Francis Trevithick (1812–1877) (also known to as Frank) was the eldest surviving son of Richard Trevithick (1771–1833) and Jane Harvey, engineer and inventor of the high pressure steam engine. In 1842 he was appointed the Resident Engineer on the Grand Junction Railway between Birmingham and Crewe and in 1841 became Locomotive Superintendent at the Grand Junction Railway’s works at Edge Hill. In 1843 he was transferred to Crewe Works, London and North Western Railway as Locomotive Superintendent, (Northern Division). In 1857 the North and North-Eastern Division were combined, Francis was forced to resign and was succeeded by John Ramsbottom. He went on to become factor of the Trehidy estates, Cornwall of which his grandfather had been the mineral agent in the eighteenth century. He died in Cornwall on 27 October 1877.
Francis Trevithick was married to Mary Ewart (1819-1889) and had four children: Richard, Robert, Francis and Jane. He published a bibliography of his father called 'Life of Richard Trevithick' in 1872.
Date
1812-1877
Scope and ContentNotes made by Francis Trevithick recounting Robert Stephenson’s meeting with Richard Trevithick in Carthagena. Possibly prepared as a draft passage for inclusion in Francis Trevithick’s Life of Richard Trevithick.
Born in 1771 in Cornwall, Richard Trevithick was a practical engineer who developed high pressure steam engines. In 1800 he built the first of the double-acting stationary engine which was the forerunner of the famous ‘Cornish engines’. Between 1801 and 1803 he built three steam-powered road locomotives. In 1803 he built the first practical railway locomotive, a tram engine for Coalbrookdale. After that he constructed the ‘Pen-y-darren’ locomotive for Samuel Homfray, partner in the ‘Pen-y-darren Tramway’ in south Wales. Although this was not a success due to the quality of the track rather than the locomotive, it was a proof of principle. Trevithick built two more railway locomotives: one in Gateshead in 1805, possibly for the Wylam Waggon Way (which was again let down by the poor quality of the rails), and, in 1808, the ‘Catch me who Can’, for an exhibition in London. He is also important for demonstrating that a smooth wheel running on smooth iron rails was capable of hauling considerable loads.
He was involved in the unsuccessful project to drive a tunnel under the Thames from Rotherhithe. In 1816 he left his family and went to South America where he was involved in mining ventures in Peru. These also were ultimately unsuccessful, in part due to the wars of independence, and Trevithick returned, penniless, to England in 1827. Despite the setbacks he experienced, Trevithick’s inventive capacity was undiminished. His last patent was granted in 1832. He went to work for J. Hall in Dartford where he died on 22nd April 1833.
He was married to Jane Harvey (1772 – 1868/9), daughter of another Cornish engineer, John Harvey of Hayle Foundry and had six children, Francis and Frederick Henry, who both became engineers, and Richard, John, Ann and Elizabeth.
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.
