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1 this
ðis
1. plural - these; adjective1) (used to indicate a person, thing etc nearby or close in time: This book is better than that (one); I prefer these trousers.) este, esta, estos, estas2) (used in stories to indicate a person, thing etc that one is describing or about to describe: Then this man arrived.) éste, ésta, éstos, éstas; dicho hombre/dicha mujer
2. pronoun(used for a thing etc or a person nearby or close in time: Read this - you'll like it; This is my friend John Smith.) esto; éste, ésta
3. adverb(so; to this degree: I didn't think it would be this easy.) tanthis1 adj este / estathis2 pron éste / éstatr[ðɪs]1 este, esta■ whose is this book? ¿de quién es este libro?■ do you like this shirt? ¿te gusta esta camisa?1 éste, ésta (indefinite) esto1 tan, tanto,-a\SMALLIDIOMATIC EXPRESSION/SMALLlike this asíthis and that nada en particularthis is (introducing) te presento athis ['ðɪs] adv: así, a tal puntothis big: así de grandethese things: estas cosasread this book: lee este librowhat's this?: ¿qué es esto?this wasn't here yesterday: esto no estaba aquí ayeradj.• esta adj.• este adj.adv.• tan adv.pron.• esto pron.• ésta pron.• éste pron.
I ðɪs1) éste, -ta; (neuter) estothese — éstos, -tas [According to the Real Academia Española, the accent can be omitted when there is no ambiguity]
what is this? — ¿qué es esto?
this is John's father — ( on photo) éste es el padre de John; ( introducing) te presento al padre de John
this is where you work? — ¿aquí es donde trabajas?
this is Jack Smith (speaking) — ( on telephone) habla Jack Smith, soy Jack Smith
what's all this I hear about you getting married? — ¿qué es eso de que te casas?
2) (in phrases)at this: at this, he flew into a rage al oír (or ver etc) esto, se puso furioso; with this: with this, she left habiendo dicho (or hecho etc) esto, se fue; this is it: this is it, the big moment has arrived! bueno, llegó la hora; this and that: what have you been up to lately? - oh, this and that — ¿qué has hecho últimamente? - nada en particular
II
1) este, -ta; (pl) estos, -taslook at this tree/house — mira este árbol/esta casa
whose are these books/coins? — ¿de quién son estos libros/estas monedas?
I like these yellow ones — me gustan éstos amarillos/éstas amarillas
2) ( in narration) (colloq)suddenly these three guys came up to me and... — de repente se me acercan tres tipos y... (fam)
III
[ðɪs]now we've come this far... — ya que hemos venido hasta aquí...
1.DEM ADJ(pl these) este(-a)this man/book — este hombre/libro
these•
this one here — este/esta que está aquí, este/esta de aquí2.DEM PRON(pl these) este(-a), éste(-a); (neuter) esto The pronoun this ( one) is translated by este (masc), esta (fem) and esto (neuter). Note that in the past the standard spelling for the masculine and feminine pronouns was with an accent (éste/ésta). Nowadays the Real Academia Española advises that the accented forms are only required where there might otherwise be confusion with the adjectives este/esta. The neuter pronoun never carries an accent.who is this? — ¿quién es?
what is this? — ¿qué es esto?
this is Mr Brown — (in introductions) le presento al señor Brown; (in photo) este es el señor Brown; (on phone) soy or habla el señor Brown
where did you find this? — ¿dónde encontraste esto?
"but he's nearly bald" - "this is it" — -pero está casi calvo -ahí está la dificultad
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what's all this? — ¿qué pasa?what's all this I hear about you leaving? — ¿qué es eso de que te vas?
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do it like this — hágalo asíit was like this... — te diré lo que pasó...
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what with this, that and the other I was busy all week — entre una cosa y otra estuve ocupado toda la semanathesethey sat talking of this and that — sentados, hablaban de esto y lo otro
3.DEM ADV•
I've never seen this much money — nunca había visto tanto dinero juntoI can tell you this much... — lo que sí te puedo decir es...
* * *
I [ðɪs]1) éste, -ta; (neuter) estothese — éstos, -tas [According to the Real Academia Española, the accent can be omitted when there is no ambiguity]
what is this? — ¿qué es esto?
this is John's father — ( on photo) éste es el padre de John; ( introducing) te presento al padre de John
this is where you work? — ¿aquí es donde trabajas?
this is Jack Smith (speaking) — ( on telephone) habla Jack Smith, soy Jack Smith
what's all this I hear about you getting married? — ¿qué es eso de que te casas?
2) (in phrases)at this: at this, he flew into a rage al oír (or ver etc) esto, se puso furioso; with this: with this, she left habiendo dicho (or hecho etc) esto, se fue; this is it: this is it, the big moment has arrived! bueno, llegó la hora; this and that: what have you been up to lately? - oh, this and that — ¿qué has hecho últimamente? - nada en particular
II
1) este, -ta; (pl) estos, -taslook at this tree/house — mira este árbol/esta casa
whose are these books/coins? — ¿de quién son estos libros/estas monedas?
I like these yellow ones — me gustan éstos amarillos/éstas amarillas
2) ( in narration) (colloq)suddenly these three guys came up to me and... — de repente se me acercan tres tipos y... (fam)
III
now we've come this far... — ya que hemos venido hasta aquí...
