George Robertus Dixon (18 November 1731

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

- 29 September 1785

Cockfield, County Durham Cockfield is a village on the edge of Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is situated 8 miles to the south-west of Bishop Auckland, north-west of Darlington and south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. Remains found on Cockfield Fell suggest there ...

), was a chemist, mathematician, engraver, china-painter, engineer, geologist and coal mine operator, who helped pioneer the use of coal gas in heating and

gas lighting Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directl ...

- one of his gas experiments leading to the destruction of his own house. Dixon was one of the seven children of Mary Hunter of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and her husband, Sir George Fenwick Dixon (1701 - 1755), an affluent coal-mine owner. Dixon was also the elder brother of

Jeremiah Dixon Jeremiah Dixon FRS (27 July 1733 – 22 January 1779) was an English surveyor and astronomer who is best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason–Dixon line. Early life and ...

, who helped survey the Mason-Dixon line in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1767. In the same year, with a view to easier transporting of local coal, Dixon and other colliery operators, excavated a stretch of canal on Cockfield Fell, hoping eventually to join the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...

or to reach the sea, and dispense with the time-consuming practice of hauling coal over to the nearest port - he leased a colliery on Cockfield Fell, from Sir Henry Vane, 2nd Earl of Darlington of

Raby Castle Raby Castle () is a medieval castle located near Staindrop in County Durham, England, among of deer park. It was built by John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, between approximately 1367 and 1390. Cecily Neville, the mother of the Kings Ed ...

, where coal and iron had been worked since medieval times. The large cost and factions with conflicting interests ensured the failure of this ambitious canal scheme, but the idea did give rise in time, and with the aid of Edward Pease, to the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which served the same purpose of transporting coal, though passengers were not carried until September 1825. The coal on Cockfield Fell eventually ran out, the last pits closing in 1962. As a result, the Haggerleases branch (formerly the

Butterknowle Butterknowle is a village in Teesdale, County Durham, England. Butterknowle is situated between the market towns of Bishop Auckland (9 miles to the east) and Barnard Castle (6 miles to the south-west). It has an attractive rural setting within t ...

branch) was closed by

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

in September 1963. The station at Cockfield Fell still stands but is in a poor state of repair. The closure of the Darlington - Barnard Castle - Middleton line in 1965 signalled the death rattle of a once-thriving transportation network. Dixon married Sarah Raylton (20 August 1732 – 18 April 1796), the daughter of innkeeper John Raylton and Barbara Dixon, on 13 September 1753. They had eight children: Mary, George, George (infant deaths often led to the same name's being used for the next child), Jeremiah, John, Thomas, Sarah and Elizabeth. The name 'Raylton' cropped up again with his great-grandson

Sir Raylton Dixon Sir Raylton Dixon (8 July 1838 – 28 July 1901), was a shipbuilding magnate from Middlesbrough on the River Tees who served as Mayor of Middlesbrough. Background and early life Dixon was one of the seven children of Jeremiah II Dixon (1804� ...

, the prominent Victorian shipbuilder.

External links

The Peases & The S&D Railway

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon (Cockfield Canal), George 1731 births 1785 deaths English engineers People from Cockfield, County Durham