Robert Stephenson

Robert Stephenson FRS (October 16, 1803–October 12, 1859) was an English civil engineer.

• 1803 Born on 16 October 1803 at Willington Quay, near Newcastle upon Tyne, the only son of George Stephenson (1781–1848), colliery and railway engineer, and his wife, Frances Henderson (1769–1806)

• He had a private education at the Bruce Academy in Newcastle upon Tyne

• 1819 Commenced an apprenticeship to Nicolas Wood, the manager of Killingworth Colliery

• In 1821 he assisted his father in the survey of the Stockton and Darlington Railway

• 1822 He spent six months studying natural philosophy, chemistry, and natural history at Edinburgh University

• 1823 Robert went to work with his father on his railway projects, the first being the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Robert set up a company in partnership with his father and Edward Pease to build railway locomotives; the firm, Robert Stephenson and Co, built a large proportion of the world's early locomotives and survived into the mid-20th century. The original factory building still exists, at Forth Street in Newcastle, as the Stephenson Works.

• 1824 Stephenson left England in June 1824, and was absent for three years

• On 17 June 1829 Stephenson married Frances (1803–1842), daughter of John Sanderson of London. There were no children, and Frances died at Hampstead on 4 October 1842, aged thirty-nine.

• 1829 Robert did a good deal of the work for the Rainhill Trials-winning Rocket; following its success, the company built further locomotives for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and other newly-established railways, including the Leicester and Swannington Railway.

• In 1833 Robert was given the post of Chief Engineer for the London and Birmingham Railway, the first main-line railway to enter London, and the initial section of the West Coast Main Line. The line posed a number of difficult civil engineering challenges, most notably Kilsby Tunnel, and was completed in 1838. Stephenson was directly responsible for the tunnel under Primrose Hill, which required excavation by shafts. Early locomotives could not manage the climb from Euston Station to Chalk Farm, requiring Stephenson to devise a system that would be draw them up the hill by chains using a steam engine near The Roundhouse. This impressive structure remains in use today as an Arts Centre.

• From 1838 until the end of his life he was engaged on railway work, not only in Great Britain, but all over the world

• He constructed a number of well-known bridges, including the High Level Bridge at Newcastle upon Tyne, the wrought-iron box-section Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait, the Conwy railway bridge between Llandudno Junction and Conwy, Arnside Viaduct in Cumbria, the Royal Border Bridge at Berwick-upon-Tweed and a joint road and rail bridge in 1850 over the River Nene at Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire.

• One of Stephenson's few failures was his design of the Dee bridge, which collapsed under a train. He was heavily criticized for the design, even before the collapse, particularly for the poor choice of materials.

• 1847 He served as Conservative Member of Parliament for Whitby from 1847 until his death.

• 1848 He was a commissioner of the short-lived London Metropolitan Commission of Sewers

• 1855 He was President of the Institution of Civil Engineers for two years

• 1859 Age 55. In September 1859 he left for Norway, but after a temporary rally he rapidly grew worse following a severe attack of jaundice and was brought back in great haste to die at his own home at 34 Gloucester Square, London, on 12 October 1859. His remains are interred at Westminster Abbey.

• Despite being rivals, Stephenson shared a friendship with Isambard Kingdom Brunel and they would often help each other on various projects.

See Also

• Engineers and Mechanics Encyclopedia 1839: Railways: Robert Stephenson
• Lives of George and Robert Stephenson by Samuel Smiles
• Time Line - People 1

Sources of Information

• [1] Wikipedia
• [2] DNB