Letter from Robert Stephenson to Henry Kingsford of Canterbury & Whitstable Railway dated 12 June 1830

Letter, Robert Stephenson to Henry Kingsford of Canterbury & Whitstable Railway, in pursuance of agreement between the directors of the company and his father, George Stephenson. Specifies prices for parts following completion of the engine at 'Claws Wood', including piston rod, crank and pin, malleable iron shaft, set of nozzle valves and a set of fire bars, amounting to £45-2s-6d. The letter also discusses the work of his manager, George Cabry. Letter written 12 June 1830 at Newcastle upon Tyne.

This letter is from Robert Stephenson, son of George Stephenson, both world-changing railway engineers who constructed many locomotives and civil engineering works. It discusses work on the incredibly important Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (also called the Crab and Winkle Line). This was the first railway to use timetabled passenger trains and tunnels.

The letter was written around one month after the line opened and is addressed to Henry Kingsford, a business partner who Robert had communicated with in other letters. It discusses the prices of parts needed to complete work on an engine at Clowes Wood. The work had started while Robert Stephenson’s father was still alive, so he had to establish the prices again. Throughout the letter Stephenson refers to other work on the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway.

The letter also mentions some other individuals such as Thomas Cabry, who worked at the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway from 1830, so finding out about the progress of his work was clearly important to Stephenson. The estimate used in the letter was created by Thomas Robertson, a business partner of Stephenson & Co.