George Bradshaw (1801-1853)
Born in Salford, George Bradshaw was a pioneering publisher of railway time-tables and maps. His Bradshaw’s Maps of Inland Navigation and Bradshaw’s Railway Time Tables were the world’s first railway time-tables and national railway map.
In 1839, he began collating time-tables for Britain’s railways, launching Bradshaw’s Monthly Railway Guide in 1842, and published the Continental Railway Guide annually from 1847 until 1939.
A Quaker, Bradshaw was involved in international peace conferences and supported Manchester’s poor with soup kitchens and schools. His work, referenced in classic literature, is remembered for its detail and reliability. He died in 1853 from cholera while travelling in Norway.