107-443: 53°10′12″N 1°23′49″W / 53.170°N 1.397°W / 53.170; -1.397 The Clay Cross Company was founded as George Stephenson and Co. in 1837 by the railway pioneer, George Stephenson . The company established coal mines, ironworks, brickworks and pipe factories at Clay Cross near Chesterfield . The company was closed in 1998. In 1837 George Stephenson discovered both coal and iron reserves while digging
214-417: A safety lamp that would burn in a gaseous atmosphere without causing an explosion. At the same time, the eminent scientist and Cornishman Humphry Davy was also looking at the problem. Despite his lack of scientific knowledge, Stephenson, by trial and error, devised a lamp in which the air entered via tiny holes, through which the flames of the lamp could not pass. A month before Davy presented his design to
321-899: A JV, Avancis, with Shell to produce PV modules based on CIS film technology. After the company had entirely owned Avancis and its two plants in Germany manufacturing thin CIS film modules for some time, it was sold to China National Building Materials Group Corporation (CNBM) in 2014. Saint-Gobain also has a division that focuses on connecting entrepreneurs, startups, and innovators to the 50+ bin Saint-Gobain called: NOVA External Venturing. The External Venturing unit has staff in Boston, Paris, and Shanghai interested in connecting with entrepreneurs working in advanced materials, construction products, and environmental sustainability. In December 2005, Saint-Gobain purchased
428-636: A brickworks, a gas plant, a limestone quarry, three blast furnaces and an iron foundry. The 280 beehive coke ovens for the iron works had been replaced in 1903 by 50 simplex by-product coke ovens. In 1919 the Clay Cross Company acquired the Overton Estate in Ashover , which had valuable mineral deposits. The company built the narrow gauge Ashover Light Railway to transport the minerals 7 miles to Clay Cross. The railway opened in 1924 but closed in 1950, with
535-452: A colliery and coke ovens at Clay Cross, which were opened in 1840. At the time Clay Cross was a small village, but production of coal and minerals created a surge in the population. Nearly 400 houses were built for the workers (tunnel navvies initially and then miners) and their families, and by 1846 the population around Clay Cross approached 1500. The company made their own bricks for the houses and industrial buildings. The initial brickworks
642-558: A crime for any glass artisan to leave and practice their trade elsewhere, especially in foreign territory. Nicolas du Noyer complained in writing that the Venetians were unwilling to impart the secrets of glassmaking to the French workers and that the company was hard-pressed to pay its expenses. Life in Paris proved distracting to the workers, and supplies of firewood to stoke the furnaces were dearer in
749-415: A dispute with the other large shareholders about a contract with London and North Western Railway (LNWR) to supply coal to London (one tenth of all the coal reaching London was from Clay Cross). Robert sold his shares in the company in 1852, from when it became the Clay Cross Company. Sir William Jackson was now the owner of Clay Cross Company and in 1866 he appointed his son John Jackson (1843–1899) to run
856-851: A highly persistent contaminant) in multiple towns in southern New Hampshire , USA. Elevated levels of perfluorooctanoic acid were found in 2016, near the Saint-Gobain plant in Merrimack . Pollution has been occurring for over 20 years. Saint-Gobain deliberately and intentionally constructed a bypass stack to thwart environmental inspections and avoid PFAS removal. Despite this flagrant violation of their permit they were allowed to continue to operate. Former state representative and environmental scientist Mindi Messmer has claimed links between exposure to Saint-Gobain’s PFAS emissions and kidney and renal pelvis cancer, testicular cancer, female breast cancer, prostate cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, cardiovascular impacts. As of 2022, Saint Gobain
963-510: A line primarily proposed to take coal from the western coal fields of the county to Leicester. The promoters of the line Mr William Stenson and Mr John Ellis , had difficulties in raising the necessary capital as the majority of local wealth had been invested in canals. Realising the potential and need for the rail link Stephenson himself invested £2,500 and raised the remaining capital through his network of connections in Liverpool. His son Robert
1070-620: A penny a sheet, and at one point there was a suggestion to move George's body to Westminster Abbey . The centenary of George's birth was celebrated in 1881 at Crystal Palace by 15,000 people, and it was George who was featured on the reverse of the Series E five pound note issued by the Bank of England between 1990 and 2003. The Stephenson Railway Museum in North Shields is named after George and Robert Stephenson. George Stephenson's Birthplace
1177-555: A permanent rift between them. The gauge Stephenson chose for the line was 4 feet 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (1,435 mm) which subsequently was adopted as the standard gauge for railways, not only in Britain, but throughout the world. Stephenson had ascertained by experiments at Killingworth that half the power of the locomotive was consumed by a gradient as little as 1 in 260. He concluded that railways should be kept as level as possible. He used this knowledge while working on
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#17328513730731284-883: A plant in Newton County, Georgia, United States . Saint-Gobain Gyproc Middle East began trading as Gyproc in 2005. In April 2010, the company's first plasterboard manufacturing plant opened on a seven-hectare site in Abu Dhabi . Gyproc products have been used on some of the largest projects in the region, including the stations and main depot for Dubai Metro; Atlantis Hotel – Palm Jumeirah, Capital Gate – Abu Dhabi, Ferrari Experience – Abu Dhabi and Masdar Institute – Abu Dhabi. Saint-Gobain India Private Limited – Glass Business (formerly Saint-Gobain Glass India Limited)
