisation. Writing to his father from Oakhampton, Devonshire, March 5, 1824, Robert Stephenson said:—

As far as I have proceeded on my journey to the Cornish mines, I have every reason to think it will not be misspent time; for when one is travelling about, something new generally presents itself, and though it is perhaps not superior to some scheme of our own for the same purpose, it seldom fails to open a new channel of ideas, which may not unfrequently prove advantageous in the end. This I think is one of the chief benefits of leaving the fireside where the young imagination received its first impression.

In this same letter he speaks of having inspected the Bristol steam-boats, and especially the ‘ George IV.,’ in which be and his father had crossed from Ireland in the previous year. He mentions also having been at Swansea, where the engine for drawing coals, put up by George Stephenson, was seen working admirably. Speaking of the Neath Abbey Works, he observes —

When I was at Neath Abbey I had the pleasure of being introduced to Mr. Brunton the engineer: he is a very sensible man, but there is not one of them who understands the parallel motion thoroughly. They seemed to doubt me when I told them I had never seen one mathematically true, not even in principle.

In the firm and self-reliant tone of this passage may be seen the young man of twenty-one conscious of his power to be a leader of others.

Returning to Newcastle, Robert Stephenson found that he could not settle down to his work. He wrote to his father, begging him no longer to oppose his wish to go to Colombia.

But now (he wrote) let me beg of you not to say anything against my going out to America, for I have already ordered so many instruments that it would make me look extremely foolish to call off. Even if I had not ordered any instruments, it seems as if we were all working one against another. You must recollect I will only be away for a time; and in the mean time you could manage with the assistance of Mr. Longridge, who, together with John Nicholson, would take the whole of the business part off your hands. And only consider what an opening it is forme as an entry into business; and I am informed by all who have been there that it is a very healthy country. I must close this letter, expressing my hope that you will not go against me for this time.

Sorely against his will, George gave his consent; and Robert Stephenson, once more going up to London, took up his quarters (April 27, 1824) at the London Coffee House, Ludgate Hill, and made his preparations for departure. It was a terribly wet season, and he walked about day after day in the flooded streets, soaked to the skin, buying implements and stores and engaging workmen. Nor did he confine his attention to the concerns of the Colombian Association. Already he was a man of mark, invited to the tables of wealthy merchants, and carried hither and thither to give his opinion on engineering questions relating to gas works, water works, and marine engines. He examined minutely Mr. Brown’s ‘ vacuum engine,’ which was making as great a stir as Perkins’ machine did, until George Stephenson, by the simple application of muscular force, stopped the action of the pretty toy. The 'vacuum engine ’ Robert Stephenson significantly described in a letter to his father as ‘ extremely ingenious, but At the same time he busied himself in inventing, for a company of London merchants, a machine for stamping coin, which he hoped to see employed in the Colombian mint. The Messrs. Magnays had given him an order for a paper-drying machine. Whilst he was deciding how he should construct the machine for stamping coin and the drying machine, he visited the Mint and the ‘ Times ’ Newspaper Office; with which establishments he was so pleased that he wrote his father a long account of them.

The Magnays (he wrote) got me an introduction to the ‘ Times ’ printing office, where I was almost as much delighted as I was in the Mint. The facility with which they print is truly wonderful. They were working papers at the rate of 2,000 per hour, which they can hold for any length of time. The mode they have of conveying the sheet of paper from one part of the machine to the other, is, I think, precisely what is wanted in the drying machine.

Hitherto Robert Stephenson’s experience as a mining engineer had been principally confined to coal mines, whereas he was now about to search for the precious metals. That he might be possessed of all the requisite practical information, he took lessons of Richard Phillips, the Professor of Mineralogical Chemistry—the Colombian Company paying five guineas for each lesson. At the same time he was acquiring the Spanish language.

