(1806-1878), civil engineer George Parker Bidder was born at Moretonhampstead, Devon on the 13th June 1806. He had little formal education, yet it was noticed he had an extraordinary ability to handle numbers without writing them down, as well as a remarkable memory. In October 1816 benefactors of St John's College, Cambridge sent him to Wilson's Grammar School, Camberwell, Surrey, but he did not stay more than six months. Sir Henry Jardine, king's remembrancer for Scotland, noticed Bidder while he was being exhibited in Edinburgh in 1819 and arranged for a year's private coaching before sending him to Edinburgh University in 1820 to study mathematics and natural philosophy. In 1822 he was awarded the magistrates' prize for higher mathematics, but he left in May 1824 without taking a degree. In 1846 his growing prosperity allowed him to commemorate his benefactor by founding the Jardine bursary at the university. Bidder had his first employment at Ordinance Survey, first in South Wales and then in London but within a year he joined Henry Robinson Palmer, founder of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was resident engineer at the reconstruction of Brunswick wharf, Blackwall, with its pioneering use of cast-iron sheet piling, completed in 1834. In 1826 he first appeared before a parliamentary committee helping Palmer to oppose the second Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill. His memory and powers of mental calculation made him a formidable witness. When Brunswick wharf was finished, Bidder was reintroduced to Robert Stephenson whom he had met in Edinburgh. Stephenson hired Bidder to work on several aspects of the London and Birmingham Railway. He worked on docks with which he was involved throughout his career—the original Victoria docks, London, being probably his greatest technical achievement. In 1845–6 he joined William Fothergill-Cooke in establishing the Electric Telegraph Company, with which he remained closely associated until it was nationalized in 1870. He was also involved in the development of submarine telegraph facilities; as early as 1850 he foresaw the global possibilities of telecommunication. He was an active member of the Institution of Civil Engineers for nearly fifty years and president in 1860–61. He married Georgina Warren Harby in 1835, they had eight children. Bidder died unexpectedly of heart problems on the 20th September 1878.

Robert Stephenson (1803–1859) was a railway and civil engineer born on 16 October 1803 at Willington Quay, near Newcastle upon Tyne, the only son of George Stephenson (1781–1848), colliery and railway engineer. He was educated at Bruce's academy at Newcastle upon Tyne. On leaving school in 1819 Stephenson was apprenticed to Nicholas Wood, viewer of Killingworth colliery. In 1821 he assisted his father in the survey of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and then in 1822 spent six months studying natural philosophy, chemistry, and natural history at Edinburgh University. On leaving Edinburgh, Stephenson settled in Newcastle upon Tyne to manage Robert Stephenson & Co at Forth Banks Works, the locomotive building establishment which his father had founded there in 1823 to build stationary and locomotive engines. The locomotive ‘Rocket’ was built under his direction and went on to win the Rainhill locomotive trials, held in October 1829, to determine the best means of propulsion on the Liverpool and Manchester line. He was responsible for surveying the line of the proposed London and Birmingham Railway and was appointed Chief Engineer. The railway was the world's first intercity passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives From 1838 until the end of his life he was engaged on railway work, not only in Great Britain, but all over the world; railways were constructed either under his own direct supervision or under his advice which later became the trunk lines of the countries in which they were laid down. Stephenson’s designs became the dominant type of locomotive in Great Britain. Notable among Stephenson locomotives was the long-boilered engine in which all wheels were placed ahead of the firebox so that there was no restriction on its size. Unsuitable for main line express service, the type was remarkably successful in the carriage of heavy freight where a reservoir ofsteaming capacity could be used with advantage. Stephenson was also successful at bridge building, he built the high-level bridge over the Tyne at Newcastle, the Royal Border Bridge at Berwick and the Britannia Bridge over the Conwy and the Menai Strait. Stephenson also proposed the great Victoria Bridge over the St Lawrence River at Montreal, which was begun in 1854 and completed in 1859 after his death. On 30 July 1847 Stephenson was elected MP for Whitby. He represented the town until his death. He died at his home at 34 Gloucester Square, London, on 12 October 1859 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

In 1818 a small group of young engineers met in a London coffee shop and founded the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the world’s first professional engineering body. They had hoped that lots of engineers from different engineering backgrounds would join the institution. However, civil engineering hadn't really become an official profession yet. Before the 18th century most engineers were in the armed forces. After two years of struggling to attract new members, ICE asked Thomas Telford to become its first President. Telford’s appointment gave the institution a boost and played a huge part in shaping ICE as it is today. ICE was granted a Royal Charter in 1828 and has subsequently become home to many of history’s greatest engineers as presidents and members. Today it has 92,000 members around the world.