George England ( 1811–1878) was an English businessman and engineer. He founded

George England and Co. George England and Co. was an early English manufacturer of steam locomotives founded by the engineer George England of Newcastle upon Tyne (1811–1878). The company operated from the Hatcham Iron Works in New Cross, Surrey, and began buil ...

, a

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

manufacturing business based in

Hatcham Hatcham was a manor and later a chapelry in what is now London, England. It largely corresponds to the area around New Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham. The ancient parish of Deptford straddled the counties of Surrey and Kent and there c ...

New Cross New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Greenwich, ...

Early life

England was born around 1811, in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. He moved to London and trained at the John Penn Boilerworks and Shipyards in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

Hatcham Ironworks

In 1839, England patented a traversing

screw jack A jackscrew, or screw jack, is a type of jack that is operated by turning a leadscrew. It is commonly used to lift moderately and heavy weights, such as vehicles; to raise and lower the horizontal stabilizers of aircraft; and as adjustable sup ...

. In the 1840s, he set up his own works near New Cross: the ''Hatcham Ironworks''. In the 1850s, he also had a large house built for his family and a terrace of cottages for his workers built on the site. He soon began working to build railway locomotives. The first locomotive produced at Hatcham was a 2-2-2 in December 1848 for the Newhaven Branch of the LBSCR. In 1851 he took part on the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary The Crystal Palace, structure in which it was held), was an International Exhib ...

where his patented screw jack and another 2-2-2 locomotive were shown; the locomotive won a gold medal. George England and Co. then produced a steady number of locomotives for customers including the

Somerset and Dorset Railway The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, also known as the S&D, SDJR or S&DJR, was an English railway line connecting Bath (in north-east Somerset) and Bournemouth (now in south-east Dorset but then in Hampshire), with a branch from Evercreec ...

, the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

, and the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

Robert Fairlie

In 1860, England met

Robert Francis Fairlie Robert Francis Fairlie (either March 1831 or 5 April 1830, in Glasgow – 31 July 1885, in London) was a Scottish-born railway engineer. Early life Fairlie was born in Glasgow, the son of T. Archibald Fairlie (an engineer) and Margaret Fairlie ...

, an engineer who had recently returned from India, where he had been a locomotive superintendent. Fairlie starting working at George England and Co. as a consulting engineer. He also began courting England's 17-year-old daughter Eliza Ann England. England disapproved of this relationship and forbade the couple from seeing each other. This prompted them to

elope Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...

to Spain in January 1862, returning a month later. England then sued Fairlie for perjury, stating that Fairlie had sworn a false

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...

that George England, had consented to the marriage, which was not true. The resulting Central Criminal Court case, reported in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' of 8 April 1862, caused much public interest. Under cross-examination by Serjeant Ballantyne (who appeared for Fairlie), England was forced to admit that he had run away with his present wife (Sarah Hannar), the mother of Eliza, and that he had a wife living at that time. He had lived with this lady many years but could not marry her until his wife died. By a quirk of English law, at that time, a child born out of wedlock was considered nobody's child. In law she was nothing to do with England and could marry whom she pleased. There was no case to answer and therefore a verdict of not guilty was returned..

Strike and retirement

In 1865, all 250 employees of the Ironworks went on strike to dispute England's harsh working practices, especially the circumstances under which an employee could be dismissed. Even though the workers were persuaded to return, the company lost several important orders, which significantly weakened the business. England was searching for business for the Hatcham Ironworks. He approached the

Ffestiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Ffestiniog) is a heritage railway based on narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park. The railway is roughly long an ...

in 1868 with an offer to build a

Double Fairlie A Fairlie is a type of articulated steam locomotive that has the driving wheels on bogies. The locomotive may be double-ended (a double Fairlie) or single ended (a single Fairlie). Fairlies are most famously associated with the Ffestiniog ...

locomotive, England went into business with his son-in-law. England retired from the business in 1869, with Fairlie taking it over and renaming it the Fairlie Steam Engine and Carriage Company. After his retirement, England survived another decade until his death in 1878.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:England, George Locomotive builders and designers Businesspeople from Newcastle upon Tyne 1811 births 1878 deaths Ffestiniog Railway