After staying for a short time at the London Coffee House, he removed to lodgings in No. 6 Finsbury Place South, and there remained till he left London. In ‘ the city’ he underwent much disappointment. Arrangements which had been spoken of as completed had still to be begun. Heavy arrears of labour fell upon the young engineer, in respect of matters about which he ought to have had no trouble whatever. Even about his appointment—the salary and exact character of the position — there were difficulties ; and he had to haggle and insist before he could get any recognition whatever of his engagement with the Colombian Mining Company; and after all his agreement was not with the Company, but with the Company’s agents, Messrs. Herring, Graham, and Powles, in their individual capacity. Thus after all Robert Stephenson sailed from England the agent of the firm, although he was to preside over the engineering affairs of the Association. All this augured ill for the state of affairs in South America.

During his protracted stay in London, whilst he was acquiring scientific information, purchasing stores, and vainly endeavouring to ascertain what his duties would be in South America, Robert Stephenson wrote to his friend, Mr. Longridge, in March, and again in April. The March letter was written at a time of great distraction and uncertainty, just after his return from Cornwall. The April letter was penned after a brief excursion in the country.

Imperial Hotel, Covent Garden: March 9, 1824.

DEAR SIR, —Your letter the other day gave me pleasure in hearing you were going on (I suppose, of course, at Forth Street) pretty regularly. I wrote to my father this morning, hut positively I durst not mention how long it would he before I should be able to reach once more the North. Indeed, I scarcely dare give it a thought myself. I saw Mr. Newburn yesterday, and he informed me it would at least be fourteen days before I could get my liberty. For heaven’s sake don’t mention this to my father. Joseph Pease will perhaps give him the information: it will, I know, make him extremely dissatisfied, but you know I cannot by any means avoid it. There are some new prospects here in agitation, which I look forward to with great satisfaction. It is the making of a road in Colombia. What a place London is for prospects! This new scheme of the road or railway is also connected with four silver mines at Mariquita. The road is projected between La Guayra and the city of Caraccas. You may find La Guayra on the coast, I believe, of the Gulf of Mexico. The climate, from Humboldt, is not quite so salubrious as that of Mexico. Mr. Powles is the head of the concern, and he assures me there is no one to meddle with us. We are to have all the machinery to make, and we are to construct the road in the most advisable way we may think, after making surveys and levellings.

Well might Robert Stephenson say, ‘What a place London is for prospects!’ He had come up to London to settle about going to South America as engineer of the Colombian Mining Association, and after all the principal promoters of that association now proposed to send him out on a distinct expedition to another spot, although in the same quarter of the globe. Eventually, as it has already been stated, he went out as the servant of Messrs. Graham, Herring, and Powles; and it was his intention, when he had attended to their business, to enter on the work of the Mining Company.

After many delays the agent of Messrs. Herring, Graham, and Powles, and Engineer-in-chief of the Colombian Mining Company, received orders to proceed immediately to Falmouth, and there take ship to Carthagena. The principal goods and the first lot of miners had already quitted England, and the interpreter to the expedition was already en route for Falmouth. Obeying his instructions, Robert Stephenson had actually mounted the Falmouth coach, and had loaded it with extra luggage, to the amount of a £30 fare, when he received orders to descend, to unload the coach, and to start for Liverpool. Of course he complied.

On reaching Liverpool he wrote to his father (June 8, 1824), giving an account of his journey from town that affords a striking picture of the troubles of ‘ the good old coaching days.’

We have arrived safe in Liverpool, after an extremely fatiguing journey. I never recollect in all my travels being so terrified on a coach. I expected every moment for many miles that we should be upset, and if such an accident had happened we must have literally been crushed to pieces. We had 21 cwt. of luggage to remove from London to Liverpool by coach. This may serve to give you a faint idea of the undertaking. This weight was sent in twice. The coach-top on which we came was actually rent; all the springs, when we arrived at Liverpool, were destitute of any elasticity, one of them absolutely broken and the body of the coach resting on the framework, so that, in fact, we rattled into this town more like a stage-waggon than a light coach.

