Cowes, International Sailing Centre
For one week of the year the small coastal town of Cowes bustles with activity. The narrow streets are packed with visitors. Some are avid sailors while others come just to rub shoulders with the famous and to enjoy the atmosphere. The sea is awash with boats for is is Cowes Week.
George Robert Stephenson
It was this event and a general passion for the sea that brought George Robert Stephenson to live in Cowes. Like the rest of his famous family his roots were in the North East. His Uncle George designed the most iconic of steam engines, the Rocket, while his cousin Robert remains famous for his near-impossible achievement in erecting a lighthouse on the Bell Rock.
Not surprisingly George Robert studied engineering and early in his career worked with his famous uncle on the Manchester and Leeds railway and later with cousin Robert on the South Eastern Railway. He was in partnership with Robert for much of his career working both in Britain, Europe, New Zealand and Canada.
The Institute of Civil Engineers
George Robert endorsed the principles of the ICE that had been founded in 1818. Serving first as a member, then on the Council, later he became President. He was in good company for the role had previously been held by Thomas Telford and his cousin Robert. Isambard Brunel, a natural choice, died before he could be elected. Later, Joseph Bazelgette held the honour.
Death of Robert Stephenson
When Robert became ill, it fell to cousin George to take over the running of the business. With no living children, when he died Robert left the enterprise to George. His new kingdom included several collieries and locomotive engineering works. Now aged forty, he was rich and successful.
The Royal Yacht Squadron
It was a year later in 1860 that George was elected to the RYS and he took the opportunity to live in Cowes the easier to pursue his passion for sailing. The club had been initiated in 1815 and received a boost when the Prince Regent showed an interest two years later. Making their headquarters in the remaining Cow Tower from which Cowes took its name, regular regattas were established, culminating in Cowes Week, held during the first week of August.
Stephenson and Cowes
George was equally enamoured of the new steam yachts. He took up residence along Cowes seafront in Grantham House and commissioned a yacht from local boat builder Michael Ratsey naming it St Lawrence to commemorate the work he had carried out in Canada on the Victoria Bridge over the St Lawrence River.
George Robert was generous to his new neighbourhood. In 1864 he gave the swathe of land in front of his property to the people of Cowes. It was called The Green and was to be used only for pleasure. At the same time he commissioned a cast iron fountain to be erected along The Green. Forged in Scotland, this elegant structure with four columns, a central bowl and a fretted, domed canopy exhorted passing walkers to quench their thirsts. It underwent a makeover in 1987, being painted in striking Wedgwood blue and white. It stands between two later additions of shelters from which to watch the ever-changing sea.
This was not the end to George’s generosity. On the marriage of the future Edward VII to the Danish Princess Alexandra, he donated a Portland stone statue of the goddess Flora. She stood on the Green, a few yards from the fountain. Unfortunately, latterly she became a target for vandals and her arm was broken so she was removed and ended up in storage at Northwood House, once the home of the wealthy Ward family. Like the Green, Northwood House was donated to the people of Cowes.
Flora was forgotten until a visiting party of schoolchildren discovered her in a cupboard. The school then began fund raising to restore her to her former glory. Rather than return her to the Green however, she was placed in an alcove at Northwood House where she can be seen today.
George later returned to the mainland. Twice married, he had six children and ended his life in Cheltenham. One cannot be sure how he would have felt but in 1926, Edward Prince of Wales, the future and un-crowned Edward VIII also presented a fountain to Cowes. In return the Green was re-named Prince’s Green, the name by which it is known today.
In 1990 Stephenson’s elegant house was demolished and a block of apartments, known as Grantham Court now stands in its place.
Source:
Biography of George Stephenson
