List of Cornish engineers and inventors
Encyclopedia
This is a list of engineers and inventors from Cornwall
, United Kingdom.
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, United Kingdom.
- John ArnoldJohn ArnoldJohn Arnold was an English watchmaker and inventor.John Arnold was the first to design a watch that was both practical and accurate, and also brought the term "Chronometer" in to use in its modern sense, meaning a precision timekeeper...
, watchmakerWatchmakerA watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since virtually all watches are now factory made, most modern watchmakers solely repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their parts, by hand...
and pioneer of the marine chronometerMarine chronometerA marine chronometer is a clock that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation... - William Bickford, inventor of the safety fuseSafety fuseThe safety fuse is a type of fuse invented and patented by William Bickford in 1831. Originally it consisted of a "tube" of gunpowder surrounded by a water-proofed varnished jute "rope". It replaced earlier and less reliable methods of igniting gunpowder blasting charges which had caused many...
- Joseph Henry CollinsJoseph Henry CollinsJoseph Henry Collins FGS, , mining engineer, mineralogist and geologist. Of Cornish descent, he was born in London.-Career:He was at various times the secretary or president of the three learned societies of Cornwall - Royal Geological Society of Cornwall , the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society...
, mining engineer, mineralogist and geologist - William CookworthyWilliam Cookworthy-Bibliography:*Early New Church Worthies by the Rev Dr Jonathon Bayley*Cookworthy's Plymouth and Bristol Porcelain by F.Severne Mackenna published by F.Lewis...
, discoverer of china clay (kaoliniteKaoliniteKaolinite is a clay mineral, part of the group of industrial minerals, with the chemical composition Al2Si2O54. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina octahedra...
) in Cornwall - Sir Humphry DavyHumphry DavySir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet FRS MRIA was a British chemist and inventor. He is probably best remembered today for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine...
, scientist, inventor and President of the Royal SocietyRoyal SocietyThe Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"... - Sir Goldsworthy GurneyGoldsworthy GurneySir Goldsworthy Gurney was a surgeon, chemist, lecturer, consultant, architect, builder and prototypical British gentleman scientist and inventor of the Victorian period....
, inventor of limelightLimelightLimelight is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when an oxyhydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of quicklime , which can be heated to 2572 °C before melting. The light is produced by a combination of incandescence and... - Jonathan HornblowerJonathan HornblowerJonathan Hornblower was a British pioneer of steam power, the son of Jonathan Hornblower and brother of Jabez Carter Hornblower, two fellow pioneers....
, inventor of the compound engine and the steam valve. - William HusbandWilliam HusbandWilliam Husband was a British civil and mechanical engineer of the 19th century.-Biography:Husband, born at Mylor, Cornwall, on 13 October 1822, was eldest son of James Husband, shipbuilder and surveyor for Lloyd's Register at Falmouth, who died in 1859...
, civil and mechanical engineer. - Thomas Brown JordanThomas Brown Jordan-Birth and beginnings:Born at Bristol on 24 October 1807, he was the son of Thomas Jordan , and began life as an artist.-Move to Cornwall:When barely twenty he moved to Falmouth...
, engineer - Michael LoamMichael LoamMichael Loam was a Cornish engineer who introduced the first man engine into the UK....
, inventor of the man engineMan engineA man engine is a mechanism of reciprocating ladders and stationary platforms installed in mines to assist the miners’ journeys to and from the working levels... - William MurdochWilliam MurdochWilliam Murdoch was a Scottish engineer and long-term inventor.Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton and Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten years, spending most of the rest of his life in Birmingham, England.He was the inventor of the oscillating steam...
, engineerEngineerAn engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, inventor and sometime Cornish resident - Richard TangyeRichard TangyeSir Richard Trevithick Tangye was a British manufacturer of engines and other heavy equipment.-Biography:...
, engineer - John TaylorJohn Taylor (Civil Engineer)John Taylor was an English land surveyor and civil engineer. He was born in Norwich, England and showed an interest in mining at a young age; in 1796 he improvised a mechanised copper ore crusher at Wheal Friendship, a mine just outside of Tavistock, Devon. This machine was improved over time and...
, inventor of the Cornish rolls - Joseph TreffryJoseph TreffryJoseph Austen Treffry was an engineer, mining adventurer, and industrialist who became a significant landowner in Cornwall, United Kingdom.-Biography:...
, engineer and industrialist - Henry TrengrouseHenry TrengrouseHenry Trengrouse inventor of the ‘Rocket’ life-saving apparatus, was born at Helston, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on 18 March 1772....
, inventor of a rocket-powered maritime rescue system - Richard TrevithickRichard TrevithickRichard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...
, inventor, engineer and builder of the first steam locomotiveSteam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine... - Andrew VivianAndrew VivianAndrew Vivian was a British mechanical engineer, inventor, and mine captain of the Dolcoath mine in Cornwall, England.In partnership with his cousin Richard Trevithick, the inventor of "high pressure" steam engines, and the entrepreneur Davis Giddy, Vivian financed the production of the first...
, Trevithick's cousin and collaborator, and captain of Dolcoath MineDolcoath mineDolcoath mine was a copper and tin mine in Camborne, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. Its name derives from the Cornish for 'Old Ground', and it was also affectionately known as The Queen of Cornish Mines. The site is north-west of Carn Brea. Dolcoath Road runs between the A3047 road and Chapel Hill... - Arthur WoolfArthur WoolfArthur Woolf was a Cornish engineer, most famous for inventing a high-pressure compound steam engine. As such he made an outstanding contribution to the development and perfection of the Cornish engine.Woolf left Cornwall in 1785 to work for Joseph Bramah's engineering works in London...
, invented the high pressure compound steam engine