1391-602: A rate of 10% per year. Its workforce grew from 35,000 in 1950 to 100,000 in 1969. By the end of the 1960s, Saint-Gobain had more than 150 subsidiaries under its control. Glass and fibreglass sales benefited from the booming construction industry and the rise in mass consumption after the Second World War. Saint-Gobain's yearly glass production went from 3.5 million square metres (38 million square feet) in 1950 to 45 million square metres (480 million square feet) in 1969. In 1950, fibreglass only represented 4% of
1498-508: A result, French Minister of Finance Jean-Baptiste Colbert wanted France to become completely self-sufficient in meeting domestic demand for luxury products, thereby strengthening the national economy. Colbert established, by letters patent , the public enterprise Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs ( French pronunciation: [manyfaktyʁ ʁwajal də ɡlas də miʁwaʁ] , Royal Mirror-Glass Factory ) in October 1665. The company
1605-582: A spiral effect in the arch masonry, provides extra strength in the arch to compensate for the angled abutments. The bridge is still in use at Rainhill station , and carries traffic on the A57 (Warrington Road). The bridge is a listed structure . George Stephenson moved to the parish of Alton Grange (now part of Ravenstone) in Leicestershire in 1830, originally to consult on the Leicester and Swannington Railway ,
1712-515: A steam locomotive, the " Puffing Devil ", in 1801. Later, he visited Tyneside and built an engine there for a mine-owner. Several local men were inspired by this, and designed their own engines. Stephenson designed his first locomotive in 1814, a travelling engine designed for hauling coal on the Killingworth wagonway named Blücher after the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (It
1819-587: A tunnel through Clay Cross Hill, for the North Midland Railway 's line between Derby and Leeds . Stephenson moved into Tapton House , near Chesterfield, and in 1837 he established George Stephenson and Company. The Clay Cross Tunnel is just over a mile long and was completed in 1839. Clay Cross Coal and Iron Works were started by George and his son Robert Stephenson , with backing from Lord Wolverton, George Hudson , Sir Joshua Walmsley , Sir Morton Peto , Sir William Jackson and others. The company built
1926-669: Is a subsidiary of Saint Gobain that manufactures and markets solar control glass, fire-resistant glass and other various types of float glasses in India . It has its manufacturing plant at Sriperumbudur , 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Chennai . Saint-Gobain started its venture in India in 1996 by acquiring a majority stake of Grindwell Norton. Later in 2000, it started its own glass manufacturing unit at Sriperumbudur. In June 2011, Saint Gobain Glass India acquired Sezal Glass float-line business, based in
2033-935: Is active in 39 countries, targeting emerging economies, a market that now accounts for more than one-third of the division's sales. It employs a global workforce of 37,100 and in 2006 had sales revenues of 5.1 billion euros. This division is divided in two parts: - Flat Glass subsidiaries : Saint-Gobain Glass, Glassolutions and Saint-Gobain Sekurit - High Performance Materials : Saint-Gobain SEFPRO Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Saint-Gobain Crystals, Saint-Gobain Norton, Saint-Gobain Quartz and Saint-Gobain Norpro In 2006, Saint Gobain announced
2140-521: Is an 18th-century historic house museum in the village of Wylam , and is operated by the National Trust . Dial Cottage at West Moor , his home from 1804, remains but the museum that once operated there has closed. Chesterfield Museum in Chesterfield , Derbyshire, has a gallery of Stephenson memorabilia, including straight thick glass tubes he invented for growing straight cucumbers . The museum
2247-600: Is in the Stephenson Memorial Hall not far from both Stephenson's final home at Tapton House and Holy Trinity Church within which is his vault. In Liverpool, where he lived at 34 Upper Parliament Street, a City of Liverpool Heritage Plaque is situated next to the front door. Stephenson College , founded in 2001 on the Durham University 's Queen's Campus in Stockton-on-Tees (relocated to Durham in 2018),
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#17328513730732354-855: Is named after him. Also named after him and his son is George Stephenson High School in Killingworth, Stephenson Memorial Primary School in Howdon , the Stephenson Railway Museum in North Shields , the Stephenson Locomotive Society , the Stephenson Centre, an SEBD Unit of Beaumont Hill School in Darlington, and the Stephenson Building, home of the school of engineering at Newcastle University . His last home in Tapton, Chesterfield
2461-531: Is not to be confused with the lighthouse-building engineering family of Robert Stevenson , which was active in the same era. Note the spelling difference. Britain led the world in the development of railways which acted as a stimulus for the Industrial Revolution by facilitating the transport of raw materials and manufactured goods. George Stephenson, with his work on the Stockton and Darlington Railway and
2568-494: Is now part of Chesterfield College and is called Tapton House Campus. As a tribute to his life and works, a bronze statue of Stephenson was unveiled at Chesterfield railway station (in the town where Stephenson spent the last ten years of his life) on 28 October 2005, marking the completion of improvements to the station. At the event a full-size working replica of the Rocket was on show, which then spent two days on public display at
2675-647: Is organized into the following business areas: - Gypsum, which manufactures drywall - Insulation, which manufactures acoustic and thermal fibreglass and PIR insulation - Exterior Products, which manufactures roofing, interior and exterior products - Pipes, which manufactures cast-iron pipes for water transfer applications - Mortars, which manufactures expanded clay lightweight aggregates. The Construction Products division employs 45,000 people worldwide and in 2006 had sales revenues of 10.9 billion euros. Companies: The Innovative Materials division conducts research into various areas of materials science , energy,
