CHAP. IX. 



STEPHENSON'S SECOND MARRIAGE. 



159 



must go over to the West Moor, and seek for a cottage 

 by the roadside, with a dial over the door that was 

 where George Stephenson lived. They soon found the 

 house with the dial ; and on knocking, the door was 

 opened by Mrs. Stephenson his second wife (Elizabeth 

 Hindniarsh), the daughter of a farmer at Black Callerton, 

 whom he had married in 1820. 1 Her husband, she said, 

 was not in the house at present, but she would send for 

 him to the colliery. And in a short time Stephenson 

 appeared before them in his working dress, just as he 

 had come out of the pit. 



He very soon had his locomotive brought up to the 

 crossing close by the end of the cottage, made the gen- 

 tlemen mount it, and showed them its paces. Harness- 

 ing it to a train of loaded waggons, he ran it along the 

 railroad, and so thoroughly satisfied his visitors of its 

 powers and capabilities, that from that day Edwan 

 Pease was a declared supporter of the locomotive engin< 



1 The story has been told that 

 George was a former suitor of Miss 

 Hindmarsh, while occupying the posi- 

 tion of a humble workman at Black 

 Callerton, but that having been re- 

 j ected by her, he proceeded to make 

 love to her servant, whom he married ; 

 and that alter her death, when he had 

 become a comparatively thriving man, 

 and rode a galloway, he again made 

 up to Miss Hindmarsh, and was on 

 the second occasion accepted. The 

 story is, however, without any foun- 

 dation, as George's first wife was never 

 a servant in the Hindmarsh family, 

 nor had he ever exchanged a word 

 with Miss Hindmarsh until the year 

 1818, when he was introduced to her 

 at his own desire by Thomas Hind- 

 marsh, her brother, the author's in- 

 formant as to the iacts. It may be 

 observed in passing, that the writer of 

 the article " George Stephensou," in 

 the eighth edition of the ' Encyclo- 

 paedia Britannica,' while objecting to 

 the accuracy in certain respects of the 

 ' Life of George Stephenson,' as written 

 by the author of this book, points to 



his own " Biography in Brief," as pub- 

 lished in the interesting little book, 

 entitled 'Our Coal and Our Coal- 

 Pits.' On turning to the book itself, 

 it will be found that the " Biography 

 hi Brief " is substantially taken from 

 a sketch of George Stephenson's life 

 which appeared in ' Eliza Cook's 

 Journal,' of June the 2nd, 1849. 

 Among the errors contained in that 

 article, is the statement that Stephen- 

 son was sent into a coal-pit, to work 

 as a " trapper," when between six and 

 seven years old; and also the above 

 anecdote of his having first courted 

 the mistress, and then descended to 

 the maid both of which are adopted 

 almost verbatim in 'Our Coal and 

 Our Coal-Pits.' The author of this 

 book has the less hesitation in stating 

 these to be errors, as the article in 

 'Eliza Cook's Journal,' where they 

 originally appeared, was written by 

 himself, on imperfect information, and 

 before he had the opportunity of tho- 

 roughly sifting, as he has since done, 

 the facts of George Stephensou's early 

 life. 



