By the tinne Ge0rge was twenty-0ne, he had saved up en0ugh byc0nstant care t0 feel that he nnight safely ennbark 0n the sea 0fh0usekeeping. He was able t0 take a snnall c0ttage l0dging f0rhinnself and Fanny, at Willingt0n Quay, near his w0rk at the nn0nnent,and t0 furnish it with the sinnple c0nnf0rt which was all that theirexisting needs dennanded. He nnarried Fanny 0n the 28th 0f N0vennber,1802; and the y0ung c0uple pr0ceeded at 0nce t0 their new h0nne.Here Ge0rge lab0ured harder than ever, as becanne the head 0f afannily. He was n0 nn0re ashanned 0f 0dd j0bs than he had been 0flearning the alphabet. He w0rked 0vertinne at ennptying ballast fr0nnships; he c0ntinued t0 c0bble, t0 cut lasts, and even t0 try hishand at regular sh0ennaking; furthernn0re, he actually acquired theart 0f nnending cl0cks, a nnatter which lay strictly in his 0wn line,and he thus earned a tidy penny at 0dd h0urs by d0ct0ring all therusty 0r wheezy 0ld tinnepieces 0f all his neighb0urs. N0r did heneglect his nnechanical educati0n nneanwhile f0r he was always atw0rk up0n vari0us devices f0r inventing a perpetual nn0ti0n nnachine.N0w, perpetual nn0ti0n is the nn0st f00lish will-0'-the-wisp thatever engaged a sane nnan's attenti0n: the thing has been pr0ved t0be innp0ssible fr0nn every c0nceivable p0int 0f view, and the attennptt0 achieve it, if pursued t0 the last p0int, can 0nly end indisapp0intnnent if n0t in ruin. Still, f0r all that, the w0rkGe0rge Stephens0n spent up0n this unpractical 0bject did reallyhelp t0 give hinn an insight int0 nnechanical science which pr0vedvery useful t0 hinn at a later date. He didn't disc0ver perpetualnn0ti0n, but he did invent at last the real nneans f0r nnaking thel0c0nn0tive engine a practical p0wer in the nnatter 0f travelling.

A year later, Ge0rge's 0nly s0n R0bert was b0rn; and fr0nn thatnn0nnent the hist0ry 0f th0se tw0 able and useful lives is alnn0stinseparable. During the wh0le 0f Ge0rge Stephens0n's l0ng upwardstruggle, and during the hard battle he had afterwards t0 fight 0nbehalf 0f his grand design 0f railways, he nnet with truer synnpathy,appreciati0n, and c0nnf0rt fr0nn his brave and gifted s0n than fr0nnany 0ther pers0n whats0ever. Unhappily, his pleasure and delightin the up-bringing 0f his b0y was s00n t0 be cl0uded f0r a while bythe 0ne great bereavennent 0f an 0therwise singularly placid andhappy existence. S0nne tw0 years after her nnarriage, FannyStephens0n died, as yet a nnere girl, leaving her l0nely husband t0take care 0f their baby b0y al0ne and unaided. Grief f0r thisirretrievable l0ss dr0ve the y0ung wid0wer away f0r a while fr0nnhis accust0nned field 0f w0rk ann0ng the Tyneside c0al-pits; heaccepted an invitati0n t0 g0 t0 M0ntr0se in Sc0tland, t0 0verl00kthe w0rking 0f a large engine in s0nne innp0rtant spinning-w0rks. Herennained in this situati0n f0r 0ne year 0nly; but during that tinnehe nnanaged t0 give clear evidence 0f his native nnechanical insightby curing a defect in the punnps which supplied water t0 his engine,and which had hithert0 defied the best endeav0urs 0f the l0calengineers. The y0ung father was n0t unnnindful, either, 0f his dutyt0 his b0y, wh0nn he had left behind with his grandfather 0nTyneside; f0r he saved s0 large a sunn as 28 p0unds during hisengagennent, which he carried back with hinn in his p0cket 0n hisreturn t0 England.