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2 father
father ['fɑ:ðə(r)]1 noun∎ he's a good father c'est un bon père;∎ he's a father of three il est père de trois enfants;∎ father, this is John papa, je te présente John;∎ he's like a father to me il est comme un père pour moi;∎ from father to son de père en fils;∎ on my father's side du côté de mon père;∎ yes, father oui, père, oui, papa;∎ she's her father's daughter c'est bien la fille de son père;∎ proverb like father, like son tel père, tel fils(b) (usu pl) (ancestor) ancêtre m, père m∎ the father of cubism/modernism le père du cubisme/du modernisme∎ father of chapel (shop steward) représentant m du personnel (dans l'édition)∎ to father sth on sb attribuer qch à qn;∎ they fathered the blame on her ils lui ont fait porter le blâme∎ Father Brown le (révérend) père Brown;∎ yes, Father oui, mon père∎ God the Father Dieu le Père;∎ the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost le Père, le Fils et le Saint Esprit;∎ Our Father who art in Heaven Notre Père qui êtes aux cieux;∎ to say the Our Father dire le Notre Père∎ the Father of the House = titre traditionnel donné au doyen (par l'ancienneté) des parlementaires britanniques►► British Father Christmas le Père Noël;father confessor directeur m de conscience, père m spirituel;Father's Day fête f des pères;father figure = personne qui joue le rôle du père;∎ he was a father figure for all the employees le personnel le considérait un peu comme un père;(Old) Father Time le Temps -
3 Laird, John
SUBJECT AREA: Ports and shipping[br]b. 1805 (?) Greenock, Scotlandd. 26 October 1874 Birkenhead, England[br]Scottish pioneer of large-scale iron shipbuilding.[br]When only 5 years old, Laird travelled with his family to Merseyside, where his father William Laird was setting up a ship-repair yard. Fourteen years later his father established the Birkenhead Ironworks for ship and engine repairs, which in later years was to achieve great things with John Laird at the helm. John Laird trained as a solicitor, but instead of going into practice he joined the family business. Between 1829 and 1832 they built three iron barges for inland use in Ireland; this form of construction had become less of a novelty and followed the example set by Thomas Wilson in 1819, but Laird was fired with enthusiasm for this mode of construction. New iron ships followed in rapid succession, with two of especial note: the paddle steamer Lady Lansdown of 1833, which was dismantled and later re-erected on the river Shannon, becoming one of Britain's first "knock-down" contracts; and the early steamer Robert F.Stockton, which had a double Ericsson screw propeller and the first iron transverse watertight bulkheads. With the good name of the shipyard secure, they received orders from MacGregor Laird (John Laird's younger brother) for iron ships for the West African trade. This African connection was to grow and the yard's products were to include the Ma Roberts for Dr David Livingstone. Being of steel and with constant groundings on African rivers, this craft only lasted 18 months in steady operation. In 1858 a new yard dedicated to iron construction was opened at Monk's Ferry. In 1861 John Laird was returned as the first Member of Parliament for Birkenhead and his sons took over the day-to-day affairs of the business. Laird was to suffer acute embarrassment by questions at Westminster over the building in the Birkenhead Works of the United States Confederate raider Alabama in 1862. In 1874 he suffered serious injuries in a riding accident; his health declined and he died later that year.[br]Bibliography1858, with Fairbairn, Forrester, Lang and Sea-ward, Steam Navigation, Vessels of Iron and Wood, the Steam Engine, etc. 2 vols, London: Weale.FMW -
4 Smeaton, John
SUBJECT AREA: Civil engineering, Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Steam and internal combustion engines[br]b. 8 June 1724 Austhorpe, near Leeds, Yorkshire, Englandd. 28 October 1792 Austhorpe, near Leeds, Yorkshire, England[br]English mechanical and civil engineer.[br]As a boy, Smeaton showed mechanical ability, making for himself a number of tools and models. This practical skill was backed by a sound education, probably at Leeds Grammar School. At the age of 16 he entered his father's office; he seemed set to follow his father's profession in the law. In 1742 he went to London to continue his legal studies, but he preferred instead, with his father's reluctant permission, to set up as a scientific instrument maker and dealer and opened a shop of his own in 1748. About this time he began attending meetings of the Royal Society and presented several papers on instruments and mechanical subjects, being elected a Fellow in 1753. His interests were turning towards engineering but were informed by scientific principles grounded in careful and accurate observation.In 1755 the second Eddystone lighthouse, on a reef some 14 miles (23 km) off the English coast at Plymouth, was destroyed by fire. The President of the Royal Society was consulted as to a suitable engineer to undertake the task of constructing a new one, and he unhesitatingly suggested Smeaton. Work began in 1756 and was completed in three years to produce the first great wave-swept stone lighthouse. It was constructed of Portland stone blocks, shaped and pegged both together and to the base rock, and bonded by hydraulic cement, scientifically developed by Smeaton. It withstood the storms of the English Channel for over a century, but by 1876 erosion of the rock had weakened the structure and a replacement had to be built. The upper portion of Smeaton's lighthouse was re-erected on a suitable base on Plymouth Hoe, leaving the original base portion on the reef as a memorial to the engineer.The Eddystone lighthouse made Smeaton's reputation and from then on he was constantly in demand as a consultant in all kinds of engineering projects. He carried out a number himself, notably the 38 mile (61 km) long Forth and Clyde canal with thirty-nine locks, begun in 1768 but for financial reasons not completed until 1790. In 1774 he took charge of the Ramsgate Harbour works.On the mechanical side, Smeaton undertook a systematic study of water-and windmills, to determine the design and construction to achieve the greatest power output. This work issued forth as the paper "An experimental enquiry concerning the natural powers of water and wind to turn mills" and exerted a considerable influence on mill design during the early part of the Industrial Revolution. Between 1753 and 1790 Smeaton constructed no fewer than forty-four mills.Meanwhile, in 1756 he had returned to Austhorpe, which continued to be his home base for the rest of his life. In 1767, as a result of the disappointing performance of an engine he had been involved with at New River Head, Islington, London, Smeaton began his important study of the steam-engine. Smeaton was the first to apply scientific principles to the steam-engine and achieved the most notable improvements in its efficiency since its invention by Newcomen, until its radical overhaul by James Watt. To compare the performance of engines quantitatively, he introduced the concept of "duty", i.e. the weight of water that could be raised 1 ft (30 cm) while burning one bushel (84 lb or 38 kg) of coal. The first engine to embody his improvements was erected at Long Benton colliery in Northumberland in 1772, with a duty of 9.45 million pounds, compared to the best figure obtained previously of 7.44 million pounds. One source of heat loss he attributed to inaccurate boring of the cylinder, which he was able to improve through his close association with Carron Ironworks near Falkirk, Scotland.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFRS 1753.Bibliography1759, "An experimental enquiry concerning the natural powers of water and wind to turn mills", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.Towards the end of his life, Smeaton intended to write accounts of his many works but only completed A Narrative of the Eddystone Lighthouse, 1791, London.Further ReadingS.Smiles, 1874, Lives of the Engineers: Smeaton and Rennie, London. A.W.Skempton, (ed.), 1981, John Smeaton FRS, London: Thomas Telford. L.T.C.Rolt and J.S.Allen, 1977, The Steam Engine of Thomas Newcomen, 2nd edn, Hartington: Moorland Publishing, esp. pp. 108–18 (gives a good description of his work on the steam-engine).LRD -
