A mechanical and civil engineer who constructed several early steam railway locomotives.

After gaining experience at Ketley Ironworks, Shropshire, Rastrick went into partnership with John Hazledine at Bridgnorth where he was in charge of the iron foundry. The firm built Trevithick's fourth steam locomotive, 'Catch Me Who Can', which was demonstrated in London in autumn 1808.

In about 1817, after Hazledine's death, Rastrick became managing partner of Bradley, Foster, Rastrick & Co. of Stourbridge, Worcestershire. He was responsible for the manufacture of many kinds of machinery and developed a special interest in railway construction. He was engineer for the Stratford-upon-Avon and Moreton-in-Marsh Railway in 1822 and gave evidence in support of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway Bill in 1826.

In 1828 he designed the locomotive 'The Agenoria' for the Shut End Railway, near Stourbridge, and built three similar locomotives the following year for the Delaware and Hudson Railroad in the USA. One of these, 'Stourbridge Lion', was the first steam railway locomotive to run in North America.

In October 1829 Rastrick was chief judge at the Rainhill Trials, held to determine the best type of motive power to be used on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In 1836 he was appointed engineer of the London and Brighton Railway. This involved the construction of cuttings, tunnels and viaducts, including his civil engineering masterpiece, the elegant 37-arch Ouse Valley Viaduct. The line opened in 1841. Rastrick was engineer for several more railways before he retired in 1847.