nephew of George Stephenson ();

1836 - attended King William's College, Isle of Man. 1843 - appointed engineer to George Stephenson's (his uncle) collieries at Tapton. 1844 - set himself up as a consultant in Great George Street, London. 1853 - elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 1859 - elected to the council of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 1860 - went to New Zealand as consulting engineer where he built the Lyttelton–Christchurch railway and designed the breakwaters of Lyttelton harbour. 1860 - built the cutter-rigged St Lawrence at Cowes. 1861 - published a pamphlet on the problem of excessive speeds on railways. 1864 - was joint engineer with John Hawkshaw for the East London Railway.