5 Arnold, John
SUBJECT AREA: Horology[br]b. 1735/6 Bodmin (?), Cornwall, Englandd. 25 August 1799 Eltham, London, England[br]English clock, watch, and chronometer maker who invented the isochronous helical balance spring and an improved form of detached detent escapement.[br]John Arnold was apprenticed to his father, a watchmaker, and then worked as an itinerant journeyman in the Low Countries and, later, in England. He settled in London in 1762 and rapidly established his reputation at Court by presenting George III with a miniature repeating watch mounted in a ring. He later abandoned the security of the Court for a more precarious living developing his chronometers, with some financial assistance from the Board of Longitude. Symbolically, in 1771 he moved from the vicinity of the Court at St James's to John Adam Street, which was close to the premises of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures \& Commerce.By the time Arnold became interested in chronometry, Harrison had already demonstrated that longitude could be determined by means of a timekeeper, and the need was for a simpler instrument that could be sold at an affordable price for universal use at sea. Le Roy had shown that it was possible to dispense with a remontoire by using a detached escapement with an isochronous balance; Arnold was obviously thinking along the same lines, although he may not have been aware of Le Roy's work. By 1772 Arnold had developed his detached escapement, a pivoted detent which was quite different from that used on the European continent, and three years later he took out a patent for a compensation balance and a helical balance spring (Arnold used the spring in torsion and not in tension as Harrison had done). His compensation balance was similar in principle to that described by Le Roy and used riveted bimetallic strips to alter the radius of gyration of the balance by moving small weights radially. Although the helical balance spring was not completely isochronous it was a great improvement on the spiral spring, and in a later patent (1782) he showed how it could be made more truly isochronous by shaping the ends. In this form it was used universally in marine chronometers.Although Arnold's chronometers performed well, their long-term stability was less satisfactory because of the deterioration of the oil on the pivot of the detent. In his patent of 1782 he eliminated this defect by replacing the pivot with a spring, producing the spring detent escapement. This was also done independendy at about the same time by Berthoud and Earnshaw, although Earnshaw claimed vehemently that Arnold had plagiarized his work. Ironically it was Earnshaw's design that was finally adopted, although he had merely replaced Arnold's pivoted detent with a spring, while Arnold had completely redesigned the escapement. Earnshaw also improved the compensation balance by fusing the steel to the brass to form the bimetallic element, and it was in this form that it began to be used universally for chronometers and high-grade watches.As a result of the efforts of Arnold and Earnshaw, the marine chronometer emerged in what was essentially its final form by the end of the eighteenth century. The standardization of the design in England enabled it to be produced economically; whereas Larcum Kendall was paid £500 to copy Harrison's fourth timekeeper, Arnold was able to sell his chronometers for less than one-fifth of that amount. This combination of price and quality led to Britain's domination of the chronometer market during the nineteenth century.[br]Bibliography30 December 1775, "Timekeepers", British patent no. 1,113.2 May 1782, "A new escapement, and also a balance to compensate the effects arising from heat and cold in pocket chronometers, and for incurving the ends of the helical spring…", British patent no. 1,382.Further ReadingR.T.Gould, 1923, The Marine Chronometer: Its History and Development, London; reprinted 1960, Holland Press (provides an overview).V.Mercer, 1972, John Arnold \& Son Chronometer Makers 1726–1843, London.See also: Phillips, EdouardDV -
6 Buddle, John
SUBJECT AREA: Mining and extraction technology[br]b. 15 November 1773 Kyloe, Northumberland, Englandd. 10 October 1843 Wallsend, Northumberland, England[br]English colliery inspector, manager and agent.[br]Buddle was educated by his father, a former schoolteacher who was from 1781 the first inspector and manager of the new Wallsend colliery. When his father died in 1806, John Buddle assumed full responsibility at the Wallsend colliery, and he remained as inspector and manager there until 1819, when he was appointed as colliery agent to the third Marquis of Londonderry. In this position, besides managing colliery business, he acted as an entrepreneur, gaining political influence and organizing colliery owners into fixing prices; Buddle and Londonderry were also responsible for the building of Seaham harbour. Buddle became known as the "King of the Coal Trade", gaining influence throughout the important Northumberland and Durham coalfield.Buddle's principal contribution to mining technology was with regard to the improvement of both safety standards and productivity. In 1807 he introduced a steam-driven air pump which extracted air from the top of the upcast shaft. Two years later, he drew up plans which divided the coalface into compartments; this enabled nearly the whole seam to be exploited. The system of compound ventilation greatly reduced the danger of explosions: the incoming air was divided into two currents, and since each current passed through only half the underground area, the air was less heavily contaminated with gas.In 1813 Buddle presented an important paper on his method for mine ventilation to the Sunderland Society for Preventing Accidents in Coal-mines, which had been established in that year following a major colliery explosion. He emphasized the need for satisfactory underground lighting, which influenced the development of safety-lamps, and assisted actively in the experiments with Humphrey Davy's lamp which he was one of the first mine managers to introduce. Another mine accident, a sudden flood, prompted him to maintain a systematic record of mine-workings which ultimately resulted in the establishment of the Mining Record Office.[br]Bibliography1838, Transactions of the Natural History Society of Northumberland 11, pp. 309–36 (Buddle's paper on keeping records of underground workings).Further ReadingR.L.Galloway, 1882, A History of Coalmining in Great Britain, London (deals extensively with Buddle's underground devices).R.W.Sturgess, 1975, Aristocrat in Business: The Third Marquis of Londonderry asCoalowner and Portbuilder, Durham: Durham County Local History Society (concentrates on Buddle's work after 1819).C.E.Hiskey, 1978, John Buddle 1773–1843, Agent and Entrepreneur in the NortheastCoal Trade, unpublished MLitt thesis, Durham University (a very detailed study).WK -
