Genealogy Chat

Many thanks again to all kind people above - I can now get to work on this.

I will let you know if I find he really was an ancestor of mine - perhaps I should have invented the high speed train by now!!!
Not much chance though when I can't even navigate this site!!

Well, personally I think Id go with the Family Foundation's version - Id assume the family would know the date - LOL and the trustees make sure they got it right.

Anyway you have two different months for that 1779 one already - LOL.

Buy the will for £3.50 Oh and check out his age on the parish register where he was buried to get the right (hopefully) year of birth. (see above for burial). You have the year of death, you could also now look for his death cert.

Thanks again to all above - as regards to the date of birth I'm afraid I got it from several other google sites ie:

William Hedley was born at Newburn, near Newcastle-on-Tyne on 13th July, 1779. He became a manager at Walbottle Colliery before he was twenty-two. He afterwards held the same position at Wylam Colliery...

Hedley, William (1779—1843)
Pioneer of steam engines and introduced locomotives that did not require a rack and pinion system to operate, that adhesion was simply enough. His locomotives Wylam Dilly and Puffing Billy, built in 1813 and 1814 respectively, are preserved.

Hedley, William (1779-1843). Newcastle mining engineer whose locomotive, Puffing Billy, proved that traction could be.......

Perhaps purchase of the will would reveal the correct one.
S

No, you dont click on names, just go to very bottom of this page and put a reply in the new box and click submit. Or click on add reply at the top of the page.

The IGI is free on familysearch.org - but you have the wrong date of birth - see the info added above - you can also buy his will.

Yep, looks like that is his will:

William Hedley
• Ten things you didn't know about Wikipedia &bullFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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William Hedley (1773 – January 9, 1843[1]) was one of the leading industrial engineers of the early 19th century, and was very instrumental in several major innovations in early railway development. While working as a 'viewer' or manager at Wylam's Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne, he built the first practical steam locomotive which relied simply on the adhesion of iron wheels on iron rails.

He was born in Newburn, near Newcastle upon Tyne in 1773. Before Hedley's time, such locomotives were far too heavy for the track that was then available. While most lines used cable haulage with stationary engines, various other schemes had been tried. William Chapman at the Butterley Company in 1812, attempted to use a steam engine which hauled itself along a cable, while, at the same company, Brunton had produced the even less successful "mechanical traveller", or Steam Horse.

However, in 1812, Matthew Murray and John Blenkinsop had produced the first twin cylinder steam locomotive, The Salamanca, for Middleton Colliery railway near Leeds, using a pinion engaging with teeth along the iron edge rails track (first rack railway). This had been the first steam locomotive railway to work successfully, but the system was complex and expensive.

Hedley felt that if the pairs of wheels were connected, as with Richard Trevithick's engines, if one pair began to slip, it would be counteracted by the other. The mine owner, Christopher Blackett had just replaced the wooden waggonway with iron flanged 'L' section plate rails. Hedley first constructed a test carriage operated by manpower, to test the adhesion under various loads. He then used it as the chassis for a locomotive constructed to Trevithick's pattern with a single cylinder and a simple straight through fire tube to the boiler.

This engine was not satisfactory. Its motion was erratic, because of the single cylinder, and it produced insufficient steam.

He built a second engine, with the assistance of the, later to be famous, Timothy Hackworth, his foreman smith, and his principal engine wright, Jonathan Foster, using the 1812 twin cylinder plan of John Blenkinsop and Matthew Murray and a return tube boiler. This was the famous steam locomotive, Puffing Billy which first ran in 1813 and is now preserved at the Science Museum in London. Its success encouraged them to build a second engine Wylam Dilly, which is now in the Royal Museum in Edinburgh. In the same year, his system for using a coupling between the wheels was patented.

However there was still considerable wear to the track, and the engines were rebuilt using twin four-wheeled bogies, introduced in Blackwell's design mentioned above. Initially the wheels were without flanges for use on the flanged plate rails. In about 1830 the line was relaid with the stronger edge rails, and both locomotives reverted to their original pattern, but with flanged wheels, which is how they are today. Both locos remained in active service until 1862.

Hedley died in 1843. His descendants remained heavily involved in the coal-mining industry until nationalisation in the 1940s. In 1971, a charitable foundation was set up in the Hedley name, with assets based on the compensation from nationalisation.

Do you reckon this is his Will? £3.50 on national archives documents on line site.

Will of William Hedley, Coal Owner of Lanchester , Durham
Date 12 June 1843
Catalogue reference PROB 11/1981

Thanks all who gave info on the Puffing Billy - I did get quite a lot from Google myself but wanted to follow official records with family names down to the known Hedleys in my family.

Also - apologies for not placing these replies in the correct place. I thought you had to click on ADD to place a reply to the relevant person. I have just worked out that you have to click their name - Dohh!!

Many thanks Christine,
I'm new to genealogy so what is IGI.
?From Google info I know he was born 9th January near Newcastle upon Tyne so the Northumberland christening dates might be relevant. Can anyone use this site?

Oh, at least we know where he is buried: Keelman?

http://www.petersen-stainless.co.uk/blb/history.html.