2782-602: The Bolton and Leigh Railway , and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR), executing a series of difficult cuttings, embankments and stone viaducts to level their routes. Defective surveying of the original route of the L&;MR caused by hostility from some affected landowners meant Stephenson encountered difficulty during Parliamentary scrutiny of the original bill, especially under cross-examination by Edward Hall Alderson . The bill
2889-663: The Manchester and Leeds , the Birmingham and Derby , the Sheffield and Rotherham among many others. Stephenson became a reassuring name rather than a cutting-edge technical adviser. He was the first president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on its formation in 1847. By this time he had settled into semi-retirement, supervising his mining interests in Derbyshire – tunnelling for
2996-475: The North Midland Railway revealed coal seams, and Stephenson put money into their exploitation. George first courted Elizabeth (Betty) Hindmarsh, a farmer's daughter from Black Callerton, whom he met secretly in her orchard. Her father refused marriage because of Stephenson's lowly status as a miner. George next paid attention to Anne Henderson where he lodged with her family, but she rejected him and he transferred his attentions to her sister Frances (Fanny), who
3103-460: The River Tees at Stockton , passing through Darlington on the way. The original plan was to use horses to draw coal carts on metal rails, but after company director Edward Pease met Stephenson, he agreed to change the plans. Stephenson surveyed the line in 1821, and assisted by his 18-year-old son Robert, construction began the same year. A manufacturer was needed to provide the locomotives for
3210-464: The Royal Society , Stephenson demonstrated his own lamp to two witnesses by taking it down Killingworth Colliery and holding it in front of a fissure from which firedamp was issuing. The two designs differed; Davy's lamp was surrounded by a screen of gauze, whereas Stephenson's prototype lamp had a perforated plate containing a glass cylinder. For his invention Davy was awarded £2000, whilst Stephenson
3317-518: The Suez Canal . George Stephenson's daughter was born in 1805 but died within weeks of her birth. Descendants of the wider Stephenson family continue to live in Wylam (Stephenson's birthplace) today. Also relatives connected by his marriage live in Derbyshire. Some descendants later emigrated to Perth , Australia, and Minnesota , with later generations remaining to this day. This Stephenson engineering family
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3424-636: The West Coast Main Line taking the direct route favoured by Joseph Locke over Shap between Lancaster and Carlisle , Stephenson was in favour of a longer sea-level route via Ulverston and Whitehaven . Locke's route was built. Stephenson tended to be more casual in estimating costs and paperwork in general. He worked with Joseph Locke on the Grand Junction Railway with half of the line allocated to each man. Stephenson's estimates and organising ability proved inferior to those of Locke and
3531-654: The 72-inch (1.8 m) Plaskett telescope (online in 1918) at Dominion Astrophysical Observatory ( Canada ). By the end of the 19th century, Saint-Gobain named the Casa Pellandini “its sole representative and exclusive depositary throughout the Mexican Republic." Saint-Gobain experienced significant success in the early 20th century. In 1918, the company expanded its manufacturing to bottles, jars, tableware, and domestic glassware. In 1920, Saint-Gobain extended its businesses to fibreglass manufacturing. Fibreglass
3638-455: The British company BPB plc , the world's largest manufacturer of plasterboard, for US$ 6.7 billion. In August 2007, the company acquired Maxit Group, doubling the size of its Industrial Mortars business and adding the manufacture of expanded clay aggregates to its business portfolio. In 2012, the company acquired SAGE Electrochromics , an innovative manufacturer of glass that tints on command. In
3745-679: The Chesterfield Market Festival. A statue of him dressed in classical robes stands in Neville Street, Newcastle, facing the buildings that house the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne and the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers , near Newcastle railway station . The statue was sculpted in 1862 by John Graham Lough and is listed Grade II. From 1990 until 2003, Stephenson's portrait appeared on
3852-486: The Clay Cross Coal and Iron Works. By 1871 Sir William had bought out all of the company's interests and he became the sole proprietor. The Clay Cross Economiser Company was set up to manufacture fuel economisers, which used the waste heat from steam boilers to improve their efficiency. Sir William turned the Clay Cross Company into a limited company in 1913, consisting of seven collieries (producing "CXC Gold Medal" coal),
3959-547: The Clay Cross Company's pipe factory has since been turned into a business park of industrial units. George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution . Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians as a great example of diligent application and thirst for improvement. His chosen rail gauge , sometimes called "Stephenson gauge",
4066-519: The French government, the two companies were forced to merge , creating the Compagnie Plastier . A mirror factory in the village of Saint-Gobain in Picardie gave its name to the present company. In 1702, Compagnie Plastier declared bankruptcy . A group of Franco-Swiss Protestant bankers rescued the collapsing company, changing the name to Compagnie Dagincourt . At the same time, the company
4173-574: The Geordie Lamps simply went out. There is a theory that it was Stephenson who indirectly gave the name of " Geordies " to the people of the North East of England. By this theory, the name of the Geordie Lamp attached to the North East pit men themselves. By 1866 any native of Newcastle upon Tyne could be called a Geordie. Cornishman Richard Trevithick is credited with the first realistic design for
