Ralph Stephenson

Mentioned as a brother of George Stephenson, but this appears to be erroneous.

One source (see Stockton and Darlington Railway) states that in 1825 on the official opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the first steam-hauled passenger train was driven by George Stephenson, and the firemen were his brothers Jemmy Stephenson and Ralph Stephenson.

Then, we have this newspaper report:

1833 'LIVERPOOL, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1833. Mr. Badnall's Undulating Railway - Mr. Ralph Stephenson, engineer, and brother to Mr. Stephenson, the engineer to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, has addressed a letter to the editor of the Manchester Guardian, in which he expresses his entire approval of the principle of the undulating railway. Towards the conclusion of his letter he thus expresses himself:- "Within ten minutes after my first interview with Mr. Badnall, (now a year and a half ago,) I pronounced, in the presence of my brother, his principle to be correct; and I have no hesitation in saying, after eighteen months' consideration and various experiments, that I am convinced that the undulating railway Is far superior to the horizontal railway."

Another source states that in 1828 one Ralph Stephenson was employed 'riding the banks' and greasing the sheaves at Brusselton Incline, and afterwards became a driver on the S&D. He was still alive at the time of S&D Jubilee celebrations in 1875.

Is the name 'Ralph' in the 1833 newpaper report simply an error? Should it be Robert Stephenson (1788-1837), who was engineer of Pendleton Colliery and of the Nantlle Railway, and was in partnership with Richard Badnall? When Badnall's ridiculous proposal for an 'undulating railway' was endorsed by 'Ralph' Stephenson, the apparent business relationship went unmentioned! It seems unlikely that Ralph the long term S&D worker was the endorser of Badnall's scheme.

The Ralph Stephenson who spent his time between Stockton and Darlington may well have been the one who appears in censuses, back to 184, as an engine man and later an engine driver, born c.1807, the son of Ralph Stephenson (b.1781) and Isabella Jackson.

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