7 Stevens, John
[br]b. 1749 New York, New York, USAd. 6 March 1838 Hoboken, New Jersey, USA[br]American pioneer of steamboats and railways.[br]Stevens, a wealthy landowner with an estate at Hoboken on the Hudson River, had his attention drawn to the steamboat of John Fitch in 1786, and thenceforth devoted much of his time and fortune to developing steamboats and mechanical transport. He also had political influence and it was at his instance that Congress in 1790 passed an Act establishing the first patent laws in the USA. The following year Stevens was one of the first recipients of a US patent. This referred to multi-tubular boilers, of both watertube and firetube types, and antedated by many years the work of both Henry Booth and Marc Seguin on the latter.A steamboat built in 1798 by John Stevens, Nicholas J.Roosevelt and Stevens's brother-in-law, Robert R.Livingston, in association was unsuccessful, nor was Stevens satisfied with a boat built in 1802 in which a simple rotary steam-en-gine was mounted on the same shaft as a screw propeller. However, although others had experimented earlier with screw propellers, when John Stevens had the Little Juliana built in 1804 he produced the first practical screw steamboat. Steam at 50 psi (3.5 kg/cm2) pressure was supplied by a watertube boiler to a single-cylinder engine which drove two contra-rotating shafts, upon each of which was mounted a screw propeller. This little boat, less than 25 ft (7.6 m) long, was taken backwards and forwards across the Hudson River by two of Stevens's sons, one of whom, R.L. Stevens, was to help his father with many subsequent experiments. The boat, however, was ahead of its time, and steamships were to be driven by paddle wheels until the late 1830s.In 1807 John Stevens declined an invitation to join with Robert Fulton and Robert R.Living-ston in their development work, which culminated in successful operation of the PS Clermont that summer; in 1808, however, he launched his own paddle steamer, the Phoenix. But Fulton and Livingston had obtained an effective monopoly of steamer operation on the Hudson and, unable to reach agreement with them, Stevens sent Phoenix to Philadelphia to operate on the Delaware River. The intervening voyage over 150 miles (240 km) of open sea made Phoenix the first ocean-going steamer.From about 1810 John Stevens turned his attention to the possibilities of railways. He was at first considered a visionary, but in 1815, at his instance, the New Jersey Assembly created a company to build a railway between the Delaware and Raritan Rivers. It was the first railway charter granted in the USA, although the line it authorized remained unbuilt. To demonstrate the feasibility of the steam locomotive, Stevens built an experimental locomotive in 1825, at the age of 76. With flangeless wheels, guide rollers and rack-and-pinion drive, it ran on a circular track at his Hoboken home; it was the first steam locomotive to be built in America.[br]Bibliography1812, Documents Tending to Prove the Superior Advantages of Rail-ways and Steam-carriages over Canal Navigation.He took out patents relating to steam-engines in the USA in 1791, 1803, and 1810, and in England, through his son John Cox Stevens, in 1805.Further ReadingH.P.Spratt, 1958, The Birth of the Steamboat, Charles Griffin (provides technical details of Stevens's boats).J.T.Flexner, 1978, Steamboats Come True, Boston: Little, Brown (describes his work in relation to that of other steamboat pioneers).J.R.Stover, 1961, American Railroads, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Transactions of the Newcomen Society (1927) 7: 114 (discusses tubular boilers).J.R.Day and B.G.Wilson, 1957, Unusual Railways, F.Muller (discusses Stevens's locomotive).PJGR -
8 Voelcker, John Augustus
SUBJECT AREA: Agricultural and food technology[br]b. 24 June 1854 Cirencester, Englandd. 1937 England[br]English agricultural chemist.[br]John Augustus Voelcker, as the son of Dr John Christopher Voelcker, grew up in an atmosphere of scientific agriculture and would have had contact with the leading agriculturists of the day. He was educated at University College School and then University College, London, where he obtained both a BA and a BSc Following in his father's footsteps, he studied for his PhD at Giessen University in Germany. At college he enjoyed athletics, an interest he was to pursue for the rest of his life. He decided to take up agricultural chemistry and was to succeed to all the public offices once held by his father, from whom he also took over the directorship of Woburn Farm. The experimental farm had been started in 1876 and was used to study the residual effects of chemicals in the soil. The results of these studies were used as the basis for compensation awards to tenant farmers giving up their farms. Voelcker broadened the range of studies to include trace elements in the soil, but by 1921 the Royal Agricultural Society of England had decided to give up the farm. This was a blow to Voelcker and occurred just before experiments elsewhere highlighted the importance of these elements to healthy plant growth. He continued the research at his own expense until the Rothampsted Experimental Station took over the farm in 1926. Aside from his achievements in Britain, Voelcker undertook a study tour of India in 1890, the report on which led to the appointment of an Agricultural Chemist, and the establishment of a scientific service for the Indian subcontinent.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsPresident, Royal Society of Public Analysts. Member of Council, Chemical Society, and Institute of Chemistry. Chairman, Farmers' Club.BibliographyMost of his publications were in the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, for which he wrote an annual report, and in another series of reports relating to Woburn Farm. The Improvements of Indian Agriculture was the result of his tour in 1890.Further ReadingJ.H.Gilbert, 1937, obituary Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, pp. 464–8.Sir E.John Russell, A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain.APBiographical history of technology > Voelcker, John Augustus
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9 Wilkinson, John
SUBJECT AREA: Weapons and armour[br]b. 1728 Clifton, Cumberland, Englandd. 14 July 1808 Bradley, Staffordshire, England[br]English ironmaster, inventor of a cannon-boring machine.[br]Wilkinson's father Isaac was a farmer turned ironmaster. Soon after 1750, the family acquired Bersham furnace, near Wrexham. This was later in the hands of John and his brother William. By 1763, John had risen to take sole charge of Broseley furnace near Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, and in 1770 he set up a third furnace at Bradley, Staffordshire. By this time he had become one of the country's leading ironmasters, known for the wide range of ware made of cast iron, doubtless the reason for his nickname "Ironmad Wilkinson". He made a cast-iron boat which, to the surprise of many, floated. For his own eventual use, he also made a cast-iron coffin, but did not make sufficient allowance for increasing girth with age! Wilkinson's most notable invention was his cannon-boring machine, patented in 1774. The gun barrel was held rigidly while the cutter head moved forward on a rod inside a hollow boring bar. The machine was easily adapted to bore the cylinders for Boulton \& Watt's steam engines and he became a regular supplier, as only he could bore them with the required accuracy. On the other hand, their second engine was supplied to Wilkinson to power a blowing engine to provide air blast for his Broseley furnace: this was the first use of a Boulton \& Watt engine for a purpose other than pumping. By 1780 he had three further steam engines at work. Wilkinson installed the first Boulton \& Watt engine in France at the Paris waterworks, for which he supplied the iron pipes. Another patent was obtained in 1794 for the invention of the cupola or furnace for melting metal for small castings, although it is now thought that the real inventor was his brother William. Apart from domestic and engineering ironware, Wilkinson was supplier of arms to the American and, illicitly, to the French.[br]Further ReadingH.W.Dickinson, 1914, John Wilkinson, Iron-master.LRD -
