Edward
Pease,
the son of a wool merchant, was born in Darlington on 31st May, 1767.
At the age of fourteen he left school and went to work with his father.
Pease attended markets and rode round the country buying the fleeces
from the farmers and selling the finished woven pieces to London merchants.
When Pease reached the age of fifty he retired from the family business
and began to concentrate on his idea of starting a public railway.
On his travels buying and selling wool, Pease came to the conclusion
that there was a great need for a railroad with waggons drawn by horses
to carry coal from the collieries of West Durham to the port of Stockton.
In 1821 Pease and a group of businessmen from the area formed the
Stockton & Darlington Railway company.
On 19th April 1821 an Act of Parliament was passed that authorized
the company to build a horse railway that would link the collieries
in West Durham, Darlington and the River Tees at Stockton. Nicholas
Wood, the manager of Killingworth Colliery, and his enginewright,
George Stephenson, met Pease and suggested
that he should consider building a locomotive railway. Stephenson
told Pease that "a horse on an iron road would draw ten tons
for one ton on a common road". Stephenson added that the Blutcher
locomotive that he had built at Killingworth was "worth fifty
horses".
That summer Pease took up Stephenson's invitation to visit Killingworth
Colliery. When Pease saw the Blutcher
at work he realised George Stephenson
was right and offered him the post as the chief engineer of the Stockton
& Darlington company. It was now now necessary for Pease to
apply for a further Act of Parliament. This time a clause was added
that stated that Parliament gave permission for the company "to
make and erect locomotive or moveable engines".
In 1823 Edward Pease joined with Michael Longdridge, George
Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson,
to form a company to make the locomotives. The Robert Stephenson &
Company, at Forth Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
became the world's first locomotive builder. Stephenson recruited
Timothy Hackworth, one of the engineers who
had helped William Hedley to produce Puffing
Billy, to work for the company. The first railway locomotive,
Locomotion, was finished in
September 1825.
The Stockton & Darlington Railroad
was opened on 27th September, 1825. Edward Pease missed the
opening day celebrations as his son Isaac had died the previous night.
Large crowds saw George Stephenson
at the controls of the Locomotion
as it pulled a series of wagons filled with sacks of coal and flour.
The train also included a purpose built railway passenger coach called
the Experiment. All told, over
500 people travelled in the train that reached speeds of 15 mph (24
kph). This meant that for the first time in history, a steam locomotive
had hauled passengers on a public railway.
When Pease retired he was replaced by his son Joseph
Pease. He expanded the business and by 1830 had bought
up enough local collieries to become the largest colliery owner in
the whole of the South Durham coalfield. In 1832 Pease became Britain's
first Quaker MP when he was elected to
represent South Durham.
Pease, a member of the Society of Friends,
supported the Anti-Slavery
movement. He also supported Elizabeth Fry in
her campaign for prison reform. Edward Pease
died on 31st July, 1858.
(1)
Samuel Smiles, The Lives of Engineers
(1861)
Edward
Pease was a thoughtful and sagacious man, ready in resources, possessed
of indomitable energy and perseverance; he was eminently qualified
to undertake what appeared to many the desperate enterprise of obtaining
an Act of Parliament to construct a railway.
(2)
George Stephenson, letter to Edward
Pease (28th April, 1821)
I
am glad to learn that the Parliament Bill has been passed for the
Darlington Railway. I am much obliged by the favourable sentiments
you express towards me, and shall be happy if I can be of service
in carrying into execution your plans.
(3)
Francis Mewburn, speech in Darlington (1857)
Edward Pease promoted the first railway in the kingdom and under difficulties
almost inconceivable at the present day. In consequence of such means
of locomotion, sources of wealth have been developed, the entire kingdom
advanced, and the convenience of the public wonderfully increased.
Mr. Pease has directly and indirectly been the means of developing
to an extraordinary extent the mineral wealth of the district in particular,
and thereby stimulating every branch of trade and commerce in the
country at large.
(4)
Edward Pease, diary entry (16th August, 1846)
Left home in company with John Dixon to attend the internment of George
Stephenson at Chesterfield. I fear he died an unbeliever. When I reflect
on my first acquaintance with him and the resulting consequences my
mind seems lost in doubt as to the beneficial results - that humanity
has been benefited in the diminished use of horses and by the lessened
cruelty to them, that much ease, safety, speed, and lessened expense
in travelling is obtained, but as to the results and effects of all
that railways had led my dear family into, being in any sense beneficial
is uncertain.
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