Born 1786 at Wylam. Completed his apprenticeship by 1807. Hackworth ran George Stephenson' Works while he was away on business and was so impressed that he offered him a share in the company but Hackworth declined. In 1825 he became locomotive superintendent, and also manager and contractor, for the Stockton and Darlington, Britain's first public railway and in 1827 the owners' committee authorized Hackworth to build a locomotive to his own design, Royal George. In 1840 Hackworth left the Stockton and Darlington Railway to concentrate on his own engineering business, conducted from new workshops at New Shildon.