4280-409: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, paved the way for the railway engineers who followed, such as his son Robert, his assistant Joseph Locke who carried out much work on his own account and Isambard Kingdom Brunel . Stephenson was farsighted in realising that the individual lines being built would eventually be joined, and would need to have the same gauge. The standard gauge used throughout much of
4387-510: The Pennines, laying a foundation of heather and branches, which became bound together by the weight of the passing coaches, with a layer of stones on top. As the L&MR approached completion in 1829, its directors arranged a competition to decide who would build its locomotives, and the Rainhill Trials were run in October 1829. Entries could weigh no more than six tons and had to travel along
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4494-594: The Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington . The day started with a procession of eight trains setting out from Liverpool. The parade was led by Northumbrian driven by George Stephenson, and included Phoenix driven by his son Robert, North Star driven by his brother Robert and Rocket driven by assistant engineer Joseph Locke . The day was marred by the death of William Huskisson , the Member of Parliament for Liverpool , who
4601-577: The UK with Jewson and Graham, in Germany, the Netherlands and Eastern Europe with Raab Karcher and in the Nordic Countries with Dahl). The division has 3,500 stores in 23 countries and employs 52,000 people worldwide. Its 2006 sales amounted to 17.6 billion euros. The divisions current subsidiaries are: On 1 March 2023, the UK business was divested and sold to Stark Group The Construction Products division
4708-618: The author L.T.C. Rolt relates that opinion varied about the two lamps' efficiency: that the Davy Lamp gave more light, but the Geordie Lamp was thought to be safer in a more gaseous atmosphere. He made reference to an incident at Oaks Colliery in Barnsley where both lamps were in use. Following a sudden strong influx of gas the tops of all the Davy Lamps became red hot (which had in the past caused an explosion, and in so doing risked another), whilst all
4815-411: The bid. Multinational corporation Suez suggested that Saint-Gobain and Pont-à-Mousson (another French industrial group) should merge, to maintain independence from Boussois-Souchon-Neuvesel. After the merger, Saint-Gobain-Pont-à-Mousson , later known simply by the name "Saint-Gobain", produced pipes in addition to glass and fibreglass. The next fifteen years were a time of change and reorganization for
4922-509: The board's dissatisfaction led to Stephenson's resignation causing a rift between them which was never healed. Despite Stephenson's loss of some routes to competitors due to his caution, he was offered more work than he could cope with, and was unable to accept all that was offered. He worked on the North Midland line from Derby to Leeds , the York and North Midland line from Normanton to York,
5029-536: The busiest of Stephenson's life as he was besieged with requests from railway promoters. Many of the first American railroad builders came to Newcastle to learn from Stephenson and the first dozen or so locomotives utilised there were purchased from the Stephenson shops. Stephenson's conservative views on the capabilities of locomotives meant he favoured circuitous routes and civil engineering that were more costly than his successors thought necessary. For example, rather than
5136-636: The capital than elsewhere. In 1667, the glass-making was transferred to a small glass furnace already working at Tourlaville, near Cherbourg in Normandy, and the premises in Faubourg Saint-Antoine were devoted to glass-grinding and polishing the crude product. Though the Compagnie du Noyer was reduced at times to importing Venetian glass and finishing it in France, by September 1672 the royal French manufacturer
5243-469: The car industry, and 28% in 1930. Second, a few years later, another technique was developed that allowed glass to be shaped and bent. Finally, a process was developed to coat glass with aluminum, allowing it to be used as a conductor , and allowed the company to create products such as the ‘radiavers’ (French for “radiating glass”), a unique type of electric heater with the heating element encased in glass. Between 1950 and 1969, Saint-Gobain's sales rose at
5350-495: The closure of quarries and transport by road being cheaper to operate. The National Coal Board (NCB) was set up 1946 to nationalise Britain's coal industry. The NCB took over control of the company's collieries and gas works. The company was now owned and run by the brothers Colonel Humphrey Jackson and Captain Guy Jackson. In 1951 they bought a gravel company at Croxden in Staffordshire . The blast furnaces were demolished in 1959 and replaced by two hot-blast cupolas for expanding
5457-561: The company began to establish up new manufacturing facilities in countries without any domestic manufacturers. Saint-Gobain cast the glass blanks of some of the largest optical reflecting telescopes of the early 20th century, including the ground-breaking 60-inch (1.5 m) Hale telescope (online in 1908), the 61-inch (1.54 m) Bosque Alegre telescope built in 1912, for the Argentine National Observatory , directed by Charles D. Perrine , and 100 inch (2.5 m) Hooker telescope (online 1917) at Mount Wilson Observatory (United States), and
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#17328513730735564-453: The company continued to expand internationally, setting up foreign factories, and acquiring many of its foreign competitors. In 1996 the company bought Poliet (the French building and construction distribution group) and its subsidiaries, such as Point P. and Lapeyre. This expanded Saint-Gobain's product line into construction materials and their distribution. In 2005, Olivier Bluche took the helm of Supply Chain Operations, quickly modernising
5671-466: The company did not last long as a government-owned corporation; it was re-privatized in 1987. When Saint-Gobain once again became a private enterprise, control of the company quickly changed hands. Jean-Louis Beffa , an engineer and graduate of the École Polytechnique , became the CEO . Beffa invested heavily in research and development and pushed strongly for the company to produce engineered materials, such as abrasives and ceramics . Under Beffa,
