George Stephenson (1781–1848), colliery and railway engineer, was born at Wylam, Northumberland, on 9 June 1781. He is often credited as being the ‘Father of Railways.’ He was the second son of Robert Stephenson, foreman at the Wylam colliery pumping engine. At fourteen he was appointed an assistant fireman to his father and when he was seventeen Robert Hawthorne employed him in the position of ‘plugman’, or engineman. Robert worked on engines at Willington Quay, Killingworth and Montrose, Scotland, before returning to Killingworth, where in 1812 he was appointed engineman and given responsibility for all the machinery at a number of collieries in the Newcastle area. Stephenson built his first locomotive, Blucher, in 1814 for Killingworth colliery, and in 1816, he patented the ‘steam spring’ with William Losh, of Walker Ironworks, Newcastle. Losh had previously supported Stephenson’s claim that he invented the first safety lamp for underground mineworkers in 1815. In early 1822, George was appointed engineer to the Stockton and Darlington Railway, after submitting survey plans and cost estimates for the proposed line and in May 1823, the company was given permission to use steam locomotives on the line. On 23 June 1823, George Stephenson established the engine manufacturing company Robert Stephenson & Co. with Edward Pease, Thomas Richardson and Michael Longridge, which was to be managed by George’s son, Robert. Work commenced in August 1823 and by the time the Stockton and Darlington line opened for traffic on 27 September 1825, four winding engines had been delivered together with a operational steam locomotive: Locomotion No.1. In 1824, George was employed to undertake surveys and prepare plans for the proposed Liverpool and Manchester Railway, but the bill was rejected in parliament. A new bill was passed in 1826, and Stephenson was appointed engineer. Stephenson fought strenuously for using locomotive power on the line, and his locomotive Rocket, built under the direction of his son Robert, won the Rainhill locomotive trials, held in October 1829, to determine the best means of propulsion on the Liverpool and Manchester line. Stephenson was chief engineer to the Grand Junction line connecting Birmingham with Liverpool and Manchester, begun in 1833 and he was also chief engineer to the following railways: Manchester to Leeds, Birmingham to Derby, Normanton to York, and Sheffield to Rotherham, and others, all begun in 1836. The Derby to Leeds Railway (afterwards called the North Midland line) was commenced under his supervision in 1837. In 1838 Stephenson was elected vice-president of the mechanical science section of the British Association at its Newcastle meeting. In 1845, Stephenson’s party won a parliamentary battle as supporters of the locomotive against the upholders of the atmospheric railway system, led by I.K. Brunel. In 1847 Stephenson became president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which was founded by him that year in Birmingham. He received in 1835 the honour of knighthood from Leopold I of Belgium and in 1845 he also visited northern Spain in connection with a proposed railway. Stephenson consistently refused all proffered honours in England, however, declining a knighthood on two occasions. He died of pleurisy at Tapton House, Tapton, near Chesterfield, on 12 August 1848. He was buried on 17 August at Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield.

Timothy Hackworth was born on 22 December 1786 in Wylam, Northumberland, he was the eldest of three sons and five daughters. His father was John Hackworth, master blacksmith at Wylam colliery and his mother Elizabeth Sanderson of Newcastle. Hackworth was apprenticed to his father at Wylam, where he later worked for Christopher Blackett and the coal viewer William Hedley and went on to be responsible for engines the ‘Wylam Grasshopper’ and the ‘Wylam Dilly’. Hackworth left Wylam in 1816 because of the Sunday working hours which conflicted with his Methodist beliefs. He moved to Warbottle Colliery where he worked for William Patter as a foreman blacksmith. Timothy Hackworth and Jane Hackworth (nee Golightly) were married in 1813 at Ovingham Parish Church, both were converted Methodists. They had six daughters and three sons. One son, Thomas died shortly after his birth. Hackworth then moved to Forth Street Works in Newcastle; a works built to construct engines for the Stockton and Darlington Railway. He managed the works whilst George and Robert Stephenson were away the former surveying Liverpool and Manchester Railway line and the latter working in South America. Apparently around this time Hackworth was offered the job of manager and a share in Forth Street Works but declined this offer. In 1825 he moved to Shildon to take up position of locomotive superintendent, manager and contractor for the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company. During this time he built marine engines, coal stathes at Middlesbrough and doubled the line between Brusselton foot and Stockton. He also designed locomotives for the line including the ‘Royal George’ a high performing locomotive which featured the ‘blast pipe’ an invention that discharged exhaust steam through a converging nozzle blast pipe in the chimney, greatly increasing combustion intensity and steam production. Went on to design more locos including ‘‘Majestic’’ and ‘’Wilberforce’’ type locomotives these were manufactured by Stephenson and co and R & W Hawthorne. Hackworth entered his locomotive ‘‘Sanspareil’’ into the Rainhill Trials of 1829; a competition initiated by the directors of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company. The Sanspareil was not successful and Robert Stephenson’s ‘‘Rocket’’ won the contest. The Sanspareil was purchased by the directors for £500 went on to run successfully on the Bolton and Leigh Railway until 1844. It has been suggested that a cylinder of the Sanspareil had been sabotaged by in the Forth Street, thus resulting in Hackworth losing the trail, however this view has generally been dismissed by historians. In 1833 Hackworth ceased to be a salaried employee and instead contracted work to the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company and also did work on a private basis. By this time his role had evolved from superintendent of locomotives to also managing the workshops, tools and machinery. Private contracts that he carried out during this time including manufacturing an engine for the Russian government in 1836, which John Wesley Hackworth couriered to Russia and manufacturing locomotives for the Albion Coal Mining Company in Nova Scotia, order by John Buddle in 1838. In 1840 Hackworth gave up his contract with the Stockton and Darlington Railway concentrated on his own works in Soho works in Shildon. He took over the works from his brother Thomas Hackworth who had run Hackworth and Downing from the premises. Timothy fulfilled contracts for the Clarence Railway and various collieries and also built stationary marine and industrial engines. In 1846 began to build engines for the London and Brighton Railway when John Gray was Locomotive superintendent. Gray designed a class of express passenger locomotives and the whole of this class (12 engines) was built by Timothy Hackworth at Soho 1846-1848. In 1849 Hackworth built Sanspareil no. 1, he had difficulty selling this locomotive and it remained unsold by the time of his death of typhus on 7 July 1850 at Soho Works, Shildon after an outbreak in the area. His sons and other relatives went on to be engineers. His eldest son, John Wesley Hackworth did a lot of work to promote his fathers memory after he died. His daughters, friends, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and ancestors to this day have worked to try and gain him a prominent place in railway history. Notably his grandson Robert Young wrote Timothy Hackworth and the Locomotive (London: Locomotive Publishing Company, 1923) in a bid to preserve and promote his memory.

Robert Hawthorn Sr. (1770-1842), Engineer, was born in 1770. He worked as an engineer to the owners of Walbottle Colliery, near Newcastle, for more than 50 years. Robert Hawthorn Sr. was frequently consulted on engineering questions by, for example, the Caledonian Canal Company and George Stephenson. Stephenson was said to be indebted to Robert for much valuable mechanical information, which he successfully applied to his own work. In 1841 he was living in Newburn and working as an engineer. In 1789 he married Alice Burn in Shilbottle, Northumberland. They had two sons, Robert Jr. (1796-1867) and William (1799-1875). Robert Hawthorn Sr. died in 1842 in Castle Ward, Northumberland.