The first waggons were horse-drawn along wooden rails which were replaced in 1808 by cast-iron rails. By 1815 the waggons between Wylam and Lemington were pulled along, 8 at a time at 5mph, by steam engines designed by William Hedley (who is buried in St Michaels & All Saints Church). Two of Hedley's locomotives were known as The Puffing Billy and Wylam Dilly. A contemporary account describes the invention thus; 'A stranger is naturally struck with the imposing appearance of an engine moving without animal power, with celerity and majesty, along a road with a number of loaded carriages in its train'

I was just going to post the same info Heather.

Christine

Oh lots more other hits: Looks like you may have wrong birth

The Hedley Foundation

A charitable foundation which supports young people, the disabled and the terminally ill.

The Hedley Family and The Hedley Foundation
William Hedley was born in Newburn, Newcastle in 1773 and went to school in Wylam, 8 miles to the west. He became a colliery manager at the age of 22 and was one of the leading engineers trying to improve the system of transporting coal by horse power along wooden trackways. Cast-iron plate rails (with the flange on the rail rather than on a wagon wheel) were laid at Wylam Colliery in 1808 and William Hedley developed the system of coupling of wheels which gave locomotives with smooth wheels sufficient adhesion, even on smooth rails, to haul a train of loaded wagons. This he patented in 1813, the year in which he also unveiled his famous locomotive, Puffing Billy, with a revolutionary and reliable design to carry power to the coupled wheels.

Puffing Billy marked a major stage in the development of railway locomotion. George Stephenson, generally credited as "father of the railways" (and also brought up and living in Wylam, though it was said he and Hedley were not the best of friends) did not produce his Rocket until 1825. Puffing Billy remained in use until 1862. Although they later moved to the Lake District, William Hedley's descendants remained coal mine owners until nationalisation in 1947.

Any help? Is it right area/etc? this was first entry on a yahoo search:

Puffing Billy was an early steam locomotive, constructed in 1813-1814 by engineer William Hedley, enginewright Jonathan Forster and blacksmith Timothy Hackworth for Christopher Blackett, the owner of Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the world's oldest surviving steam locomotive.

It was the first commercial adhesion steam locomotive, employed to haul coal chaldron wagons from the mine at Wylam to the docks at Lemington-on-Tyne in Northumberland. It was one of a number of similar engines built by Hedley, the resident engineer at Wylam Colliery. The engines remained in service for many years and were not retired until as late as 1862.

Puffing Billy incorporated a number of novel features, patented by Hedley, which were to prove important to the development of locomotives. Piston rods extended upwards to pivoting beams, connected in turn by rods to a crankshaft beneath the frames, from which gears drove and also coupled the wheels allowing better traction. This was the first time that coupling had been employed on a locomotive.

The engine had a number of serious technical limitations. Relying on smooth wheels running on a flanged track, its eight-ton weight was too heavy for the rails and crushed them. This problem was alleviated by redesigning the engine with eight wheels so that the weight was spread more evenly. The engine was eventually rebuilt as a four-wheeler when improved edge rails track was introduced around 1830. It was not particularly fast, being capable of no more than 3 to 5 mph (5 to 8 km/h).

In 1862, Edward Blackett, the owner of Wylam Colliery, lent Puffing Billy to the Patent Office Museum in South Kensington, London (later the Science Museum). He later sold it to the museum for £200. It is still on display there.

Puffing Billy was an important influence on George Stephenson, who lived locally, and its success was a key factor in promoting the use of steam locomotives by other collieries in north-eastern England. It also entered the language as a metaphor for an energetic traveller, so that phrases like "puffing like Billy-o" and "running like Billy-o" became common.

A replica has been built and was first run in 2006 at Beamish Museum.

Its sister locomotive, Wylam Dilly, is preserved in the Royal Museum in Edinburgh.


[edit] External links
Puffing Billy locomotive

If he really did invent said Puffing Billy (I dont want to crush hopes but often family legends get exaggerate a bit!) then have a google (my google isnt working at moment :( so if yours isnt, try yahoo) and see if you can find information about him that way.

These are the ones born in 1779 from IGI.

International Genealogical Index / British Isles - 9
Select records to download - (50 maximum)
1. WM. HADLEY - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 21 OCT 1779 Rowley Regis, Stafford, England

2. William Hadley - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 21 OCT 1779 Rowley Regis, Stafford, England

3. WILLIAM HEDLEY - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 23 MAY 1779 Woodhorn, Northumberland, England

4. William Hadley - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Birth: 21 OCT 1779 Rowley Regis, Stafford, England

5. William Hadley - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 21 OCT 1779 Rowley,Regis, , Stafford, England

6. WILLIAM HEDLEY OR ATKINSON - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 25 JUL 1779 Newburn, Northumberland, England

7. WILLIAM HADLEY - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 25 DEC 1779 West Bromwich, Stafford, England

8. WILLIAM HEDLEY - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 26 AUG 1779 Elsdon, Northumberland, England

9. WILLIAM HEDLEY - International Genealogical Index
Gender: Male Christening: 18 JAN 1779 Presbyterian, Birdhope Craig, Northumberland, England

Christine

Meant to add this query to my question below.

Is there any way you can access births and marriages before 1837. I have a well known ancestor(according to my deceased Hedley mother) "William Hedley" inventor of the Puffing Billy.
However he was born in 1779 so I cant find any official records to trace down from him and find out if my mother was right.
I think I have found his death record on BMD.