5778-423: The company head office since 1981. Saint-Gobain is organized into three major Sectors (% by 2014 Net Sales restated excluding Verallia): Building Distribution (49%), Construction Products (27.5%), Innovative Materials (23.5%). Saint-Gobain's Building Distribution (building supplies) division was created in 1996. Since then it has grown both internally and through acquisitions (in France with Point P. and Lapeyre,
5885-421: The company's lengthy and dated processes. In October 2022, Saint-Gobain Films & Fabrics was renamed Saint-Gobain Composite Solutions. In 2023, the company's India-arm acquired Twiga Fiberglass, a manufacturer of glass wool with production facilities located near Delhi and Mumbai. The company has its head office in Les Miroirs in La Défense and in Courbevoie . The 97-metre (318 ft) building served as
5992-435: The company's production of ductile iron pipes. In 1966 the company became a public limited company, following Captain Guy Jackson's death. Stephen de Bartolomé became chairman after Colonel Humphrey Jackson died in 1969. In 1974, the Clay Cross Company was acquired by RMC Group (Ready Mixed Concrete) which had a primary interest in its quarries. Vice Chairman John Jackson retired from the company's board, ending 120 years of
6099-400: The company's turnover, but by 1969, this had grown to 20%. Domestic sales in France accounted for only a fifth of the company's revenue. Spain , Germany , Italy , Switzerland , and Belgium were also important markets. In 1968, Boussois-Souchon-Neuvesel , a French industrial group, made a hostile takeover bid for Saint-Gobain. The company looked for a " white knight " to help fend off
6206-420: The company. The first unblemished mirrors were produced in 1666. Soon the mirrors created in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine , under the French company, began to rival those of Venice. The French company was capable of producing mirrors that were 40 to 45 inches long (1.0 to 1.1 m), which at the time, was considered impressive. Competition between France and the Venetians became so fierce that Venice considered it
6313-406: The design of cast-iron edge rails to reduce breakage; rails were briefly made by Losh, Wilson and Bell at their Walker ironworks. According to Rolt, Stephenson managed to solve the problem caused by the weight of the engine on the primitive rails. He experimented with a steam spring (to 'cushion' the weight using steam pressure acting on pistons to support the locomotive frame), but soon followed
6420-444: The environment, and medicine , such as fuel cells or particle filters. It operates centres in Cavaillon , Northborough, Massachusetts and Shanghai , employing 35,800 people. Overall, the division's sales are made up of at least 30% new products. In 2006, total sales revenue was 4.9 billion euros. Innovative Materials also manufactures glass products, including self-cleaning, electrochromic, low-emissivity and sun-shielding glass. It
6527-476: The family's stewardship. In 1984 the Biwater Group purchased the Clay Cross Company, which continued to manufacture iron pipes for export within Europe. With over 700 employees, It remained the main employer in Clay Cross until 1998, when Biwater Industries was bought by rival pipe manufacturer Saint-Gobain (through its UK subsidiary Stanton plc). Controversially Saint-Gobain closed the site within six months to prevent competition with its own factories. The site of
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#17328513730736634-422: The first railway using no animal power, opened in 1822. This line used a gauge of 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ) which Stephenson had used before at the Killingworth wagonway. Other locomotives include: In 1821, a parliamentary bill was passed to allow the building of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR). The 25-mile (40 km) railway connected collieries near Bishop Auckland to
6741-431: The line. Pease and Stephenson had jointly established a company in Newcastle to manufacture locomotives. It was set up as Robert Stephenson and Company , and George's son Robert was the managing director. A fourth partner was Michael Longridge of Bedlington Ironworks . On an early trade card, Robert Stephenson & Co was described as "Engineers, Millwrights & Machinists, Brass & Iron Founders". In September 1825,
6848-440: The luxury high-quality mirror and glass markets, its newly created competitors focused their attention on making medium and low-quality products. The manufacture of products of such quality made mirrors and glass affordable for the masses. In response, the company extended its product line to include lower-quality glass and mirrors. In 1830, just as Louis-Philippe became King of the newly restored French Monarchy, [4] Saint-Gobain
6955-442: The master of the craft. George Stephenson had two children. His son Robert was born on 16 October 1803. Robert married Frances Sanderson, daughter of a City of London professional John Sanderson, on 17 June 1829. Robert died in 1859 having no children. Robert Stephenson expanded on the work of his father and became a major railway engineer himself. Abroad, Robert was involved in the Alexandria–Cairo railway that later connected with
7062-540: The more famous buildings that Saint-Gobain contributed to during that period were the Crystal Palace in London, Jardin des Plantes , the Grand Palais and adjacent Petit Palais in Paris, and the Milan Central railway station . Saint-Gobain merged with another French glass and mirror manufacturer, Saint-Quirin, in the mid-19th century. After the merger, the company was able to gain control of 25% of European glass and mirror production (before, it had only controlled 10–15%). In response to growing international competition,
7169-411: The newly merged companies. In the 1970s, Western economies were suffering a sharp downturn. Saint-Gobain's financial performance was adversely affected by the economic and petrol crises. In 1981 and 1982, ten of France's top-performing companies were nationalized by the socialist party -controlled Fifth Republic of France. By February 1982, Saint-Gobain was officially controlled by the state. However,
