Miles MacNair, William James (1771-1837): The man who discovered George Stephenson.
William James played a crucial, but largely unremembered role in the development of inland transport in the Industrial Revolution. What set him apart from his better known contemporaries was the scale of his vision and the activities he pursued during his long career; as a lawyer, surveyor, land agent and estate manager, geologist, coal-miner, inventor and civil engineer.
The book (the first biography of James since 1861) is not only a completely new and comprehensive history of the gestation and birth of the railway system in the first thirty years of the 19th century, but the life story of a remarkable man. It throws new light on the evolution of the steam locomotive and, equally, the rails on which it rode. It highlights the dramatic impact of James on Richard Trevithick’s ‘Catch-me-who-can’ experiment, leading to his visionary concept of the General Railroad Company in 1808 and his future commitment to ‘advanced locomotion’; his 1821 partnership with George Stephenson and his influential role as mentor to young Robert Stephenson; his initiation of the first ‘hundred mile’ railway in the world, leading to his employment of Thomas Telford, John Rastrick and George Stephenson’s brother, Robert. It details all his railway projects in the Midlands, Kent, Somerset, London, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cornwall, most of which were later exploited by George Stephenson. One chapter is devoted to his single canal venture, the successful Stratford Canal.
Primary sources are previously unpublished material unearthed from archives and libraries across the whole country. Woven against the political, military and economic background of the era, it is a story of ambition and disillusionment; of a family which combined genius with tragedy; a tale of conspiracy and ingratitude, and a daughter’s misguided attempts to vindicate her father’s reputation.
- Publisher : Railway & Canal Historical Society; First Edition (12 October 2007)
- Language: : English
- Hardcover : 160 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0901461547
- ISBN-13 : 978-0901461544
