George Stephenson and the Development of Railway Schemes in 1824

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Date:31st of August 1824

Description:Mr. Fenton wrote to James Loch with information about the railways at the end of August 1824. Fenton writes that the Prospectus for ‘the Birmingham Railway…is not yet published’. He adds that the reason for this was ‘Mr. Stevenson the Engineer not having his Plan in complete readiness’. The railway engineer George Stephenson (1781-1848) had been employed by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company earlier in 1824.

Fenton’s letter describes the direction of the new railway line noting the names of places which the railway would pass through, including Newport and Nantwich.

He concludes ‘Mr. Stevenson has been into the Potteries to take a general survey for a Branch Line of communication’.

Fenton’s letter reflects the progress of railway promoters in the early nineteenth century, eager to develop their schemes into established alternatives to transport by canal.

For biographical information on James Brindley, see M. W. Kirby, ‘Stephenson, George (1781–1848)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26397]

For in-depth contextual analysis of correspondence relating to the development of inland transport during this period, see Professor Eric Richards The Leviathan of Wealth: The Sutherland Fortune in the Industrial Revolution (Routledge, 1973) which has formed the basis for interpretation of the letters featured here.

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