7276-442: The outskirts of Paris, at La Défense and in Courbevoie . Originally a mirror manufacturer , it also produces a variety of construction , high-performance, and other materials. Saint-Gobain is present in 76 countries and as of 2022 employs more than 170,000 people. Since the mid-17th century, luxury products such as silk textiles , lace , and mirrors were in high demand. In the 1660s, mirrors had become very popular among
7383-487: The participation and capital of private investors, although it continued to remain partly under the control of the French state. In the 1820s, Saint-Gobain continued to function as it had under the Ancien Régime , manufacturing high-quality mirrors and glass for the luxury market. However, although in 1824, a new glass manufacturer was established in Commentry , France, and in 1837, several Belgian glass manufacturers were also founded. While Saint-Gobain continued to dominate
7490-481: The practice of 'distributing' weight by using a number of wheels or bogies. For the Stockton and Darlington Railway Stephenson used wrought-iron malleable rails that he had found satisfactory, notwithstanding the financial loss he suffered by not using his own patented design. Stephenson was hired to build the eight-mile (13-km) Hetton colliery railway in 1820. He used a combination of gravity on downward inclines and locomotives for level and upward stretches. This,
7597-435: The pumping engine at High Pit, Killingworth was not working properly and Stephenson offered to improve it. He did so with such success that he was promoted to enginewright for the collieries at Killingworth, responsible for maintaining and repairing all the colliery engines. He became an expert in steam-driven machinery. In 1815, aware of the explosions often caused in mines by naked flames, Stephenson began to experiment with
7704-714: The reverse of Series E £5 notes issued by the Bank of England . Stephenson's face is shown alongside an engraving of the Rocket steam engine and the Skerne Bridge on the Stockton to Darlington Railway. Saint-Gobain Compagnie de Saint-Gobain S.A. ( French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ ɡɔbɛ̃] ) is a French multinational corporation , founded in 1665 in Paris as the Manufacture royale de glaces de miroirs, and today headquartered on
7811-451: The same year its BPB subsidiary purchased Celotex. In 2018 Saint Gobain acquired UK-based Farécla Products, one of the largest polishing compound manufacturers in the world. In 2024, Saint-Gobain agreed to acquire Australian building materials maker CSR Limited for A$ 4.5 billion ( US$ 2.95 billion). The company has also sold off various assets. Recently the company sold its cosmetic glass manufacturing business, including
7918-579: The solution he had. In 1833 a House of Commons committee found that Stephenson had equal claim to having invented the safety lamp. Davy went to his grave believing that Stephenson had stolen his idea. The Stephenson lamp was used almost exclusively in North East England , whereas the Davy lamp was used everywhere else. The experience gave Stephenson a lifelong distrust of London-based, theoretical, scientific experts. In his book George and Robert Stephenson ,
8025-936: The state of Gujarat , India. The acquisition adds about 550 tons per day additional capacity, and the deal was inked at around US$ 150 million. In addition, Saint-Gobain Glass invested in Bhiwadi , Rajasthan in 2014, which adds another 950 tons of glass per day. And recently in 2018, Saint-Gobain again invested in Sriperumbudur with 950-ton capacity, which results in the production of 3850 tons of glass per day from India. Saint-Gobain comprises several brands, including Saint-Gobain Glass, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, RIW, GCP Applied Technologies, Weber, British Gypsum, Decoustics, Glassolutions, Gyproc, Artex, Isover, CTD, Ecophon, Pasquill and PAM. Saint-Gobain had contaminated ground water supply with PFAS ( perfluorooctanoic acid –
8132-427: The state. Compagnie Thévart used a new pouring process that allowed it to make plate glass mirrors measuring at least 60 by 40 inches wide (1.5 by 1.0 m), much bigger than the 40 inches (1.0 m) that the Compagnie du Noyer could create. The two companies competed for seven years, until 1695 when the economy slowed down and their technical and commercial rivalry became counterproductive. Under an order from
8239-502: The third time, to Ellen Gregory, another farmer's daughter originally from Bakewell in Derbyshire, who had been his housekeeper. Seven months after his wedding, George contracted pleurisy and died, aged 67, at noon on Saturday 12 August 1848 at Tapton House in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. He was buried at Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield , alongside his second wife. Described by Rolt as a generous man, Stephenson financially supported
8346-527: The track for a total distance of 60 miles (97 km). Stephenson's entry was Rocket , and its performance in winning the contest made it famous. George's son Robert had been working in South America from 1824 to 1827 and returned to run the Forth Street Works while George was in Liverpool overseeing the construction of the line. Robert was responsible for the detailed design of Rocket , although he
8453-458: The upper classes of society: Italian cabinets , châteaux , ornate side tables, and pier-tables were decorated with these expensive and luxurious products. At the time, however, the French were not known for mirror technology; instead, the Republic of Venice was known as the world leader in glass manufacturing , controlling a technical and commercial monopoly of the glass and mirror business. As
8560-415: The wives and families of several who had died in his employment, due to accident or misadventure, some within his family, and some not. He was also a keen gardener throughout his life; during his last years at Tapton House, he built hothouses in the estate gardens, growing exotic fruits and vegetables in a 'not too friendly' rivalry with Joseph Paxton , head gardener at nearby Chatsworth House , twice beating
