Edward Pease (railway pioneer)

[4] In 1809, Pease became involved (like his grandfather before him) in longstanding aspirations to improve navigability on the lower Tees, so that County Durham collieries could compete more effectively with those of Tyneside to supply coal to London.

Meanwhile, Pease introduced into the scheme the steam engine maker George Stephenson, and an initial act of Parliament for a horse-drawn railway was immediately superseded by one for a steam-hauled line.

Also prominent was a cousin of his, the Darlington banker Jonathan Backhouse,[5] and in promoting steam, Nicholas Wood, the engineer and manager of Killingworth Colliery.

Pease, described at the time as "a man of weight, of prudence, of keen commercial instincts", was charged with showing that steam would be a sound investment, and his young son Joseph drew up the company prospectus.

The transition to standard railway management was gradual, spurred on by frequent disputes between drivers about right of way and by the dangers of the higher speeds of steam locomotives.

On the day the foundation stone was being laid at Darlington for the pedestal on which to display it, Henry Pease concluded his speech by saying "he rejoiced at seeing the first locomotive about to be placed in a suitable position, so as to hand down to posterity a memorial of one of the greatest events the civilised world ever witnessed.