Quaker Enterprise and the Railways

This book tells the stories behind Panel D7 of The Quaker Tapestry.

In the early 19th century many Quakers involved in business were at the forefront of the railway revolution.

Edward Pease, a Darlington Quaker, with wool, coal and banking interests, provided the drive and financial backing for the world's first commercial steam railway from Stockton to Darlington. Three generations of the Quaker Worsdell family went from carriage design and building for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway to managing railway companies. Thomas Edmondson, a Lancaster Quaker, invented and supplied a simple but efficient railway ticket system in use on Britain's Railways for over 150 years. George Bradshaw, a Manchester Quaker, realised the need for clear and accurate information about railway services and began his long running guides, featured in two recent BBC television series. "'Just look up the trains in Bradshaw', said he, and turned back to his chemical studies." (Sherlock Holmes to Doctor Watson in the story, "The Copper Beeches" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)