Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 54.djvu/193

 wards and forwards on this course, at a mean speed of at least ten miles per hour. The contest, which created extraordinary interest and excitement, began on 6 Oct. 1829. On the opening day the Rocket, the only engine ready to time, ran twelve miles in fifty-three minutes, and was eventually awarded the prize, the Novelty meeting with many mishaps during the various tests.

Stephenson's triumph was complete; his former opponents became his warmest supporters, and the railway system of the world may be said to date from 6 Oct. 1829, when the Rocket, in her trials, showed that genius and mechanical ability of the highest order had swept aside all the difficulties which had hitherto hampered progress in the development of steam locomotion on land. The ‘Scotsman,’ in commenting on the trials, said: ‘The experiments at Liverpool have established principles which will give a greater impulse to civilisation than it has ever received from any single cause since the press first opened the gates of knowledge to the human species at large.’

On 1 Jan. 1830 a trial trip with the Rocket was made over most of the Liverpool and Manchester railway, and on 15 Sept. 1830 the line was officially opened in great state, a procession of eight locomotives, with their attendant carriages, passing over it. The Duke of Wellington, then prime minister, and most of the distinguished men of the day were present. The opening ceremonies were, however, marred by the fatal accident to Huskisson [see ].

From this time forward till 1845, when he arrived at the decision that he ought to retire completely from active work, Stephenson's life is a history of the railway progress of the country. The locomotive underwent further improvements. When Gurney's steam-jet was applied to the Rocket, that engine attained a speed of twenty-nine miles an hour. Stephenson was chief engineer to the Grand Junction line connecting Birmingham with Liverpool and Manchester, begun in 1833 and finished by Joseph Locke [q. v.], his pupil. Stephenson 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 fact there was hardly a railway scheme in which he was not consulted, or an important line constructed without his help and advice.

After the completion of the Liverpool and Manchester railway Stephenson removed his home to Alton Grange, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch. He had married again, on 29 March 1820, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Hindmarsh, a prosperous farmer at Black Callerton (he had no children by her). He opened large coal-pits in this neighbourhood, and spent much time and energy in developing its mineral resources. During the construction of the Midland line he took a lease of Tapton House, near Chesterfield, and lived there till his death.

In 1838 Stephenson was vice-president of the mechanical science section of the British Association at its Newcastle meeting. He took a keen interest in the foundation and support of mechanics' institutes. During the great railway mania of 1844 he kept aloof from the mad schemes then brought forward, and used all his influence to check the mania. The remarkable development of railways and the locomotive in the fourteen years which elapsed since the Rainhill competition is shown by the fact that he travelled from London to Newcastle in 1844 to attend a railway banquet in the then remarkably short time of nine hours. His last great parliamentary struggle was in 1845 in the battle between the supporters of the locomotive and the upholders of the atmospheric railway system, led by Brunel, which arose in connection with the extension of the railway from Newcastle to Berwick. Though the board of trade were inclined to support Brunel in his heresy, Stephenson's party won a great parliamentary victory, and settled the matter for ever. This was the final attempt to dispute the supremacy of the locomotive. In 1847 Stephenson became president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which was founded by him that year in Birmingham. He paid several visits to Belgium in connection with railway work, and received in 1835 the honour of knighthood from Leopold I. In 1845 he also visited North Spain in connection with a proposed railway. He steadfastly refused all proffered honours in England, and also declined to enter public life as a member of parliament.

His last years were devoted to horticultural pursuits at Tapton House, in which he developed great enthusiasm, making many experiments on the values of various manures. His second wife died in 1845, and on 11 Jan. 1848 he married the daughter of a farmer of Bakewell, named Gregory. But his strength was failing, and he died of intermittent fever at Tapton House on 12 Aug. 1848, in his sixty-seventh year. He was buried at Trinity Church, Chesterfield. The foundation-stone of a fine memorial hall was laid at Chesterfield by Lord Hartington on 17 Oct. 1877, and