George Bradshaw was a renowned cartographer, publisher and printer. He was born at Windsor Bridge near Salford. After leaving school, he worked as an apprentice to an engraver in Manchester. Subsequently, he established himself as an engraver and printer of maps in the same city. George Bradshaw was also a member of the Society of Friends and devoted most of his time to philanthropic work. He is also said to have worked with Richard Cobden and many other radical reformers. On his tour to Norway, he contracted cholera and died on his way to England.
George Bradshaw was the publisher of Bradshaw’s ‘Maps of Inland Navigation’. The book contained the details of the canals of Yorkshire and Lancashire. It is noteworthy that George Bradshaw is considered to be the originator of the railway timetable. Soon after the introduction of railways, he published the compilation of the railway timetables. The book was entitled Bradshaw’s Railway Time Tables and Assistant to Railway Travelling. Later the name of the book was changed to Bradshaw’s Railway Companion. The new edition was published at occasional intervals to keep it up-to-date.
