Sir John Barton (5 August 1771 – 25 August 1834) was an English engineer.

Information

He created a

micrometer Micrometer can mean: * Micrometer (device), used for accurate measurements by means of a calibrated screw * Micrometre The micrometre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights ...

, which he called the "Atometer" that was used for measuring small distances using a differential-screw technique, a ruling engine, and

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

ed a method of creating metal ornaments engraved with parallel lines, using

diffraction Diffraction is the deviation of waves from straight-line propagation without any change in their energy due to an obstacle or through an aperture. The diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a secondary source of the Wave propagation ...

to create colours. An example of the latter are "Barton's Buttons", which were gold buttons stamped with a hard steel die on which Barton cut hexagonal patterns. Sir John Barton also invented a floating compass. Sir John Barton served as deputy comptroller of the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...

in the early part of the nineteenth century and later as Treasurer to

Queen Adelaide Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (Adelaide Amelia Louise Theresa Caroline; 13 August 1792 – 2 December 1849) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Queen of Hanover from 26 June 1830 to 20 June 1837 as the wife of King W ...

. He died at

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

on 25 August 1834. After his death, his wife Ann gave

John Harrison John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was an English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the History of longitude, problem of how to calculate longitude while at sea. Harrison's sol ...

's last pendulum clock to the

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

Personal life

John Barton's wife was the granddaughter of John Harrison, of longitude fame, which is how Ann Barton had possession of Harrison's last pendulum clock and could give it away. Queen Adelaide was godmother to the Bartons' daughter, who was also named Adelaide and who was to become the great grandmother of the writer of this paragraph. John Barton had gained his knighthood while private secretary to the Prince of Wales for services rendered in keeping the prince's wife out of the way while the prince was consorting with his mistress. Sir John Barton became a frequent and well received visitor to Windsor Castle, and his memorial plaque is now to be seen in St. George's chapel there.

References

External links

Picture of a set of buttons engraved by John Barton with diffraction patterns, c 1825
in the collection at the

London Science Museum The Science Museum is a major museum on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London. It was founded in 1857 and is one of the city's major tourist attractions, attracting 3.3 million visitors annually in 2019. Like other publicly funded ...

Nature.com article on Barton's engravings
(subscription only) {{DEFAULTSORT:Barton, Sir John 1771 births 1834 deaths English inventors English mechanical engineers Engineers from Plymouth, Devon