Editing George Stephenson (section)

==Childhood==
George Stephenson was born on 9 June 1781 in [[Wylam]], [[Northumberland]], which is 9 miles (15&nbsp;km) west of [[Newcastle upon Tyne]]. He was the second child of Robert and Mabel Stephenson,<ref name="odnb">{{cite book |last=Kirby |first=M. W. |title=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England |year=1984 |edition=2 |chapter=Stephenson, George (1781–1848)}}</ref> neither of whom could read or write. Robert was the fireman for Wylam Colliery pumping engine, earning a very low wage, so there was no money for schooling. At 17, Stephenson became an engineman at Water Row Pit in [[Newburn]] nearby. George realised the value of education and paid to study at night school to learn reading, writing and arithmetic – he was [[illiterate]] until the age of 18.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smiles |first=Samual |title=Lives of the Engineers: The Locomotive: George and Robert Stephenson |publisher=John Murray |year=1879 |volume=3 |location=London |pages=23 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1801 he began work at Black Callerton Colliery south of [[Ponteland]] as a 'brakesman', controlling the winding gear at the pit.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Miner's lamp|url=http://england.prm.ox.ac.uk/englishness-Miners-lamp.html|access-date=2021-08-04|publisher=University of Oxford}}</ref> In 1802 he married Frances Henderson and moved to [[Willington Quay]], east of Newcastle. There he worked as a brakesman while they lived in one room of a cottage. George made shoes and mended clocks to supplement his income.

[[File:Longbenton - Dial Cottage, Westmoor.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Dial Cottage, [[Forest Hall#West Moor|West Moor]], Killingworth. The sun-dial made and installed by George Stephenson is above the front door.]]
Their first child [[Robert Stephenson|Robert]] was born in 1803, and in 1804 they moved to Dial Cottage at [[West Moor]], near [[Killingworth]] where George worked as a brakesman at Killingworth Pit. Their second child, a daughter, was born in July 1805. She was named Frances after her mother. The child died after just three weeks and was buried in [[St Bartholomew's Church, Long Benton]] north of Newcastle.

In 1806 George's wife Frances died of consumption ([[tuberculosis]]). She was buried in the same churchyard as their daughter on 16 May 1806, though the location of the grave is lost.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ice.org.uk/getattachment/c4025218-ae88-43ae-8dec-8d2be92cbe37/attachment.aspx |title=Robert Stephenson, Engineer 1803–1859 |website=Northumbria Trail |publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers |access-date=10 September 2016 |archive-date=21 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921134924/https://www.ice.org.uk/getattachment/c4025218-ae88-43ae-8dec-8d2be92cbe37/attachment.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

George decided to find work in Scotland and left Robert with a local woman while he went to work in [[Montrose, Angus|Montrose]]. After a few months he returned, probably because his father was blinded in a mining accident. He moved back into a cottage at West Moor and his unmarried sister Eleanor moved in to look after Robert. In 1811 the pumping engine at High Pit, Killingworth was not working properly and Stephenson offered to improve it.<ref name="Smiles, Lives of the Engineers, Stephenson, 43" /> He did so with such success that he was promoted to enginewright for the collieries at Killingworth, responsible for maintaining and repairing all the colliery engines. He became an expert in steam-driven machinery.<ref name="Davies" >{{cite book |last=Davies |first=Hunter |author-link=Hunter Davies |year=1975 |title=George Stephenson |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |isbn=0-297-76934-0}}</ref>