Henry Beighton — The Key to Unlocking the Early History of the Newcomen Engine

Abstract

Details about the early technical development of the Newcomen engine are controversial and unclear. Early writers do not award inventor Thomas Newcomen any credit for the key development of the self-acting valve gear and suggest it was Henry Beighton in 1718. Beighton was a polymath from Griff in Warwickshire and was employed as an engineering consultant on a number of early engines. He produced two drawings of early engines which were well received by the academic community, but their background remained a mystery. Two entries in the journals of the Royal Society of 1717 record details of meetings that took place to discuss the Newcomen engine and improvements made to its design by Beighton. At these meetings, two drawings were presented to the audience. Available evidence suggests that these can be identified as the two Beighton drawings that are now in circulation and would greatly increase our understanding of the engine’s early development. They would also confirm that Thomas Newcomen was indeed the inventor of the self-acting valve gear and was also responsible for other key developments.

Keywords:

• Beighton
• Newcomen engine
• Griff
• Royal Society London

Notes

1. Worcester College, Oxford University (1999) George Clarke Print Collection [online]. Available at: http://prints.worc.ox.ac.uk/. Print ID 3902 Location XV1:389.

2. J. T. Desaguliers, A Course of Experimental Philosophy (1744), Vol. 2, Plate XXXVII, p. 490.

3. M. B. Rowlands, ‘Stonier Parrott and the Newcomen Engine,’ Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 41 (1968–69), 53–4.

4. L. T. C. Rolt, Thomas Newcomen: The Prehistory of the Steam Engine (Dawlish: David and Charles, 1963), p. 94.

5. J. T. Desaguliers, op cit, p. 533.

6. J. Farey, A Treatise on the Steam Engine (London: Longmans, 1827), p. 133.

7. R. A. Stuart, Descriptive History of the Steam Engine (London: Knight & Lacey, 1828), p. 67.

8. L. T. C. Rolt, op cit, p. 106.

9. Stafford Record Office, Aqualate Papers D1788/40/6.

10. J. T. Desaguliers, op cit, pp. 532–3.

11. J. T. Desaguliers, op cit, pp. 532–3.

12. A. Smith, ‘Engines Moved by Fire and Water,’ Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 66 (1994), 10.

13. A. W. A. White, ‘Early Newcomen Engines on the Warwickshire Coalfield, 1714–1736,’ Transactions of the Newcomen Society 41 (1968–69), 204.

14. William Salt Library D1788/61/1X.

15. Royal Society JBC XI Journal Entries, p. 227.

16. Royal Society JBC XI Journal Entries, p. 232.

17. M. B. Rowlands, ‘Stonier Parrott and the Newcomen Engine,’ Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 41 (1968–69), 53–54.

18. Royal Society JBC XI Journal Entries, p. 224.

19. Royal Society JBC XI Journal Entries, p. 227.

20. Stafford Record Office, Aqualate Papers D1788/29/17.

21. Tyne and Wear Archives, Cotesworth Papers CM/2/754.

22. Northumberland Record Office, ZRI/23/1.

23. S. Lindqvist, Technology on Trial: The Introduction of Steam Power Technology into Sweden, 1715–1736, Uppsala Studies in History of Science, 1 (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell Int., 1984).