John Birkinshaw (1777-1842) was a 19th-century railway engineer from

Bedlington Bedlington is a town and former civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 18,470 measured at the 2011 Census. Bedlington is an ancient market town, with a rich history of industry and innovative residents. Located roughly 1 ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

noted for his invention of

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a wood-like "grain" ...

rails in 1820 (patented on October 23, 1820). Up to this point, rail systems had used either wooden rails, which were totally incapable of supporting steam engines, or cast iron rails typically only 3 feet in length. These cast iron rails, developed by

William Jessop William Jessop (23 January 1745 – 18 November 1814) was an English civil engineer, best known for his work on canals, harbours and early railways in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Jessop was born in Devonport, Devon, the ...

and others, only allowed very low speeds and broke easily and although steam locomotives had been tested as early as 1804 by

Richard Trevithick Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He w ...

, these experiments had not been economically successful as the rails frequently broke. "John Birkinshaw's 1820 patent for rolling wrought-iron rails in 15ft lengths was a vital breakthrough for the infant railway system. Wrought iron was able to withstand the moving load of a locomotive and train unlike cast iron, used for rails until then, which was brittle and fractured all too easily." Birkinshaw's wrought iron rails were taken up by

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the ...

in 1821 for the proposed Stockton and Darlington Railway, despite the fact that Stephenson already held the rights to the best

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...

product, and it was this railway that effectively launched the rail era.

Career

* In 1821, whilst an engineer at

Bedlington Ironworks Bedlington Ironworks, in Blyth Dene, Northumberland, England, operated between 1736 and 1867. It is most remembered as the place where wrought iron rails were invented by John Birkinshaw in 1820, which triggered the railway age, with their fir ...

, Birkinshaw developed a new method of rolling wrought iron rails in fifteen feet lengths. * His son John Cass Birkinshaw (1811–1867) worked for Robert Stephenson as an Assistant engineer on the London & Birmingham Railway (L&BR), then Resident Engineer on the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway, and was Engineer-in-Chief for the Malton & Driffield Railway (MDR). (Cross-Rudkin et al., 2008, pp. 94–95) Cross-Rudkin, P. S. M., Chrimes, M. M., Bailey, M. R., Cox, R. C., Hurst, B. L., C., M. R., . . . Swailes, T. (2008). ''Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 2: 1830-1890'' (Vol. Second). London E14 4JD: Thomas Telford.

Private life

Birkinshaw married at St John's, Newcastle upon Tyne on 10 October 1809. He and his wife Ann Cas had eight children:www.gracesguide.co.uk
/ref> *John Cass Birkinshaw (1811-1867) *Henry Birkinshaw (b. 1817) *George Peter Birkenshaw (b. 1820) *William Birkinshaw (b. 1822) *Emma A. (b. 1824) *Edward Birkinshaw (b. 1826) *Richard (b. 1829) *Mary (b. 1834)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkinshaw, John British railway civil engineers People of the Industrial Revolution English civil engineers English inventors Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown People from Bedlington 1777 births 1842 deaths

Career

Private life

See also

References