Sculpted by JS & AB Wyon. A largely self-educated man, George Stephenson's (1781-1848) early working life was spent as a brakesman and in collieries maintaining stationary engines. His mechanical mind was noticed by his employers, and by 1812 he was an engine-wright earning 100 pounds a year. In 1813 he was commisioned to design his first steam locomotive, 'Blucher', for the Killingworth Colliery in Tyne and Wear. Later, he became the engineer for the Stockton & Darlington Railway (opened in 1825), and the Liverpool & Manchester Railway (opened in 1829). He advised on the construction of many of the English railways and the Belgian State Railway (1835), hence his nickname 'the father of railways'. Isued by the Institute of Civil Engineers.
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