8667-513: The works at Forth Street, Newcastle, completed the first locomotive for the railway: originally named Active , it was renamed Locomotion and was followed by Hope , Diligence and Black Diamond . The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened on 27 September 1825. Driven by Stephenson, Locomotion hauled an 80-ton load of coal and flour nine miles (14 km) in two hours, reaching a speed of 24 miles per hour (39 kilometres per hour) on one stretch. The first purpose-built passenger car, Experiment ,
8774-552: The world is due to him. In 2002, Stephenson was named in the BBC 's television show and list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote, placing at no. 65. The Victorian self-help advocate Samuel Smiles had published his first biography of George Stephenson in 1857, and although attacked as biased in the favour of George at the expense his rivals as well as his son, it was popular and 250,000 copies were sold by 1904. The Band of Hope were selling biographies of George in 1859 at
8881-423: Was illiterate until the age of 18. In 1801 he began work at Black Callerton Colliery south of Ponteland as a 'brakesman', controlling the winding gear at the pit. In 1802 he married Frances Henderson and moved to Willington Quay , east of Newcastle. There he worked as a brakesman while they lived in one room of a cottage. George made shoes and mended clocks to supplement his income. Their first child Robert
8988-457: Was accused of stealing the idea from Davy, because he was not seen as an adequate scientist who could have produced the lamp by any approved scientific method. Stephenson, having come from the North-East, spoke with a broad Northumberland accent and not the 'Language of Parliament,' which made him seem lowly. Realizing this, he made a point of educating his son Robert in a private school, where he
9095-411: Was at the factory site but a new brickworks with large kilns near the railway station could produce five million bricks per year. By 1850 there were three chapels, a church and a new school. After George Stephenson died in 1848, Robert (now a Member of Parliament) took charge of the company. The company's four coal pits were struggling to remain profitable following a drop in the price of coal. Robert had
9202-599: Was attached and carried dignitaries on the opening journey. It was the first time passenger traffic had been run on a steam locomotive railway. The rails used for the line were wrought-iron , produced by John Birkinshaw at the Bedlington Ironworks . Wrought-iron rails could be produced in longer lengths than cast-iron and were less liable to crack under the weight of heavy locomotives. William Losh of Walker Ironworks thought he had an agreement with Stephenson to supply cast-iron rails, and Stephenson's decision caused
9309-468: Was being used to create insulation , industrial textiles, and building reinforcements. In 1937, the company founded Isover , a subsidiary fibreglass insulation manufacturer. During this period, the company developed three new glassmaking techniques and processes; first, a dipping technique used to coat car windows, which prevented the glass from shattering in the event of an accident. As a result of that technique, 10% of Saint-Gobain's 1920 sales came from
9416-535: Was born in 1803, and in 1804 they moved to Dial Cottage at West Moor , near Killingworth where George worked as a brakesman at Killingworth Pit. Their second child, a daughter, was born in July 1805. She was named Frances after her mother. The child died after just three weeks and was buried in St Bartholomew's Church, Long Benton north of Newcastle. In 1806 George's wife Frances died of consumption ( tuberculosis ). She
9523-599: Was built for the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway in 1817 but was withdrawn from service because of damage to the cast-iron rails. Another locomotive was supplied to Scott's Pit railroad at Llansamlet , near Swansea , in 1819 but it too was withdrawn, apparently because it was under-boilered and again caused damage to the track. The new engines were too heavy to run on wooden rails or plate-way, and iron edge rails were in their infancy, with cast iron exhibiting excessive brittleness. Together with William Losh , Stephenson improved
9630-533: Was buried in the same churchyard as their daughter on 16 May 1806, though the location of the grave is lost. George decided to find work in Scotland and left Robert with a local woman while he went to work in Montrose . After a few months he returned, probably because his father was blinded in a mining accident. He moved back into a cottage at West Moor and his unmarried sister Eleanor moved in to look after Robert. In 1811
9737-515: Was created for a period of twenty years and would be financed in part by the state. The beneficiary and first director was the French financier Nicolas du Noyer, a receiver of taxes of Orléans , who was granted a monopoly of making glass and mirror-glass for twenty years. The company had the informal name Compagnie du Noyer . To compete with the Italian mirror industry, Colbert commissioned several Venetian glassworkers he had enticed to Paris to work for
9844-401: Was in constant postal communication with his father, who made many suggestions. One significant innovation, suggested by Henry Booth , treasurer of the L&MR, was the use of a fire-tube boiler , invented by French engineer Marc Seguin that gave improved heat exchange. The opening ceremony of the L&MR , on 15 September 1830, drew luminaries from the government and industry, including
9951-481: Was made chief engineer with the first part of the line opening in 1832. During this same period the Snibston estate in Leicestershire came up for auction, it lay adjoining the proposed Swannington to Leicester route and was believed to contain valuable coal reserves. Stephenson realising the financial potential of the site, given its proximity to the proposed rail link and the fact that the manufacturing town of Leicester
