ARCHIVE: The great George Stephenson was no stranger to controversy

The first president of the IMechE, George Stephenson, is rightly known as a great engineer.

He is primarily associated with railways but he was active in other areas – there were lively debates, encompassing supporters’ gatherings, witness statements and letters, over whether he or Humphrey Davy invented the safety lamp, for example. 

At the IMechE, we hold a large collection of Stephenson material, both for George and his son Robert, and their companies – including archives relating to the controversy over the safety lamp. 

Recently we have been able to make sections of the Stephenson collections publicly available online. Although more material sits in our archive in Birdcage Walk in London, here we will look at the online items as the collection is ripe for study.  

Our own investigations point to subjects of great interest, such as disputes over land use and railway routes which echo current wrangling over the construction of High Speed 2. In a four-page letter to Michael Longridge, dated 30 November 1843, George Stephenson’s frustration seems to reach fever point. He states that he shall become a Tory and buy some land in Newcastle to circumnavigate Lord Howick’s opposition to the proposed route for the Newcastle-to-Berwick Railway. He observes that the route through England and Scotland should not be turned aside because of Howick and remarks that legislators should look to the comfort of the public and not the few as “times are changed”. 

Stephenson was clearly astonished by Howick’s opposition. Howick remained an opponent but, as the letters show, he was not alone in not wanting railway lines to cross or come near his land. Other opponents didn’t want the lines rivalling profitable canal routes they owned. As far as we are aware, these letters have never been fully studied. 

Many of the letters refer to major railway projects and associated engineers. Material about one of the most famous is in a related collection, the Liverpool and Manchester (LMR) Railway Archive. Here are details of the famous crossing of Chat Moss, including a hitherto unknown sheet of costings for the work. 

The railway was the first passenger service and its construction included several feats of engineering: how to cross a bog, how to tunnel and how to cross valleys being among the issues faced. The initial 1823 survey for the line was carried out by William James but was considered defective and in 1824 Stephenson was appointed engineer in his place. Stephenson himself was replaced by George and John Rennie as engineers, and they chose Charles Blacker Vignoles as their surveyor. 

The crossing of Chat Moss saw both the Rennies and Vignoles resign and brought the return of Stephenson as engineer, with Joseph Locke as his assistant. Locke too was later removed. The archive includes reports by Stephenson on Locke and Vignoles and others, the costings and illustrations. As far as we know these have not been studied. 

Curiosities in the collection include a glass tube. In retirement, Stephenson invented this odd object as his way to prevent cucumbers growing bent. Apparently he was determined that his plants should grow straight and so his tubes were employed in his greenhouses to this end. It has been photographed in 3D.  

Slightly less bizarre but equally rare objects are his railway tokens, or passes. Made from fine materials such as mother of pearl, these are engraved with the name of Stephenson and the relevant railway company, and they afforded him free travel on their routes. These are too delicate for public view and handling but have also been photographed.  

These tokens were unknown until recently. There are tokens in other locations but not for Stephenson, as far as we know. 

The online items can be seen at: archives.imeche.org/archive/railways/stephenson and at archives.imeche.org/archive/railways/liverpool-and-manchester-railway. Items not online can be seen by appointment at 1 Birdcage Walk. Please email: archive@imeche.org