The first railway tragedy - an inattentive politician

William Huskisson was a British politician and former Cabinet minister who had the misfortune to become the first casualty of the newly invented railway. He was run over by George Stephenson's locomotive 'Rocket' at the opening ceremony of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1830.

Stephenson's Rocket was built for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, to show that improved locomotives could be more efficient than stationary steam engines. It was designed in 1829, and brought together several innovations, becoming the template for most steam engines of the following 150 years.

The opening of the Railway was a prestigious event, attracting luminaries including the then Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington. The day began with a procession of eight trains, departing from Liverpool for Manchester.

Parkside station had been designated as a junction station and water stop. It was the only scheduled stop for the train on which the Duke was travelling. When it arrived there, passengers ignored a request from railway engineers to remain on the train. Around 50 of the influential figures disembarked, and were standing on or near the tracks.

Huskisson was one of these. He had experienced political differences with the Prime Minister, and saw himself as well-placed to unite the Tory Party - because, unlike the Duke of Wellington, he was popular in the industrial north-west. Chief Whip William Holmes suggested to Huskisson that he take advantage of the occasion's good cheer, and arrange a reconciliation with the Duke.

Huskisson saw the Duke sitting in the front corner of his special carriage, approached him, extended a hand, and the Duke reached out to shake it. But the Rocket was approaching on the adjacent track, and Huskisson was in its path. He tried to clamber into the carriage, but lost his balance and fell in front of the train. It ran over Huskisson’s leg, causing severe bleeding. He was placed back on the Northumbrian train and driven by George Stephenson himself, to hospital in Eccles, where he died later that day.

Stephenson's Rocket is on display at the National Railway Museum in York.