William Cowan joined the Great North of Scotland in 1857 as Chief Engineer and soon had to order new locomotives due to growth in traffic. The three engines delivered by Robert Stephenson & Co. in 1861 were among the first in Britain to have a 4-4-0 wheel arrangement. Six more followed two years later. A short time later a similar type was built with the same cylinder diameter of 16 inches and a stroke of 24 instead of 22 inches.

A slightly larger axle spacing on the bogie made it possible to arrange the cylinders horizontally. In the beginning, the smoke fireboxes of the locomotives contained a smoke consuming device of the type designed by D.K. Clark, who blew fresh air directly over the fire. In addition to the removal of the smoke consumers, further conversions were carried out, which ensured a long service life. They remained in service until after 1923 and became class D47/2 of the LNER.