George Stephenson - Chesterfield, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 14.293 W 001° 25.203
30U E 605442 N 5899935
This blue plaque inside the entrance to Chesterfield railway station honours George Stephenson, a railway pioneer and engineer who in his later years lived close to this station.
Waymark Code: WM10CDR
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/13/2019
Views: 0
DERBYSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
GEORGE
STEPHENSON
1781 - 1848
Engineer and railway pioneer
Lived at Tapton House, Chesterfield
from 1838 until his death.
Buried at
Holy Trinity Church
Chesterfield
The station was extensively rebuilt in 1996 and this plaque installed at the rear of the booking hall. A statue of George Stephenson stands outside the entrance that contains the booking hall.
"George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for improvement. Self-help advocate Samuel Smiles particularly praised his achievements. His chosen rail gauge, sometimes called 'Stephenson gauge', was the basis for the 4 feet 8 1/2 inches (1,435 mm) standard gauge used by most of the world's railways.
Pioneered by Stephenson, rail transport was one of the most important technological inventions of the 19th century and a key component of the Industrial Revolution. Built by George and his son Robert's company Robert Stephenson and Company, the Locomotion No. 1 is the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. George also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830."
link
The co-ordinates for this waymark were taken at the entrance to the station.