Richard Bissell Prosser

“ Desmoulins, was in early life a pupil of Paul in learning the art of pinking.
In 1738 he took out a patent (No. 562) for ‘a machine or engine for spinning of wool and cotton in a manner entirely new.’ He is described as ‘of Birmingham, gentleman,’ and he seems to have lived in Birmingham for many years. The invention comprised in this patent was of the greatest importance, and is in use in every cotton-mill in the world. It is known as ‘roller-spinning,’ and consists of two pairs of rollers of small diameter, one pair revolving at a slightly greater velocity than the other. ”

“ In 1733 Kay took out a patent (No. 542) for the fly-shuttle, which was perhaps the most important improvement ever made in the loom. Up to that time the shuttle had been thrown through the alternate threads of the warp from side to side by one of the weaver's hands, and was caught at the opposite side by the other hand. In weaving broad pieces two men were employed, who threw the shuttle from one side to the other. The weft was beat or closed up after each pick or throw of the shuttle by a ‘layer’ extending across the piece in process of being woven. ”

“ Although the bent of Knight's genius was decidedly experimental and practical, he published a speculative treatise in 1748 entitled ‘An Attempt to demonstrate that all the Phenomena in Nature may be explained by two simple active principles, Attraction and Repulsion, wherein the attractions of Cohesion, Gravity, and Magnetism are more particularly explained.’ The book consists of ninety-one propositions, and is of interest as showing marks of an epoch in which attempts were made to push the Newtonian doctrine into molecular speculations. ”

“ Among the numerous railway bills which Ordish and Le Feuvre brought into parliament, was one for constructing a line from Hampstead to Charing Cross, which, however, was lost in the notable year 1866, when railway enterprise was arrested throughout England.
He was entrusted by Mr. W. H. Barlow with the details of the roof of the London terminus of the Midland railway at St. Pancras. It cousists of an arch of 240 feet span, springing from a. level slightly below the platform, and is the largest work of the land in existence. ”

“ In 1836 Macintosh won an action for an infringement of the patent by Everington & Son, a firm of silk mercers, in Ludgate Street, of which Wynne Ellis [q. v.] was a member. Several of the most eminent scientific men of the day gave evidence at the trial, which excited much interest. The proceedings, reported in full in the 'Mechanics' Magazine,' xxiv. 529, &c., comprise a complete history of the invention. The works at Manchester were gradually enlarged, and the manufacture of all kinds of india-rubber articles was undertaken. The concern is still carried on. ”

“ James's eldest son, William Henry James (1796–1873) , born at Henley-in-Arden in March 1796, assisted his father in his survey of the Liverpool and Manchester railway. He subsequently commenced business as an engineer in Birmingham, where he made experiments upon steam locomotion on common roads. He took out patents for locomotives, steam-engines, boilers, railway carriages, diving apparatus, &c., and he is commonly stated to have anticipated Stephenson in the application of the tubular boiler to locomotives, but this is an error, James's boiler being what is known as a ‘water-tube’ boiler. ”

“ The original act of parliament for building Westminster Bridge was passed in 1736 (9 Geo. II, cap. 29) , but it was not until May 1738 that Labelye was appointed ‘engineer,’ a word which had not been previously employed in the sense of ‘architect.’ His salary was 100l. per annum, and 10s. per day subsistence money. The appointment of a youthful foreigner gave offence to the English architects, and especially to Batty Langley, who, in a drawing in one of his books, shows ‘the Swiss impostor’ hanging in mid-air from one of the arches of the bridge. ”

“ Observing that two freshly-cut surfaces of indiarubber readily adhered by simple pressure, he was led to the invention of the 'masticator,' as it was afterwards called, by the aid of which pieces of indiarubber were worked up into a plastic and homogeneous mass. This machine consists of a roller set with sharp knives or teeth, revolving in a hollow cylinder of slightly larger diameter, into which the material to be operated upon is introduced. ”