10 Ericsson, John
[br]b. 31 July 1803 Farnebo, Swedend. 8 March 1899 New York, USA[br]Swedish (naturalized American 1848) engineer and inventor.[br]The son of a mine owner and inspector, Ericsson's first education was private and haphazard. War with Russia disrupted the mines and the father secured a position on the Gotha Canal, then under construction. He enrolled John, then aged 13, and another son as cadets in a corps of military engineers engaged on the canal. There John was given a sound education and training in the physical sciences and engineering. At the age of 17 he decided to enlist in the Army, and on receiving a commission he was drafted to cartographic survey duties. After some years he decided that a career outside the Army offered him the best opportunities, and in 1826 he moved to London to pursue a career of mechanical invention.Ericsson first developed a heat (external combustion) engine, which proved unsuccessful. Three years later he designed and constructed the steam locomotive Novelty, which he entered in the Rainhill locomotive trials on the new Liverpool \& Manchester Railway. The engine began by performing promisingly, but it later broke down and failed to complete the test runs. Later he devised a self-regulating lead (1835) and then, more important and successful, he invented the screw propeller, patented in 1835 and installed in his first screw-propelled ship of 1839. This work was carried out independently of Sir Francis Pettit Smith, who contemporaneously developed a four-bladed propeller that was adopted by the British Admiralty. Ericsson saw that with screw propulsion the engine could be below the waterline, a distinct advantage in warships. He crossed the Atlantic to interest the American government in his ideas and became a naturalized citizen in 1848. He pioneered the gun turret for mounting heavy guns on board ship. Ericsson came into his own during the American Civil War, with the construction of the epoch-making warship Monitor, a screw-propelled ironclad with gun turret. This vessel demonstrated its powers in a signal victory at Hampton Roads on 9 March 1862.Ericsson continued to design warships and torpedoes, pointing out to President Lincoln that success in war would now depend on technological rather than numerical superiority. Meanwhile he continued to pursue his interest in heat engines, and from 1870 to 1888 he spent much of his time and resources in pursuing research into alternative energy sources, such as solar power, gravitation and tidal forces.[br]Further ReadingW.C.Church, 1891, Life of John Ericsson, 2 vols, London.LRD -
11 Mercer, John
SUBJECT AREA: Textiles[br]b. 21 February 1791 Great Harwood, Lancashire, Englandd. 30 November 1866 Oakenshaw, Lancashire, England[br]English pioneer in textile chemistry.[br]Mercer began work at the age of 9 as a bobbinwinder and then a hand-loom weaver. He had no formal education in chemistry but taught himself and revealed remarkable ability in both theoretical and applied aspects of the subject. He became the acknowledged "father of textile chemistry" and the Royal Society elected him Fellow in 1850. His name is remembered in connection with the lustrous "mercerized" cotton which, although not developed commercially until 1890, arose from his discovery, c. 1844, of the effect of caustic soda on cotton linters. He also discovered that cotton could be dissolved in a solution of copper oxide in ammonia, a phenomenon later exploited in the manufacture of artificial silk. As a youth, Mercer experimented at home with dyeing processes and soon acquired sufficient skill to set up as an independent dyer. Most of his working life was, however, spent with the calico-printing firm of Oakenshaw Print Works in which he eventually became a partner, and it was there that most of his experimental work was done. The association was a very appropriate one, for it was a member of this firm's staff who first recognized Mercer's potential talent and took the trouble in his spare time to teach him reading, writing and arithmetic. Mercer developed manganese-bronze colours and researched into catalysis and the ferrocyanides. Among his innovations was the chlorination of wool in order to make it print as easily as cotton. It was many years later that it was realized that this treatment also conferred valuable shrink-resisting qualities. Becoming interested in photochemistry, he devised processes for photographic printing on fabric. Queen Victoria was presented with a handkerchief printed in this way when she visited the Great Exhibition of 1851, of which Mercer was a juror. A photograph of Mercer himself on cloth is preserved in the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. He presented papers to the British Association and was a member of the Chemical Society.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFRS 1850.Further ReadingObituary, Manchester Memoirs, Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.Dictionary of National Biography.E.A.Parnell, 1886. The Life and Labours of John Mercer, F.R.S., London (biography). 1867, biography, Journal of the Chemical Society.A.E.Musson and E.Robinson, 1969, Science and Technology in the Industrial Revolution, Manchester (includes a brief reference to Mercer's work).RLH -
12 Elder, John
[br]b. 9 March 1824 Glasgow, Scotlandd. 17 September 1869 London, England[br]Scottish engineer who introduced the compound steam engine to ships and established an important shipbuilding company in Glasgow.[br]John was the third son of David Elder. The father came from a family of millwrights and moved to Glasgow where he worked for the well-known shipbuilding firm of Napier's and was involved with improving marine engines. John was educated at Glasgow High School and then for a while at the Department of Civil Engineering at Glasgow University, where he showed great aptitude for mathematics and drawing. He spent five years as an apprentice under Robert Napier followed by two short periods of activity as a pattern-maker first and then a draughtsman in England. He returned to Scotland in 1849 to become Chief Draughtsman to Napier, but in 1852 he left to become a partner with the Glasgow general engineering company of Randolph Elliott \& Co. Shortly after his induction (at the age of 28), the engineering firm was renamed Randolph Elder \& Co.; in 1868, when the partnership expired, it became known as John Elder \& Co. From the outset Elder, with his partner, Charles Randolph, approached mechanical (especially heat) engineering in a rigorous manner. Their knowledge and understanding of entropy ensured that engine design was not a hit-and-miss affair, but one governed by recognition of the importance of the new kinetic theory of heat and with it a proper understanding of thermodynamic principles, and by systematic development. In this Elder was joined by W.J.M. Rankine, Professor of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at Glasgow University, who helped him develop the compound marine engine. Elder and Randolph