2-888-401 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Robert Stephenson, Esq., M.P. for Whitby, 1850. Portrait from a photograph by Kilburn. In admiration of his engineering work, '...Durham College presented Robert Stephenson with an honorary degree; and on the 30th of July last, his fellow-townsmen and friends entertained him at a banquet, to which upwards of 400 persons sat down, in the new Great Central Railway Station at Newcastle-upon-Tyne...Mr. Stephenson constructed the Florence and Leghorn line of about 60 miles, and he is now in Switzerland for the purpose of advising as to the best system of railway for the cantons. In addition to his railway labours, he has been an honorary member of the sanitary and sewerage commissions, to both of which he has devoted considerable time and attention'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.