“ In 1837 he entered the service of the Bank of England, where he introduced many improvements in the machinery for printing and numbering banknotes. This machinery continued in use until 1852–3, when the system of surface-printing was adopted. He paid much attention to marine propulsion, and in 1817 he obtained a patent (No. 4169) for propelling ships by means of paddles worked by a steam-engine, an endeavour being made to imitate the motion of a paddle when used in the ordinary way. ”

“ Lombe's patent was granted for fourteen years, and naturally expired in 1732, but on 28 Jan. of that year he petitioned parliament for an extension, alleging that he had been put to great expense in training workmen, and that, the Sardinian authorities had prohibited the importation of raw silk, so that a supply had to be obtained elsewhere. The petition was referred to a committee, and evidence was produced showing that the machinery had rendered the manufacturers of this country independent of Italy for the supply of organzine, and that the price had been greatly reduced. ”

“ The rapidity with which Kay's improvement made the shuttle work led to its being called the fly-shuttle. The amount of work which could be performed by a weaver was more than doubled, and the quality was also improved. A powerful stimulus was thus given to inventions connected with spinning. The patent of 1733 also included a batting machine for removing dust from wool by beating it with sticks. Kay's next patent, granted in 1738 (No. 561) , was for a windmill for working pumps and for an improved chain-pump, but neither of these inventions was of any practical importance. ”

“ Hancock took out sixteen patents in all relating to indiarubber between 1820 and 1847. He displayed remarkable ingenuity in suggesting uses for what was practically a new material, and the specifications of his patents cover the entire field of indiarubber manufactures, though many of his ideas were not carried out at the time. His brothers Charles, John, Walter, and William were also associated with him, and were concerned in patents for developing various branches of the trade. Hancock died 26 March 1865, at Stoke Newington, where he had lived for fifty years. ”

“ The knives, or teeth, tear the indiarubber in every direction, thus producing a constant succession of freshly cut surfaces which adhere together by the effect of the heat evolved during the operation, and by the pressure against the cylinder. By aid of the masticator a substance was obtained capable of being pressed into blocks, or rolled into sheets. With the invention of this process, which was perfected about 1821, the india-rubber trade commenced. Hancock took premises in the Goswell Road (where his successors still carry on business) , and commenced manufacturing indiarubber. ”

“ The book contains engravings which show the construction of the machinery in great detail, and to an expert Zonca's book is much more satisfactory than Lombe's specification. In 1692, moreover, a number of persons had unsuccessfully petitioned for leave to be incorporated into a company for the purpose of introducing the Italian machinery and starting a manufactory in this country (Home Office Petition Entry Book, 1680-93, p. 293) . But, notwithstanding, the Lombes are entitled to the credit of having introduced into this country a new and important trade. ”

“ PELLATT, APSLEY (1791–1863) , glass manufacturer, eldest son of Apsley Pellatt, and of Mary, daughter of Stephen Maberly of Reading, was born on 27 Nov. 1791, probably at 80 High Holborn, London, where his father kept a glass warehouse. The elder Pellatt removed his business subsequently to St. Paul's Churchyard, and then to the Falcon Glass works, Holland Street, Southwark. He was the inventor of the glass lenses, known as ‘deck lights,’ used for giving light to the lower parts of ships, for which he obtained a patent in 1807 (No. 3058) . He died on 21 Jan. 1826 (Gent. Mag. 1826 i. 187) . ”

“ Lofting became bankrupt’ (ib. 1697–1702, vol. lxxi. No. 18) . After 1700 he settled at Great Marlow, and the parish register records the burial of his wife there 23 July 1709. In his will, dated 14 April 1733, he describes himself as ‘John Lofting, of Great Marlow, Bucks, gentleman,’ and he appears to have been possessed of considerable property, among which he mentions his ‘thimble mills.’ He appoints his friends Edmund and Harry Waller of Beaconsfield (descendants of the poet) to be overseers of his will. ”

