I and my cousins have always been made aware, by parents and relatives, that our family has a strong link with George and Robert Stephenson, the railway engineers and bridge builders. George Stephenson (1781-1848) was one of six children born to Robert and Mabel Stephenson. His first marriage to Frances Henderson produced his one and only child, Robert.
Famous for his first engine Blucher which he built in 1814, George, in partnership with Edward Pease of Darlington, obtained an Act of Parliament to construct a railway from Stockton to Darlington to develop a passenger service, which opened in 1825. It was George’s Locomotion which pulled the passenger train, at 14 mph.
Later, in 1830, at the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway, it was George’s Rocket which won the competition to pull wagons to Rainhill (Manchester). He later became engineer to various countries while his son, Robert, went on to build the High Level Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne and the two-tiered bridge in Berwick on Tweed.
The link with these two gentlemen, is through my paternal grandmother, Thomasina Walton (nee Stephenson; 1876-1958), but having accepted the connection, I now find myself on a long quest to trace the lineage as, sadly, those with the full knowledge, are no longer alive.
Grandmother produced three sons and one daughter. Two of the sons became first class engineers. Robert, who worked for the Newcastle and Gateshead Water Company, had several patents to his name, including the Walton Mole used for cleaning out large diameter water pipes. James had his own small engineering business near Slough and built wonderful model steam engines, large enough for us, as children, to ride on.
Sadly, the family Bible, which I recall contained a full record of all the family births, deaths and marriages, cannot be traced by any of my cousins. One cousin, living in Malta and himself a fine engineer, has lots of information pertaining to George Stephenson, while I inherited a beautiful copper kettle, which I have been told, Grandmother Walton brought to the marriage from the Stephensons. I and another cousin each have a sherry glass engraved with “Isabell Stephenson 1899” but so far I don’t know who she is.
I have quite a considerable search ahead of me, but I am quite spurred on by my husband’s reaction on first meeting Grandmother and Uncle Jimmy. In his words, the facial resemblance of both of them to George Stephenson, leaves no doubt that there is a relationship.