On June 12, George Stephenson arrived in Liverpool to bid his son farewell, and took an affecting leave of him on the 18th.

During his stay at Liverpool with his son, George Stephenson, by the hand of a friend, wrote the following characteristic and entertaining letter to Mr. Longridge;—

Liverpool: June 15, 1824.

DEAR SIR, — I arrived here on Saturday afternoon, and found Mr. Sanders, Robert, and Charles, waiting for me at the coach office. It gave me great pleasure to see Robert again before he sails. He expects to leave the country on Thursday next. We dined with Mr. Sanders on Saturday, and with Mr. Ellis yesterday. He had three men-servants waiting in the entrance-hall to show us to the drawing-room. There was a party to meet us, and kindly we were received. The dinner was very sumptuous, and the wine costly. We had claret, hock, champagne, and madeira, and all in great plenty; but no one took more than was proper. It is a good custom not to press people to take so much as does them harm. We dined at seven and left at twelve o’clock. Sanders and Ellis are magnificent fellows, and are very kind; Mrs. Sanders is a fine woman, and Mrs. Ellis very elegant. I believe she is niece to Sir James Graham, M. P.; I must say that we have been very kindly received by all parties. I am teased with invitations to dine with them, but each indulgence cannot be attended by me. What changes one sees !— this day in the highest life, and the next in a cottage — one day turtle soup and champagne, and the next bread and milk, or anything that one can catch. Liverpool is a splendid place—some of the streets are equal to London. The merchants are clever chaps, and perseverance is stamped upon every brow. There is a Doctor Trail, a clever mineralogist, and some famous mathematicians that we have dined with. I was much satisfied to find that Robert could acquit himself so well amongst them.

He was much improved in expressing himself since I had seen him before; the poor fellow is in good spirits about going abroad, and I must make the best of it. It was singular good-fortune that brought us together at this time, but the weather is very bad; it has poured with rain for the last three days. Today I am going over part of the line, but have not been able to commence yet. Robert will endeavour to write to you before he sails, and desires his kindest remembrance.

God bless you. Sir! Believe me to remain Yours sincerely, G.S.

As soon as his father had said farewell, Robert Stephenson, before he went on board, wrote a hasty line, full of filial tenderness, to his mother, explaining that he had directed Messrs. Herring, Graham, and Powles to pay £300 per annum, i.e. three-fifths of his salary, to his father. For several years after their establishment ‘the works’ at Newcastle did not pay their expenses. George Stephenson’s partners were far from sanguine as to their ultimate success, and George, confident as he was that they would prove a source of great wealth, was often pinched for ready money to meet his share of the capital required to feed them: Robert Stephenson knew this well, and did his utmost to meet the difficulty.

On the evening of that same June 18, on which he took leave of his father, Robert Stephenson wrote in his log-book:—

June 18, 1824.— Set sail from Liverpool in the ‘ Sir William Congreve,’ at three o’clock in the afternoon: wind from the south-east, sea smooth, day beautiful; temperature of the air towards evening in the shade, 58°. Made some experiments with ‘ Register Thermometer ’ to ascertain the temperature of the sea at various depths, but failed on account of the velocity of the vessel through the water not allowing the instrument to sink. The temperature of the surface water appeared to he 54° at seven o’clock in the evening—this ascertained by lifting a bucket of water on board and immediately immersing the thermometer. This was considered as sufficiently accurate, as the temperature could not sensibly change in the time occupied by the experiment.

Pursuing the system commenced on that first lovely evening at sea, Robert Stephenson jotted down in his log-book the mutations of temperature and light, and other natural phenomena, until on July 23, 1824, he records:—

Early in the morning saw the Colombian coast, and at two o’clock cast anchor opposite La Guayra; observed with silence the miserable appearance of the town. The hills behind the town rise to a height that gives a degree of sublimity to the scenery in the eyes of a stranger.

The voyage was at an end.

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