Joseph Huddart FRS (1741–1816) was a British hydrographer, engineer and inventor. He surveyed harbours and coasts but made a fortune from improving the design and manufacture of rope. He was highly regarded in his time, and his likeness featured in an engraving of distinguished men of science. Huddart was chosen to feature in the central group of the picture with M. I. Brunel, James Watt,

Matthew Boulton Matthew Boulton (; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engin ...

and

Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scot ...

Biography

Huddart was born at Allonby in Cumberland. Huddart's father was both a shoemaker, a farmer and a fish smoker. Huddart's natural talents were mathematics and mechanics. Huddart had built models of a mill and a ship of war merely from descriptions he had read about. He initially joined his father's fish processing business. His father had taken advantage of an unusual occurrence and joined with others to start the Herring Fishery Company. Shoals of fish had arrived in the

Solway Firth The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven ...

and there was a profit for any who could preserve the fish for export., access-date=February 2010 In 1762 his father died and Huddart inherited his father's share of the fish processing business. The following year Huddart married Elizabeth Johnson. He took the role of captaining a brig which was used to trade along the Irish coast selling smoked fish for resale to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. Six years later he built an improved ship and studied the arts of surveying and navigation.

Navigation

In 1771 he was introduced to Sir

Richard Hotham Sir Richard Hotham (5 October 1722 – 13 March 1799) was an East India merchant, property developer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1780 to 1784. He is especially noted for his development of the Sussex village of Bognor in ...

, who had also come from humble beginnings. Hotham had influence with the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

and Huddart was related to Hotham by his marriage to one of Huddart's uncle's daughters. In 1778 he started out on four voyages to the east, eventually in command of the East Indiaman ''Royal Admiral'' for her maiden and two subsequent voyages. He completed surveys of the coast of India and Sumatra. From 1788 he completed surveys of the

Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebr ...

and in 1791 he became a fellow of the Royal Society and joined the management of

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

as an elder brother. He took charge of enquiries regarding light, lighthouses and charts and he supervised and directed the construction of the

Hurst Point Lighthouse Hurst Point Lighthouse is located at Hurst Point in the English county of Hampshire, and guides vessels through the western approaches to the Solent. History The old lights The original lighthouse was the Hurst Tower, sited to the south west ...

. Huddart's guide to navigation to China and New Holland was published in 1801.

Rope manufacture

He spent some time studying and improving the techniques for manufacturing rope. He was able to improve the strength and reliability by improving the distribution of the stress equally amongst the fibres of the cable. He employed steam power to automate the production of rope. Huddart set up Huddart & Co. of

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through ...

to manufacture rope, with Charles Hampden Turner, Sir Robert Wigram and

John Woolmore Sir John Woolmore KCH FRS (1755 – 2 December 1837) was an English mariner. He served as chairman of the East India Docks Company, and was deputy master of Trinity House. He was also (briefly) a Member of Parliament. Mariner Woolmore was bo ...

as partners. He became rich from the sale of this improved rope, and in both 1809 and 1811 he purchased estates in Wales. Huddart died in London in 1816 having fathered five sons. He was buried under St.Martin's-in-the-Fields in his uncle's vault. The institute of Civil Engineers had a copy of his portrait by

John Hoppner John Hoppner (4 April 175823 January 1810) was an English portrait painter, much influenced by Reynolds, who achieved fame as a brilliant colourist. Early life Hoppner was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of German parents – his moth ...

. In 1865, William Walker published a book based around an engraving showing the "distinguished men" of 1807–8. The engraving included about fifty people and Huddart was chosen to feature in the central group with M. I. Brunel, James Watt,

and

.Review of 1989 Huddart Biography
Susanna Fisher, JStor. Retrieved February 2010 Portrait - Capt

Works

*''The Oriental Navigator, or New directions for sailing to and from the East Indies, China, New Holland'', (1801) *''Memoir of the late Captain Joseph Huddart, F. R. S.'', 1821Memoir of the late Captain Joseph Huddart
Joseph Huddart, 1821 by his son

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huddart, Joseph English scientists Fellows of the Royal Society 1741 births English hydrographers 1816 deaths People from Allerdale Members of Trinity House

Biography

Navigation

Rope manufacture

Works

See also

References