AN 1890s DERBYSHIRE PIONEER: LAWN MAINTENANCE BY ELECTRICITY

William John Stephenson-Peach (1852-1919), a mechanical engineer, opened his workshops in Askew Hill, Repton, in 1887 as the ‘Stephenson School of Engineering’ and the boys of the public school at Repton where he taught engineering were allowed to attend on half-holidays for the sum of five shillings a time. Photo 1 shows a general view of the machine shop.

Stephenson-Peach has been reported as the grandson of either George or Robert Stephenson but this is not the case. His maternal grandfather was John Stephenson (1794-1848), a notable railway contractor who, in the 1840s, built a considerable track-mileage of railway between Lancaster, Carlisle, Glasgow and Edinburgh; some on his own account, some in partnership with Thomas Brassey and William Mackenzie. The young W.J Peach was clearly proud of his engineering heritage and added his mother’s surname-Stephenson - to make his own surname double-barrelled. After engineering training in Derby and Glasgow, by 1881 he was proprietor of the Via Gellia Paint & Colour Works in Cromford, Derbyshire, not far from Arkwright’s historic first cotton mill. This business was active until 1999 under various names at