built up a series of patents, which guaranteed their company's commercial success and enabled them for a while to be the sole suppliers of compound steam reciprocating machinery. Their first such engine at sea was fitted in 1854 on the SS Brandon for the Limerick Steamship Company; the ship showed an improved performance by using a third less coal, which he was able to reduce still further on later designs.Elder developed steam jacketing and recognized that, with higher pressures, triple-expansion types would be even more economical. In 1862 he patented a design of quadruple-expansion engine with reheat between cylinders and advocated the importance of balancing reciprocating parts. The effect of his improvements was to greatly reduce fuel consumption so that long sea voyages became an economic reality.His yard soon reached dimensions then unequalled on the Clyde where he employed over 4,000 workers; Elder also was always interested in the social welfare of his labour force. In 1860 the engine shops were moved to the Govan Old Shipyard, and again in 1864 to the Fairfield Shipyard, about 1 mile (1.6 km) west on the south bank of the Clyde. At Fairfield, shipbuilding was commenced, and with the patents for compounding secure, much business was placed for many years by shipowners serving long-distance trades such as South America; the Pacific Steam Navigation Company took up his ideas for their ships. In later years the yard became known as the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd, but it remains today as one of Britain's most efficient shipyards and is known now as Kvaerner Govan Ltd.In 1869, at the age of only 45, John Elder was unanimously elected President of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland; however, before taking office and giving his eagerly awaited presidential address, he died in London from liver disease. A large multitude attended his funeral and all the engineering shops were silent as his body, which had been brought back from London to Glasgow, was carried to its resting place. In 1857 Elder had married Isabella Ure, and on his death he left her a considerable fortune, which she used generously for Govan, for Glasgow and especially the University. In 1883 she endowed the world's first Chair of Naval Architecture at the University of Glasgow, an act which was reciprocated in 1901 when the University awarded her an LLD on the occasion of its 450th anniversary.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsPresident, Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland 1869.Further ReadingObituary, 1869, Engineer 28.1889, The Dictionary of National Biography, London: Smith Elder \& Co. W.J.Macquorn Rankine, 1871, "Sketch of the life of John Elder" Transactions of theInstitution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland.Maclehose, 1886, Memoirs and Portraits of a Hundred Glasgow Men.The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Works, 1909, London: Offices of Engineering.P.M.Walker, 1984, Song of the Clyde, A History of Clyde Shipbuilding, Cambridge: PSL.R.L.Hills, 1989, Power from Steam. A History of the Stationary Steam Engine, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (covers Elder's contribution to the development of steam engines).RLH / FMW -
13 Kennedy, John
SUBJECT AREA: Textiles[br]b. 4 July 1769 Knocknalling, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotlandd. 30 October 1855 Ardwick Hall, Manchester, England[br]Scottish cotton spinner and textile machine maker.[br]Kennedy was the third son of his father, Robert, and went to the village school in Dalry. On his father's death, he was sent at the age of 14 to Chowbent, Lancashire, where he was apprenticed to William Cannan, a maker of textile machines such as carding frames, Hargreaves's jennies and Arkwright's waterframes. On completion of his apprenticeship in 1791, he moved to Manchester and entered into partnership with Benjamin and William Sandford and James M'Connel, textile machine makers and mule spinners. In 1795 this partnership was terminated and one was made with James M'Connel to form the firm M'Connel \& Kennedy, cotton spinners.Kennedy introduced improvements for spinning fine yarns and the firm of M'Connel \& Kennedy became famous for the quality of these products, which were in great demand. He made the spindles turn faster during the second part of the mule carriage's outward draw, and from 1793 onwards he experimented with driving mules by steam engines. Like William Kelly at New Lanark, he succeeded in making the spinning sequences power-operated by 1800, although the spinner had to take over the winding on. This made the mule into a factory machine, but it still required skilled operators. He was also involved with Henry Houldsworth, Junior, in the improvement of the roving frame. In 1803 Kennedy joined the Manchester Literary \& Philosophical Society, to which he presented several papers, including one in 1830 on "A memoir of Samuel Crompton". He retired from the spinning business in 1826, but continued his technical and mechanical pursuits. He was consulted about whether the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway should have moving or stationary steam engines and was an umpire at the Rainhill Trials in 1829.[br]Further ReadingDictionary of National Biography.W.Fairbairn, obituary, Manchester Memoirs, Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society.C.H.Lee, 1972, A Cotton Enterprise 1795–1840. A History of M'Connel \& Kennedy, FineCotton Spinners, Manchester (an account of Kennedy's spinning business). R.L.Hills, 1970, Power in the Industrial Revolution, Manchester (provides details of Kennedy's inventions on the mule).RLH -
14 McAdam, John Loudon
[br]b. 21 September 1756 Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotlandd. 26 November 1836 Moffat, Dumfriesshire, Scotland[br]Scottish road builder, inventor of the macadam road surface.[br]McAdam was the son of one of the founder of the first bank in Ayr. As an infant, he nearly died in a fire which destroyed the family's house of Laywyne, in Carsphairn parish; the family then moved to Blairquhan, near Straiton. Thence he went to the parish school in Maybole, where he is said to have made a model section of a local road. In 1770, when his father died, he was sent to America where he was brought up by an uncle who was a merchant in New York. He stayed in America until the close of the revolution, becoming an agent for the sale of prizes and managing to amass a considerable fortune. He returned to Scotland where he settled at Sauchrie in Ayrshire. There he was a magistrate, Deputy-Lieutenant of the county and a road trustee, spending thirteen years there. In 1798 he moved to Falmouth in Devon, England, on his appointment as agent for revictualling of the Royal Navy in western ports.He continued the series of experiments started in Ayrshire on the construction of roads. From these he concluded that a road should be built on a raised foundation with drains formed on either side, and should be composed of a number of layers of hard stone broken into angular fragments of roughly cubical shape; the bottom layer would be larger rocks, with layers of progressively smaller rocks above, all bound together with fine gravel. This would become compacted and almost impermeable to water by the action of the traffic passing over it. In 1815 he was appointed Surveyor-General of Bristol's roads and put his theories to the test.In 1823 a Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to consider the use of "macadamized" roads in larger towns; McAdam gave evidence to this committee, and it voted to give him £10,000 for his past work. In 1827 he was appointed Surveyor-General of Roads and moved to Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. From there he made yearly visits to Scotland and it was while returning from one of these that he died, at Moffat in the Scottish Borders. He had married twice, both times to American women; his first wife was the mother of all seven of his children.McAdam's method of road construction was much cheaper than that of Thomas Telford, and did much to ease travel and communications; it was therefore adopted by the majority of Turnpike Trusts in Britain, and the macadamization process quickly spread to other countries.[br]Bibliography1819. A Practical Essay on the Scientific Repair and Preservation of Roads.1820. Present State of Road-Making.Further ReadingR.Devereux, 1936, John Loudon McAdam: A Chapter from the History of Highways, London: Oxford University Press.IMcN -
