In a magnificent mountain setting in the heart of the USA state of Utah lies a graveyard. In the heart of the graveyard lies a grave, its headstone depicting Robert Stephenson's 1829-built locomotive, Rocket. Why is it there and in whose memory was it dedicated?
The answer arises from an extraordinary but intriguing e-mail I received several years ago from an American woman, Stacey Miller, who was employed as a teacher at an American Air Force Base in Germany. She had been recommended to get in touch with me by a mutual friend in Canada. She told me that, through folklore in her extensive family in Utah, she had learned that her four times great grandfather, Edward Robinson (1807-1896), had been the world's 'first railroad conductor'. Could this possibly be true, she asked?
It is all too easy for family histories to become exaggerated as the stories are re-told through the generations. On some occasions I've been approached by people who are convinced that they are descended from George Stephenson for example, and I've had to let the enquirer down gently because, of course, Robert Stephenson, his only son, had no children. But this enquiry was different and there was the suggestion that a bit of research might turn up something interesting!
The story that emerged was remarkable and fascinating. It touched upon the thought-provoking subject of how, in 1830, the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the world's first main line railway, started up its operations with the need to recruit its staff from scratch.
