Robert Stephenson (1803 - 1859)

Born 16 Oct 1803 in Willington Quay, Northumberland, England

Ancestors

Husband of Frances (Sanderson) Stephenson — married 17 Jun 1829 in Bishopsgate, St. Botolph, Middlesex, England

Died 12 Oct 1859 at age 55 in Kensington, Middlesex, England

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Biography

Robert Stephenson is Notable.

Born 16 October 1803 Willington Quay, Northumberland ^[1], Robert was baptised 22 January 1804, Wallsend, Northumberland, the only son of George Stephenson "The Father of Railways" & Frances Henderson. ^[2] The family moved to Killingworth where Robert attended the local village school & the Percy Academy in Newcastle before being apprenticed to the Mining engineer, Nicholas Wood.

He left before he had completed his three years to help his father survey the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Robert spent six months at Edinburgh University before working for three years as a mining engineer in Colombia. When he returned his father was building the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and Robert developed the steam locomotive Rocket that won the Rainhill Trials in 1829. He was appointed chief engineer of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1833.

By 1850 Robert had been involved in third of the country's railway system. He designed the High Level Bridge and Royal Border Bridge on the East Coast Main Line. He was intrumental in developing wrought-iron tubular bridges, such the Britannia Bridge in Wales, a design he later used for the Victoria Bridge in Montreal, for many years the longest bridge in the world. He eventually worked on 160 commissions from 60 companies, building railways in other countries including Belgium, Norway, Egypt and France.

In 1829 Robert married Frances Sanderson ^[3][4] who died in 1842; the couple did not have any children and Robert did not remarry.

Elected Member of Parliament for Whitby in 1847; a seat he held until his death.

Robert's death on 12 October 1859 ^{[5] [6]} was deeply mourned throughout the country, especially since it happened just a few days after the death of Brunel. His funeral cortege was given permission by Queen Victoria to pass through Hyde Park, an honour previously reserved for royalty. Two thousand tickets were issued, but 3000 men were admitted to the service at Westminster Abbey, where he was buried beside Thomas Telford.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stephenson
2. ↑ England Births & Christenings (1538-1975) (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JWVF-D9Y)
3. ↑ St. Botolph, Bishopgate, London: Robert Stephenson of the Parish of St. John, Newcastle, Northumberland, Bachelor and Frances Sanderson of this Parish, Spinster, were married in this Church, by Licence on the seventeenth day of June eighteen hundred & twenty nine. By me, Richard Harvey, MA, Curate. Witnesses : John Sanderson, Elizabeth Poole, A.E. Sanderson, Elizabeth Hewitt. (London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921)
4. ↑ England Marriages (1538-1973) ( https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJZC-6MW)
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stephenson
6. ↑ GRO Death Index Kensington Vol.1a, Page 20 q December 1859
7. ↑ Find a Grave Index (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV9-14QJ)

See Also:

• Wikidata: Item Q328728