George and Robert Stephenson and the railways

Study note

Transport improved enormously during the Victorian period, and the railways were at the heart of that change. Just before Victoria came to the throne, two engineers, George Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson, pioneered the railway engine. The point often tested is that they were a father and son working together.

Their work opened the way for a huge expansion of the railway network. Lines spread rapidly across Britain, transforming travel and trade, and railways were eventually built throughout the British Empire as well. So remember the Stephensons, father and son, as the pioneers of the railway engine, rather than figures linked to nursing, printing or the hovercraft.

Memory tip: George and Robert Stephenson, father and son, pioneered the railway engine.