James Stephenson

John worked in the mines and kept in close contact with George. When George was having troubles on the construction of the Stockton and Darlington Railway he hired John and his brother James as gang leaders.

After this was finished they both went to work in the Newcastle engine works, but then tragedy struck. John was ‘killed by a fall of the shear legs’ in January 1831, and a similar fate befell James. George was very upset by all this, and made himself responsible for the upbringing of the families. Eleanor had only one daughter, but Hannah was left with four children aged between nine and two years old, and another on the way. George Stephenson asked them to live with him. Mildred Rose (‘Nunny’) said “You see, when my great-grandfather died, Uncle George Stephenson took great-grandmother, who was his niece, to live with him. My father remembers some quaint stories his mother handed down to him”. It was only a few months after this that George bought a large mansion near Ashby-de-la-Zouch probably for his new extended family.