“ By the end of 1690 Lofting seems to have been engaged in the manufacture of fire-engines upon a considerable scale, for in November of that year he presented a petition to the king setting forth that ‘iron wire being absolutely necessary for the makeing of your petitioner's engines for extinguishing of fire, and your petitioner being a Dutch man borne, and ignorant of the lawes of this nation, did import from Holland lately a small parcel of wire, &c.’ The wire, which was valued at 67l. ”

“ To the Birmingham free library Wyatt's descendants presented a hank of yarn spun by Paul's machine, worked ‘by asses walking round its axis, in a large warehouse in the Upper Priory at Birmingham, about the year 1741.’
Paul patented in 1748 (No. 636) a machine for carding cotton, wool, and other fibres, which contains the first suggestion of a circular or continuous carding engine, and of a comb for stripping off the carding. ”

“ LYNN, WALTER (1677–1763) , medical writer and inventor, born at Southwick House, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, in 1677, was younger brother of George Lynn the elder [q. v.] He graduated B.A. from Peterhouse, Cambridge, in 1698, and took the degree of M.B. in 1704. In 1712 he was elected a member of the Gentleman's Society at Spalding, and his name appears among the ‘extra regular members’ in the account of the society in ‘Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica,’ vol. iii. ”

“ A boat running between London and Richmond was fitted with a pair of oscillating engines in 1821, and a large number of engines of that type have since been employed. He was very fond of horticulture, and was the inventor of many improvements in conservatories and forcing-houses. ”

“ The first treadmill, designed by William Cubitt, was made at Greenwich by Penn about 1817 [see Cubitt, William] . He was employed about 1824 by Jacob Perkins in carrying out his plans for the construction of a steam gun. In 1825 he began to turn his attention to marine engines, for which he and his successors subsequently obtained a high reputation. The first marine engine made by him was that for the Ipswich, a steamer running from London to Norwich. In 1838 he directed his attention to the oscillating engine, patented by Aaron Manby in 1821 [see Manby, Aaron] , which he greatly improved. ”

“ Knight brought his improved compass under the notice of the admiralty, and there is an entry in the official minute book under date 4 April 1751 to the effect that the navy board and the Trinity House authorities had been consulted and various experiments made with the improved compass and bar magnets. Compasses were ordered to be supplied to the Glory, bound for Guinea, the Rainbow going to Newfoundland, the Swan sloop bound to Barbadoes, and to the Vulture and Fortune sloops in the Channel. ”

“ In April 1858 he took out a patent (No. 771) for an improvement in suspension bridges, in which the roadway consisted of a rigid girder suspended at several points by inclined straight cliains, which carried the whole of the load and the weight of the bridge. ”

“ A reflecting azimuth compass is also described in the specification of this patent. The value of Knight's services to navigation does not seem to have received adequate recognition. A useful summary of Knight's work in this department of science is given in Snow Harris's ‘Rudimentary Magnetism,’ 1852, chap. ix.
Knight was an unsuccessful candidate for the post of secretary to the Royal Society in 1752, in opposition to Dr. Birch. But when the British Museum was first established at Montague House, Bloomsbury, in 1756, he was appointed principal librarian. ”

“ John Lombe (1693?–1722) , Sir Thomas's half-brother, born probably at Norwich about 1693, was employed by the latter to proceed to Italy and make himself acquainted with the processes of silk-throwing. He was referred to by Alderman Perry in his speech in the House of Commons when Sir Thomas Lombe's petition was being discussed as one 'whose head is extremely well turned for the mechanics.' According to the only authority (William Hutton, Hist. of Derby, pp. 191–209) , John returned from Italy about 1717, bringing with him some Italian workmen to assist him in starting the new factory. ”

“ Coming to London in 1847, he entered the office of Mr. R. E. Brounger, who employed him in making surveys for a railway in Denmark. He was afterwards engaged by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Charles Fox the Thames near Windsor. When Messrs. Fox & Henderson took the contract for the ironwork of the 1851 exhibition building, Ordish made the greater part of the working drawings; and he subsequently went to the London works, Smethwick, near Birmingham, to take part in the designing of the roof over the Birmingham railway station, then in course of construction by Fox & Henderson. ”