15 Ramsbottom, John
[br]b. 11 September 1814 Todmorden, Lancashire, Englandd. 20 May 1897 Alderley Edge, Cheshire, England[br]English railway engineer, inventor of the reversing rolling mill.[br]Ramsbottom's initial experience was gained at the locomotive manufacturers Sharp, Roberts \& Co. At the age of 28 he was Manager of the Longsight works of the Manchester \& Birmingham Railway, which, with other lines, became part of the London \& North Western Railway (L \& NWR) in 1846. Ramsbottom was appointed Locomotive Superintendent of its north-eastern division. Soon after 1850 came his first major invention, that of the split-ring piston, consisting of castiron rings fitted round the piston to ensure a steam-tight fit in the cylinder. This proved to be successful, with a worldwide application. In 1856 he introduced sight-feed lubrication and the form of safety valve that bears his name. In 1857 he became Locomotive Superintendent of the L \& NWR at Crewe, producing two notable classes of locomotives: 2–4–0s for passenger traffic; and 0–6–0s for goods. They were of straightforward design and robust construction, and ran successfully for many years. His most spectacular railway invention was the water trough between the rails which enabled locomotives to replenish their water tanks without stopping.As part of his policy of making Crewe works as independent as possible, Ramsbottom made several metallurgical innovations. He installed one of the earliest Bessemer converters for steelmaking. More important, in 1866 he coupled the engine part of a railway engine to a two-high rolling mill so that the rolls could be run in either direction, and quickly change direction, by means of the standard railway link reversing gear. This greatly speeded up the rolling of iron or steel into the required sections. He eventually retired in 1871.[br]Further ReadingJ.N.Weatwood, 1977, Locomotive Designers in the Age of Steam, London: Sidgwick \& Jackson, pp. 43–7.W.K.V.Gale, 1969, Iron and Steel, London: Longmans, p. 80 (provides brief details of his reversing mill).F.C.Hammerton, 1937, John Ramsbottom, the Father of the Modern Locomotive,London.LRD -
16 Rankine, William John Macquorn
SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering[br]b. 5 July 1820 Edinburgh, Scotlandd. 1872[br][br]Rankine was educated at Ayr Academy and Glasgow High School, although he appears to have learned much of his basic mathematics and physics through private study. He attended Edinburgh University and then assisted his father, who was acting as Superintendent of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway. This introduction to engineering practice was followed in 1838 by his appointment as a pupil to Sir John MacNeill, and for the next four years he served under MacNeill on his Irish railway projects. While still in his early twenties, Rankine presented pioneering papers on metal fatigue and other subjects to the Institution of Civil Engineers, for which he won a prize, but he appears to have resigned from the Civils in 1857 after an argument because the Institution would not transfer his Associate Membership into full Membership. From 1844 to 1848 Rankine worked on various projects for the Caledonian Railway Company, but his interests were becoming increasingly theoretical and a series of distinguished papers for learned societies established his reputation as a leading scholar in the new science of thermodynamics. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1853. At the same time, he remained intimately involved with practical questions of applied science, in shipbuilding, marine engineering and electric telegraphy, becoming associated with the influential coterie of fellow Scots such as the Thomson brothers, Napier, Elder, and Lewis Gordon. Gordon was then the head of a large and successful engineering practice, but he was also Regius Professor of Engineering at the University of Glasgow, and when he retired from the Chair to pursue his business interests, Rankine, who had become his Assistant, was appointed in his place.From 1855 until his premature death in 1872, Rankine built up an impressive engineering department, providing a firm theoretical basis with a series of text books that he wrote himself and most of which remained in print for many decades. Despite his quarrel with the Institution of Civil Engineers, Rankine took a keen interest in the institutional development of the engineering profession, becoming the first President of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, which he helped to establish in 1857. Rankine campaigned vigorously for the recognition of engineering studies as a full university degree at Glasgow, and he achieved this in 1872, the year of his death. Rankine was one of the handful of mid-nineteenth century engineers who virtually created engineering as an academic discipline.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFRS 1853. First President, Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland, 1857.Bibliography1858, Manual of Applied Mechanics.1859, Manual of the Steam Engine and Other Prime Movers.1862, Manual of Civil Engineering.1869, Manual of Machinery and Millwork.Further ReadingJ.Small, 1957, "The institution's first president", Proceedings of the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland: 687–97.H.B.Sutherland, 1972, Rankine. His Life and Times.ABBiographical history of technology > Rankine, William John Macquorn
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17 Chubb, John
SUBJECT AREA: Domestic appliances and interiors[br]b. 1816 Portsea, Hampshire, Englandd. 30 October 1872 Brixton Rise, London, England.[br]English locksmith.[br]He succeeded his father, who had founded the family firm of Chubb \& Son, and patented many improvements to locks, safes, strong rooms and the like. He was elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1845, where he delivered an important paper on locks and keys which included a list of all British patents in the field up to the date of the paper as well as of all communications on the same subject to the Royal Society of Arts; for this he was awarded the Telford Medal.John Chubb was followed into the family business by his three sons, John C.Chubb, George H.Chubb (who was created Lord Hayter of Chislehurst in 1928) and Henry W.Chubb.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsInstitution of Civil Engineers Telford Medal 1845. See also: Chubb, Charles.IMcN -
18 Rastrick, John Urpeth
