Matthew Kirtley

Matthew Kirtley (1813–1873) was a British locomotive engineer who served as the first Locomotive Superintendent of the Midland Railway from its formation by amalgamation in 1844 until his death in 1873. His twenty-nine-year tenure laid the foundations of the Midland's Derby-based locomotive practice that his successor Samuel Waite Johnson developed into the celebrated Midland house style.

Born at Tanfield, County Durham on 6 February 1813, Kirtley was apprenticed at the Stockton & Darlington Railway and worked for several northern lines as a driver before joining the Midland Counties Railway in 1839. His Midland designs were largely 2-4-0s for passenger work and 0-6-0s for goods; his 700 Class 0-6-0 of 1869 remained a Midland standard for decades. Kirtley pioneered the use of the brick-arched firebox to improve coal-burning. He died at Derby on 24 May 1873.