John Dixon (c.1795–1865) was an English railway civil engineer, and was the

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Darl ...

's Chief Civil Engineer between 1842 and 1865.

History

John Dixon started work as a bank clerk and in 1821, at the age of 26, assisted

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

and

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...

to survey the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Dixon became one of the two Resident Engineers when George was later awarded the post of Engineer. Dixon is listed as an assistant engineer when the company of George Stephenson & Son was formed to survey and build railways at the end of 1824. He assisted George building the

Liverpool and Manchester Railway The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...

and was at the Rainhill Trials, and wrote a letter, which still exists, describing the event to his brother James. He was an engineer for the

Grand Junction Railway The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Western Railway. The line built by the company w ...

, and returned to Darlington become Chief Civil Engineer to the Stockton and Darlington Railway between 1842 and 1865. John Dixon was the great nephew 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 with

Charles Mason Charles Mason (April 1728 Mason–Dixon line The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...

that separates

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

from

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. He died in Darlington, aged 68, on 10 October 1865. The John Dixon responsible for transporting Cleopatra's Needle to England was the nephew of this man. He born on 2 January 1835 and died in Croydon on 28 December 1891.London Illustrated News 14 February 1891

References

;Bibliography * * *

External links

* /www.bonhams.com/auctions/20137/lot/144/ Autograph letterfrom John Dixon to his brother James, describing the Rainhill Trials, at Bonhams. {{authority control Stockton and Darlington Railway English civil engineers 19th-century British engineers