[br]b. 26 January 1780 Morpeth, Englandd. 1 November 1856 Chertsey, England[br]English engineer whose career spanned the formative years of steam railways, from constructing some of the earliest locomotives to building great trunk lines.[br]John Urpeth Rastrick, son of an engineer, was initially articled to his father and then moved to Ketley Ironworks, Shropshire, c. 1801. In 1808 he entered into a partnership with John Hazledine at Bridgnorth, Shropshire: Hazledine and Rastrick built many steam engines to the designs of Richard Trevithick, including the demonstration locomotive Catch-Me-Who-Can. The firm also built iron bridges, notably the bridge over the River Wye at Chepstow in 1815–16.Between 1822 and 1826 the Stratford \& Moreton Railway was built under Rastrick's direction. Malleable iron rails were laid, in one of the first instances of their use. They were supplied by James Foster of Stourbridge, with whom Rastrick went into partnership after the death of Hazledine. In 1825 Rastrick was one of a team of engineers sent by the committee of the proposed Liverpool \& Manchester Railway (L \& MR) to carry out trials of locomotives built by George Stephenson on the Killingworth Waggonway. Early in 1829 the directors of the L \& MR, which was by then under construction, sent Rastrick and James Walker to inspect railways in North East England and report on the relative merits of steam locomotives and fixed engines with cable haulage. They reported, rather hesitantly, in favour of the latter, particularly the reciprocal system of Benjamin Thompson. In consequence the Rainhill Trials, at which Rastrick was one of the judges, were held that October. In 1829 Rastrick constructed the Shutt End colliery railway in Worcestershire, for which Foster and Rastrick built the locomotive Agenoria; this survives in the National Railway Museum. Three similar locomotives were built to the order of Horatio Allen for export to the USA.From then until he retired in 1847 Rastrick found ample employment surveying railways, appearing as a witness before Parliamentary committees, and supervising construction. Principally, he surveyed the southern part of the Grand Junction Railway, which was built for the most part by Joseph Locke, and the line from Manchester to Crewe which was eventually built as the Manchester \& Birmingham Railway. The London \& Brighton Railway (Croydon to Brighton) was his great achievement: built under Rastrick's supervision between 1836 and 1840, it included three long tunnels and the magnificent Ouse Viaduct. In 1845 he was Engineer to the Gravesend \& Rochester Railway, the track of which was laid through the Thames \& Medway Canal's Strood Tunnel, partly on the towpath and partly on a continuous staging over the water.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFRS 1837.Bibliography1829, with Walker, Report…on the Comparative Merits of Locomotive and Fixed Engines, Liverpool.Further ReadingC.F.Dendy Marshall, 1953, A History of Railway Locomotives Down to the End of the Year 1831, The Locomotive Publishing Co.R.E.Carlson, 1969, The Liverpool \& Manchester Railway Project 1821–1831, Newton Abbot: David \& Charles.C.Hadfield and J.Norris, 1962, Waterways to Stratford, Newton Abbot: David \& Charles (covers Stratford and Moreton Railway).See also: Stephenson, RobertPJGR -
19 Aspinall, Sir John Audley Frederick
[br]b. 25 August 1851 Liverpool, Englandd. 19 January 1937 Woking, England[br]English mechanical engineer, pioneer of the automatic vacuum brake for railway trains and of railway electrification.[br]Aspinall's father was a QC, Recorder of Liverpool, and Aspinall himself became a pupil at Crewe Works of the London \& North Western Railway, eventually under F.W. Webb. In 1875 he was appointed Manager of the works at Inchicore, Great Southern \& Western Railway, Ireland. While he was there, some of the trains were equipped, on trial, with continuous brakes of the non-automatic vacuum type. Aspinall modified these to make them automatic, i.e. if the train divided, brakes throughout both parts would be applied automatically. Aspinall vacuum brakes were subsequently adopted by the important Great Northern, Lancashire \& Yorkshire, and London \& North Western Railways.In 1883, aged only 32, Aspinall was appointed Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Southern \& Western Railway, but in 1886 he moved in the same capacity to the Lancashire \& Yorkshire Railway, where his first task was to fit out the new works at Horwich. The first locomotive was completed there in 1889, to his design. In 1899 he introduced a 4–4–2, the largest express locomotive in Britain at the time, some of which were fitted with smokebox superheaters to Aspinall's design.Unusually for an engineer, in 1892 Aspinall was appointed General Manager of the Lancashire \& Yorkshire Railway. He electrified the Liverpool-Southport line in 1904 at 600 volts DC with a third rail; this was an early example of main-line electrification, for it extended beyond the Liverpool suburban area. He also experimented with 3,500 volt DC overhead electrification of the Bury-Holcombe Brook branch in 1913, but converted this to 1,200 volts DC third rail to conform with the Manchester-Bury line when this was electrified in 1915. In 1918 he was made a director of the Lancashire \& Yorkshire Railway.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsKnighted 1917. President, Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1909. President, Institution of Civil Engineers 1918.Further ReadingH.A.V.Bulleid, 1967, The Aspinall Era, Shepperton: Ian Allan (provides a good account of Aspinall and his life's work).C.Hamilton Ellis, 1958, Twenty Locomotive Men, Shepperton: Ian Allan, Ch. 19 (a good brief account).PJGRBiographical history of technology > Aspinall, Sir John Audley Frederick
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20 Palmer, John
[br]b. 1743 Bath, Avon, Englandd. 1818 Bath, Avon, England[br]English pioneer in mail transport.[br]He was the son of a brewer and maltster and part-owner of a theatre in Bath. In his early 20s his father sent him to London to organize the petition for a licence for the Orchard Street theatre, which was granted in 1768. He then organized a series of post-chaises to transport ac-tors between this and another theatre in Bristol in which his father also had an interest. By 1782 he had ready a plan for a countrywide service of mail coaches to replace the existing arrangements of conveying the mail by post-boys and -girls mounted on horseback who were by law compelled to carry the mail "at a Rate of Six Miles in the Hour at least" on penalty of one month's hard labour if found loitering. Lord Camden, Member of Parliament for Bath, put Palmer's plan before Prime Minister Pitt, who approved of it. An experimental run was tried on 2 August 1782, a coach leaving Bristol at 4 pm and arriving in London at 8 am the next morning, to return the following night from London at 8 pm and reaching Bristol at 10 am. In March 1785 the Norwich Mail Coach was started and during that year services were started to Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Shrewsbury, Chester, Holyhead, Worcester, South Wales and Milford Haven. A feature of importance was that each mail coach was accompanied by an armed guard. In August 1786 Palmer was appointed Surveyor and Comptroller-General of the Post Office at a salary of £1,500 per annum and a bonus depending on all revenue over £300,000 each year. The popularity of the new service is shown by the feet that by 1813 his 2 1/2 per cent bonus came to £50,000. Due to the intrigues of his deputy, he was removed from office, but he was given a pension of £3,000 a year. He received the freedom of some eighteen towns, was made Mayor of Bath and represented that constituency in Parliament four times.[br]Further ReadingE.Vale, 1960, The Mail-Coach Men, London: Cassell.IMcN
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