10058-780: Was nine years his senior. George and Fanny married at Newburn Church on 28 November 1802. They had two children Robert (1803) and Fanny (1805) but the latter died within months. George's wife died, probably of tuberculosis, the year after. While George was working in Scotland, Robert was brought up by a succession of neighbours and then by George's unmarried sister Eleanor (Nelly), who lived with them in Killingworth on George's return. On 29 March 1820, George (now considerably wealthier) married Betty Hindmarsh at Newburn. The marriage seems to have been happy, but there were no children and Betty died on 3 August 1845. On 11 January 1848, at St Chad's Church in Shrewsbury , Shropshire, George married for
10165-553: Was on a sufficiently sound footing for the importation of glass to be forbidden to any of Louis' subjects, under any conditions. In 1678, the company produced the glass for the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles . In 1683, the company's financial arrangement with the State was renewed for another two decades. However, in 1688 the rival Compagnie Thévart was created, also financed in part by
10272-469: Was provided royal patents which allowed it to maintain a legal monopoly in the glass-manufacturing industry up until the French Revolution (1789), despite fierce, sometimes violent, protests from free enterprise partisans. In 1789, as a consequence of the French Revolution , the state financial and competitive privileges accorded to Compagnie Dagincourt were abolished. The company had to depend on
10379-406: Was rejected and a revised bill for a new alignment was submitted and passed in a subsequent session. The revised alignment presented the problem of crossing Chat Moss , an apparently bottomless peat bog, which Stephenson overcame by unusual means, effectively floating the line across it. The method he used was similar to that used by John Metcalf who constructed many miles of road across marshes in
10486-466: Was struck by Rocket . Stephenson evacuated the injured Huskisson to Eccles with a train, but he died from his injuries. Despite the tragedy, the railway was a resounding success. Stephenson became famous, and was offered the position of chief engineer for a wide variety of other railways. 1830 also saw the grand opening of the skew bridge in Rainhill over the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The bridge
10593-438: Was suggested the name sprang from Blücher's rapid march of his army in support of Wellington at Waterloo ). Blücher was modelled on Matthew Murray 's locomotive Willington , which George studied at Kenton and Coxlodge colliery on Tyneside, and was constructed in the colliery workshop behind Stephenson's home, Dial Cottage, on Great Lime Road. The locomotive could haul 30 tons of coal up a hill at 4 mph (6.4 km/h), and
10700-590: Was taught to speak in Standard English with a Received Pronunciation accent. It was due to this, in their future dealings with Parliament, that it became clear that the authorities preferred Robert to his father. A local committee of enquiry gathered in support of Stephenson, exonerated him, proved he had been working separately to create the 'Geordie Lamp', and awarded him £1,000, but Davy and his supporters refused to accept their findings, and would not see how an uneducated man such as Stephenson could come up with
10807-453: Was the basis for the 4-foot- 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 -inch (1.435 m) standard gauge used by most of the world's railways. Pioneered by Stephenson, rail transport was one of the most important technological inventions of the 19th century and a key component of the Industrial Revolution . Built by George and his son Robert 's company Robert Stephenson and Company , the Locomotion No. 1
10914-513: Was the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. George also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway , which opened in 1830 . George Stephenson was born on 9 June 1781 in Wylam , Northumberland , which is 9 miles (15 km) west of Newcastle upon Tyne . He
11021-464: Was the first successful flanged-wheel adhesion locomotive: its traction depended on contact between its flanged wheels and the rail. Altogether, Stephenson is said to have produced 16 locomotives at Killingworth, although it has not proved possible to produce a convincing list of all 16. Of those identified, most were built for use at Killingworth or for the Hetton colliery railway . A six-wheeled locomotive
11128-439: Was the first to cross any railway at an angle. It required the structure to be constructed as two flat planes (overlapping in this case by 6 ft (1.8 m)) between which the stonework forms a parallelogram shape when viewed from above. It has the effect of flattening the arch and the solution is to lay the bricks forming the arch at an angle to the abutments (the piers on which the arches rest). The technique, which results in
11235-454: Was the second child of Robert and Mabel Stephenson, neither of whom could read or write. Robert was the fireman for Wylam Colliery pumping engine, earning a very low wage, so there was no money for schooling. At 17, Stephenson became an engineman at Water Row Pit in Newburn nearby. George realised the value of education and paid to study at night school to learn reading, writing and arithmetic – he
11342-507: Was then being supplied coal by canal from Derbyshire, bought the estate. Employing a previously used method of mining in the midlands called tubbing to access the deep coal seams, his success could not have been greater. Stephenson's coal mine delivered the first rail cars of coal into Leicester dramatically reducing the price of coal and saving the city some £40,000 per annum. Stephenson remained at Alton Grange until 1838 before moving to Tapton House in Derbyshire. The next ten years were
11449-399: Was transformed into a Public Limited Company and became independent from the state for the first time. While mirrors remained their primary business, Saint-Gobain began to diversify their product line to include glass panes for skylights , roofs, and room dividers, thick mirrors, semi-thick glass for windows, laminated mirrors and glass, and finally embossed mirrors and windowpanes. Some of
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