John Birkinshaw

John Birkinshaw (1777–1842) was an English railway engineer from Bedlington, Northumberland, noted for his invention of wrought iron rails in 1820 (patented on October 23, 1820).

These cast iron rails, developed by William Jessop and others, only allowed very low speeds and broke easily and although steam locomotives had been tested as early as 1804 by Richard Trevithick, 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.

"[2] Birkinshaw's wrought iron rails were taken up by George Stephenson in 1821 for the proposed Stockton and Darlington Railway, despite the fact that Stephenson already held the rights to the best cast iron product,[3] and it was this railway that effectively launched the rail era.

Birkinshaw married at St John's, Newcastle upon Tyne on 10 October 1809.