Liverpool and Manchester Railway in the context of "Stephenson's Rocket"

Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, 178 miles (286 km) north-west of London. It had a population of 508,961 in 2024 and is the administrative, cultural and economic centre of the Liverpool City Region, a combined authority area with a population of over 1.5 million.

Established as a borough in Lancashire in 1207, Liverpool became significant in the late 17th century when the Port of Liverpool was heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade. The port also imported cotton for the Lancashire textile mills, and became a major departure point for English and Irish emigrants to North America. Liverpool rose to global economic importance at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century and was home to the first inter-city railway, the first non-combustible warehouse system (the Royal Albert Dock), and a pioneering elevated electrical railway; it was granted city status in 1880 and was moved from Lancashire to the newly created county of Merseyside in 1974. It entered a period of decline in the mid-20th century, which was largely reversed after the European Union selected it as the European Capital of Culture for 2008, reportedly generating over £800 million for the local economy within a year.

The Manchester Ship Canal is a 36-mile-long (58 km) inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire before joining the latter at Salford Quays. Several sets of locks lift vessels about 60 ft (18 m) to the canal's terminus in Manchester. Landmarks along its route include the Barton Swing Aqueduct, the world's only swing aqueduct, and Trafford Park, the world's first planned industrial estate and one of the largest in Europe.

The rivers Mersey and Irwell were first made navigable in the early 18th century. Goods were also transported on the Runcorn extension of the Bridgewater Canal (from 1776) and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (from 1830) but by the late 19th century the Mersey and Irwell Navigation had fallen into disrepair and was often unusable. Manchester's business community viewed the charges imposed by Liverpool's docks and the railway companies as excessive. A ship canal was proposed to give ocean-going vessels direct access to Manchester. The region was suffering from the Long Depression; the canal's proponents argued that the scheme would boost competition and create jobs. They gained public support for the scheme, which was first presented to Parliament as a bill in 1882. Faced with stiff opposition from Liverpool, the canal's supporters were unable to gain the necessary act of Parliament to allow the scheme to go ahead until 1885.

Eccles (/ˈɛkəlz/) is a market town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Salford city centre and 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Manchester, split by the M602 motorway and bordered by the Manchester Ship Canal to the south. The town is famous for the Eccles cake.

Eccles grew around the 13th-century Parish Church of St Mary. Evidence of pre-historic human settlement has been discovered locally, but the area was predominantly agricultural until the Industrial Revolution, when a textile industry was established in the town. The arrival of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway led to the town's expansion along the route of the track linking those two cities.

Newton-le-Willows, often shortened informally to Newton, is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England. The population at the 2021 census was 24,642. Newton-le-Willows is on the eastern edge of St Helens, south of Wigan and north of Warrington, equidistant to Liverpool and Manchester.

Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the Newton township was historically largely pastoral lands, with the mining industry encroaching from the north and the west as time went on. The township (often referred to as Newton in Makerfield at that time) is documented since at least the 12th century. In the early 19th century the township saw significant urban development to support the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The presence of the Sankey Canal running through the Sankey Valley necessitated the construction of the Sankey Viaduct by George Stephenson, and the town of Earlestown developed around the industrial works there. Earlestown gradually became the administrative and commercial centre of the township, with the historic market and fairs moving to a purpose built square.

Irlam is a suburb in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, it had a population of 19,933. It lies on flat ground on the south side of the M62 motorway and the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, 6.7 miles (10.8 km) southwest of Salford, 7.6 miles (12.2 km) southwest of Manchester and 8.3 miles (13.4 km) northeast of Warrington. Irlam forms a continuous urban area with Cadishead to the southwest, and is divided from Flixton and the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford to the southeast by the Manchester Ship Canal. The main road through Irlam, linking it to Cadishead and Eccles, is the A57. Irlam railway station also serves the district.

Irlam was anciently known as Irwellham, an outlying area of Chat Moss, a large peat bog which straddled the River Irwell. Work was carried out in the 19th century to reclaim large areas to enable the completion of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1829. In 1894, the Irwell was adjusted so that its waters were united with the Manchester Ship Canal, stimulating the growth of Irlam as an inland port. Irlam Urban District was established in the same year and was governed thereafter by its own district council until its abolition in 1974.

George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians as a great example of diligent application and thirst for improvement. His chosen rail gauge, sometimes called "Stephenson gauge", was the basis for the 4-foot-8+1⁄2-inch (1.435 m) standard gauge used by most of the world's railways.

Pioneered by Stephenson, rail transport was one of the most important technological inventions of the 19th century and a key component of the Industrial Revolution. Built by George and his son Robert's company Robert Stephenson and Company, the Locomotion No. 1 was the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. George also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830. Following this, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, "Stephenson continued as the chief guide of the revolutionary transportation medium, solving problems of roadway construction, bridge design, and locomotive and rolling-stock manufacture. He built many other railways in the Midlands, and he acted as consultant on many railroad projects at home and abroad."

William Huskisson PC (11 March 1770 – 15 September 1830) was a British statesman, financier, and Member of Parliament for several constituencies, including Liverpool.

He is commonly known as the world's first widely reported railway passenger casualty, since he was run over and fatally injured by Robert Stephenson's pioneering locomotive Rocket at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830. However, a number of fatal railway accidents had already occurred before this.