John Braithwaite (engineer)
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John Braithwaite, the younger (19 March 1797 – 25 September 1870), was an English engineer who invented the first steam
fire engine A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...
. He also co-designed the first locomotive claimed to have covered a mile in less than a minute.


Early life

Braithwaite was third son of John Braithwaite the elder. He was born at 1 Bath Place, New Road, London, on 19 March 1797, and, after being educated at Mr. Lord's school at
Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon ori ...
in Surrey, attended in his father's manufactory, where he made himself master of practical engineering, and became a skilled draughtsman. In June 1818 his father died, leaving the business to his sons Francis and John. Francis died in 1823, and John Braithwaite carried on the business alone. He added to the business the making of high-pressure steam-engines. In 1817 he reported before the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
upon the Norwich steamboat explosion, and in 1820 he ventilated the
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by means of air-pumps. In 1822 he made the donkey engine, and in 1823 cast the statue of the Duke of Kent by sculptor Sebastian Gahagan that was erected in Park Crescent at the northern end of Portland Place in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. He was introduced to George and
Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...
in 1827, and about the same time became acquainted with Captain
John Ericsson John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish-American engineer and inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive Novelty (lo ...
, who then had many schemes in view. In 1829 Braithwaite and Ericsson constructed for the Rainhill experiments the locomotive engine, '' The Novelty''. This engine was claimed to be the first that ever ran a mile within a minute (fifty-six seconds); this speed of about is disputed. The maximum achieved at Rainhill was .


Fire-engines

At this time Braithwaite manufactured the first practical steam
fire engine A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...
, which was ultimately destroyed by a London mob. It had, however, previously done good service at the burning of the English Opera House in 1830, at the destruction of the Argyle Rooms 1830, and at the conflagration of the
Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
in 1834. It threw two tons of water per minute, burnt coke, and got up steam in about twenty minutes; but it was looked upon with so much jealousy by the fire brigade of the day that the inventor had to give it up. He, however, soon constructed four others of larger dimensions, two of which, in Berlin and Liverpool, respectively, gave great satisfaction. In 1833 he built the caloric engine in conjunction with Captain Ericsson.


Civil engineer

In 1834, Braithwaite stopped playing an active role in the management of the engine works at New Road, and began to practise as a civil engineer for public works. He largely consulted on projects, both at home and abroad, particularly related to the capabilities of, and improvements to, locomotives. 1834 also saw Braithwaite plan and lay out the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) in conjunction with Charles Blacker Vignoles. The railway was formally incorporated in 1836, and Braithwaite was soon after appointed engineer-in-chief of its construction. At Braithwaite's recommendation, the ECR's gauge was set at , and the line was constructed as far as Colchester to this gauge. The
trackbed The track bed or trackbed is the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links. Background According to Network Rail, the trackbed is the layers of ...
, however, being made wide enough for the track to be widened to a gauge. On the recommendation of
Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...
the railways was re-gauged to the emerging "standard gauge" of ; in later years Braithwaite was an advocate of still narrower gauges. Whilst engineer to the ECR he introduced an American excavating machine and an American steam pile-driving machine. He left the ECR on 28 May 1843. Braithwaite was joint founder of the ''Railway Times,'' which he started with Joseph Clinton Robertson as editor in 1837, and he continued sole proprietor till 1845. He undertook the preparation of plans for the direct
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
railway, but the
Railway Mania Railway Mania was a stock market bubble in the rail transportation industry of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1840s. It followed a common pattern: as the price of railway shares increased, speculators invested more mon ...
of the period, and his connection with some commercial speculations, necessitated the winding up of his affairs in 1845.


Consulting engineer

Braithwaite had, in 1844, a share in a patent for extracting oil from bituminous shale, and works were erected near Weymouth which, but for his difficulties, might have been successful. Some years before, 1836–8, Captain Ericsson and he had fitted up an ordinary canal boat with a screw propeller, which started from London along the canals to Manchester on 28 June 1838, returning by the way of Oxford and the Thames to London, being the first and last
steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
that has navigated the whole distance on those waters. The experiment was abandoned on account of the deficiency of water in the
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...
s and the completion of the railway system, which diverted the paying traffic. In 1844, and again in 1846, he was much on the continent surveying lines of railway in France, and on his return he was employed to survey Langstone Harbour in 1850, and to build the
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...
brewery in 1851. From that year he was principally engaged in chamber practice, and acted as consulting engineer, advising on most of the important mechanical questions of the day for patents and other purposes.


Honours

Braithwaite was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1819, a member of the
Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...
on 13 February 1838, and at the time of his death he was one of the oldest members of the
Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...
, having been elected into that body in the year 1819; he was also a life governor of seventeen charitable institutions.


Family

John Braithwaite married Caroline, or possibly Caroline Amelia (1803–1878), and together they had at least ten children (six sons and four daughters): Eliza Emma (b. 1824), John (b. 1825), George (b. 1826), Clara Ellen Sophia (b. 1828) Frank (b. 1829), Harriet Frances (b. 1831), Richard Charles (b. 1832), Frederick John (b. 1835), Caroline Anne (b. 1836) and Edward Henry (b. 1838). John died suddenly at 8 Clifton Gardens,
Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
, on 25 September 1870, and his remains were interred in
Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...
. His wife died in 1878.


Publications

# ''Supplement to Captain Sir John Ross's Narrative of a second voyage in search of a North-West Passage, containing the suppressed facts necessary to an understanding of the cause of the failure of the steam machinery of the Victory'' 1835. To this work Sir J. Ross published a reply in the same year. # ''Guideway Steam Agriculture, by P. A. Halkett, with a Report by J. Braithwaite'' 1857


See also

*
Fatigue (material) In materials science, fatigue is the initiation and propagation of cracks in a material due to cyclic loading. Once a fatigue crack has initiated, it grows a small amount with each loading cycle, typically producing striations on some parts of ...


Notes


References

* Endnotes: **''Mechanics' Magazine'' with portrait, xiii. 235-37, 377–88, 417–19 (1830) ** ''Minutes of Proceedings of Institution of Civil Engineers'', xxxi. pt. i. 207-11 (1871) ** Walford's Insurance Cyclop. iii. 348 (1874).
"Braithwaite, John"
, ''NMSI'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Braithwaite, John 1797 births 1870 deaths English inventors English civil engineers Locomotive builders and designers English mechanical engineers Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery History of firefighting British railway pioneers 19th-century English businesspeople