1771-1833

English Engineer

Richard Trevithick was a mechanical engineer and inventor who created the first high-pressure steam engine and built the first steam railway locomotive. Despite the importance of his inventions, Trevithick failed to profit by them.

Trevithick was born in Cornwall, England. Not considered a good student, he attended the village school, and throughout his life remained barely literate. His father managed a coal mine, and thanks to an ability to solve engineering problems, Trevithick received his first job as an engineer at several Cornish ore mines at the age of 19.

Because of his association with coal mines, Trevithick was early exposed to the steam engines made by James Watt (1736-1819). Watt had invented a steam engine that employed steam at a low pressure. A cautious inventor, Watt believed that high-pressure steam was too dangerous to harness. Trevithick, however, took high-pressure steam and allowed it...