Due to explosions down in the mines from naked flames Stephenson decided to make a safety lamp to stop as many explosions happening. While George was looking at the problem so was Davy! George showed to people in the mines how it worked. Davy than presented people with his lamp a month after George had made his! So than Davy got payed £2,000 when George got accused of copying his ideas! The local committee than proved that Stephenson had been working separately and awarded George with £1,000 but Davy and his supporters refused to listen. They couldn't see how someone so uneducated could come up with something that good.  In 1833 a House of commons committee found that Stephenson had equal claim to having invented the safety lamp. Davy went to his grave believing that Stephenson had stolen his idea!

Only 3 locomotives took part in the trials in October 1829. They ran backwards and forwards along a track.

'Novelty' was a favourite with the crowd. Another locomotive was called 'Sans Pareil', which means 'without equal'. But both engines kept breaking down.

George and his son, Robert,made there train the best out there! It didn't break down once and it was faster than all the others. This was the clear winner! The rocket had 4 wheels and it carried a tender behind it. A tender is a wagon that is behind a steam locomotive and it carries water. On the 15th of September 1830 the railway station was opened the crowd roared for the amazing rocket and all the other locomotives. George Stephenson was officially famous!

Early Life

George was interested in machines. He helped his dad. That's how he learned about steam engines.

George didn't go to school. From the age of 8, he went to work. He looked after cows on a farm. He drove horses that worked at the mine. When George was 14 he decided to help his father at the cole mine. He liked to take machinery to bits to see how they worked.

He wanted to learn how to read, write and count to get a better job. For 3 nights every week he went back to school after work.

George's father was Robert Stephenson. His mother's name was Mabel Carr.To earn extra money, George mended shoes. He taught himself to mend clocks. He was saving up to get married.In 1802, George married Frances Henderson. She was a servant at a farm. They had a son called Robert. In 1806 Frances became ill and died

About George Stephenson

George Stephenson was an engineer. He built steam locomotives for the first railways. Sometimes people call him 'the Father of the Railway'.George Stephenson was born in 1781. At this time Britain was starting to change from a land of farms and small villages to a land of factories and big cities. This was called Industrial Revolution. By the time George Stephenson died in 1848, its new railways and factories had made Britain the richest country in the world.George Stephenson's son, Robert, helped him build railways. Robert was born in 1803 and died in 1859.Robert Stephenson built bridges too, and was a Member of Parliament. George Stephenson was born on 9 June 1781. His home was at Wylam, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Near where he lived there were coal mines. George's father worked at a coal mine. He looked after steam engines, used to pump water out of the mine.The Stephensons were not rich. George lived in a small cottage. The cottage is now looked after by the National trust. Visitors come from all over the world to see it.