James Cornish was a publisher known to be active in Liverpool in 1837. He published Cornish's Grand Junction, and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway companion in that year.

Bradshaw & Blacklock was established in 1838 when George Bradshaw took on his apprentice William Blacklock as a partner in his printing and publishing business. The company moved to Brown Street, Manchester in 1839, where they began production of Bradshaw's Railway Time Tables, followed in 1840 by a fuller edition under the new title of Bradshaw's Railway Companion, which included sectional maps. In December 1841, the company produced the first issue of Bradshaw's Monthly Railway Guide, which became famous worldwide. Other publications included Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, known colloquially as ‘the foreign Bradshaw’, and Bradshaw's General Railway Directory and Shareholders' Guide. The small format and small print of the Monthly Railway Guide led to ‘Bradshaw’ becoming a byword for incomprehensibility: the guide was mocked in Punch and Vanity Fair and was the subject of music-hall jokes. Actress Fanny Kemble was asked what she read to send her to sleep, and replied: ‘Why, the foreign Bradshaw, of course.’ The monthly Bradshaw was published until 1961 and played a large part in making the British time-conscious.

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was first proposed by William James and Joseph Sanders in 1821. In 1826 George Stephenson was appointed chief engineer. The company originally intended to use fixed locomotives to pull freight trains between Liverpool and Manchester, but following the Rainhill Trial competition of 6 October 1829, locomotives in the style of Stephenson's Rocket were commissioned. The company opened the line between Liverpool and Manchester on 15 September 1830. The first passengers travelled along the line two days later and goods on 1 December. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was absorbed into the Grand Junction Railway on 8 August 1845.

The Grand Junction Railway gained an Act of parliament in 1833. The engineers were George Stephenson with Joseph Locke as his deputy, with Locke taking control of the work in 1834. It ran from Curzon Street, Birmingham to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Lancashire. It passed close to Wolverhampton and through Stafford and Warrington. The Grand Junction Railway opened in 1837 and was the first trunk line in Europe. The Grand Junction Railway amalgamated with the Liverpool Manchester Railway in 1845 and the Trent Valley Railway in 1846 and in the same year the three were joined to form the London and North Western Railway.

George Bradshaw was born at Windsor Bridge, Pendleton on 29 July 1801. He was apprenticed to J. Beale, a Manchester engraver, on leaving school. In 1820 he went to Belfast with his parents and established himself as an engraver and printer. He returned to Manchester in 1821, due to lack of work. He set up a business in Market Place, Manchester. From 1827 he focused on engraving maps. The first map projected, engraved, and published by him was of Lancashire. This was followed in 1830 by his map of the canals of Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the surrounding region. This map eventually became one of a set of three known as Bradshaw's Maps of Inland Navigation. In 1830, Bradshaw had moved premises to Cope's Court, Manchester. Here he employed William Blacklock as an apprentice. Blacklock made such an impression that in 1838, aged 21, he was made a partner in Bradshaw's company. The business became known as Bradshaw & Blacklock. The following year, the company moved premises to Brown Street, Manchester. Bradshaw married Martha Darbyshire of Stretton, near Warrington in May 1839. They had two sons, Christopher and William. The same year, Bradshaw & Blacklock began to produce Bradshaw's Railway Time Tables, followed in 1840 by a fuller edition under the new title of Bradshaw's Railway Companion, which included sectional maps. In December 1841, the company produced the first issue of Bradshaw's Monthly Railway Guide, which became famous worldwide. Other publications included Bradshaw's Continental Railway Guide, known colloquially as ‘the foreign Bradshaw’, and Bradshaw's General Railway Directory and Shareholders' Guide. The small format and small print of the Monthly Railway Guide led to ‘Bradshaw’ becoming a byword for incomprehensibility: the guide was mocked in Punch and Vanity Fair and was the subject of music-hall jokes. Actress Fanny Kemble was asked what she read to send her to sleep, and replied: ‘Why, the foreign Bradshaw, of course.’ The monthly Bradshaw was published until 1961 and played a large part in making the British time-conscious. Bradshaw was active in the Quaker movement, and was largely responsible for organizing ‘Friends of Peace’ congresses in Brussels (1848), Paris (1849), and Frankfurt (1850). He also established schools for the poor. Bradshaw joined the Institution of Civil Engineers as an associate in February 1842. In August 1853 he toured Norway and, while visiting a friend in Christiana, contracted cholera. He died on 6 September 1853 and was buried in Christiana.