One of Canada ’s
greatest railway pioneers, Joseph Whitehead was born in Guisborough in 1814. He
began his engineering career very young, reportedly serving as a fireman on
Stephenson’s famous Locomotion in the
1820s, before progressing to railway construction – most notably having a hand
in the Caledonian Railway in Scotland .
He made the bold
move to Canada in the late 1840s, dragging his young family with him, where he
helped build sections of the Great Western and Grand Trunk Railways and many
more besides. Whitehead also dabbled in politics, becoming mayor for Clinton , Ontario , and
serving as a Liberal MP in the 1st Canadian Parliament during
1867-72.
He was an
entrepreneur, too, building a sawmill, among other things. Sensationally, in
1877, he brought the very first steam locomotive to the Canadian prairie provinces
when he bought the Countess of Dufferin
and transported it to its new home by boat up the Red River to Winnipeg . The train
is today a museum piece in the city.
Whitehead eventually retired to Clinton , Ontario , and died
there in 1894 – aged 80 and a very long way from his native parish. His
daughter, Charlotte, became a pioneer female doctor; and his
gt-gt-granddaughter, Val Meredith, served as a Canadian MP as recently as
1993-2004.
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