George England
George England (c. 1811–1878) was an English businessman and engineer. He founded George England and Co., a steam locomotive manufacturing business based in Hatcham, New Cross.
Early life
England was born around 1811, in Newcastle upon Tyne. He moved to London and trained at the John Penn Boilerworks and Shipyards in Deptford.
Hatcham Ironworks
In 1839, England patented a traversing screw jack.
In the 1840s, he set up his own works near New Cross: the Hatcham Ironworks. In the 1850s, he also had a large house built for his family and a terrace of cottages for his workers built on the site. He soon began working to build railway locomotives. The first locomotive produced at Hatcham was a 2-2-2 in December 1848 for the Newhaven Branch of the LBSCR. In 1851 he took part on the
Robert Fairlie
In 1860, England met
Strike and retirement
In 1865, all 250 employees of the Ironworks went on strike to dispute England's harsh working practices, especially the circumstances under which an employee could be dismissed. Even though the workers were persuaded to return, the company lost several important orders, which significantly weakened the business. England was searching for business for the Hatcham Ironworks. He approached the
England retired from the business in 1869, with Fairlie taking it over and renaming it the Fairlie Steam Engine and Carriage Company. After his retirement, England survived another decade until his death in 1878.
References
- ^ a b Quine, Dan (2013). The George England locomotives of the Ffestiniog Railway. London: Flexiscale.
- ^ William Grahame Hood (2001). George England and the Hatcham Iron works: Retracing the work of George England pioneer locomotive engineer. The Reliance Foundry.
- ^ John Ransom (Summer 1991). Sensation in Court. Vol. No.133. Ffestiniog Railway Magazine (FR Society). p. 2.
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