Arizona woman discovers ancestor connected to Leeds rail explosion

An American descendant of a 19th Century railway worker has discovered a connection with a fatal Leeds railway explosion.

Lisa Roger travelled more than 5,000 miles from Arizona to West Yorkshire to learn more about her family history.

At Leeds Industrial Museum, she saw the world's oldest model locomotive, which depicted Salamanca.

Its full-sized counterpart exploded more than two centuries ago in Middleton, killing an engineer.

Lisa's research found that her third great-grandfather George Hirst had worked as a rope haulage brake operator on the fateful day of the explosion.

She said: "I come from a long line of George Hirsts and I still remember as a child my dad telling me that the Hirst men had been in engineering for a long time.

"So when I started researching my family history, I thought I might find something with that link.

"But I certainly never expected to discover something so dramatic."

Records and newspaper reports from the time revealed that on 28 February, 1818, Salamanca had been transporting coal on the railway near Middleton.

Witnesses at the scene reported seeing steam coming from the joints of the engine's boiler, suggesting higher levels of pressure than usual.

A short time later, the boiler erupted in a huge explosion, which killed engineer George Hutchinson.

Lisa found that her ancestor had been operating the stationary engine brake at the top of a nearby incline that day and had corroborated the accounts of other witnesses.

Up to that point Salamanca, designed by famed engineer Matthew Murray, and its sister engines, had revolutionised the transport of coal.

Murray would have used the model version, which he made in 1811, to explain to investors how his engines would work.

When Lisa found out that the museum was home to the model, she set out on a transatlantic trip to see it for herself.

She said: "It's been incredible to find out more about my family's connections to Yorkshire and to visit some of the places linked to them.

"But to see this model up close, which is a recreation of a part of my family history, and which was made around the same time my [third] great grandfather was here in Leeds, it's just so epic."

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].