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Joshua Routledge (27 April 1773 – 8 February 1829) was an engineer and inventor of the early 19th century during the
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
.
Mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
as a profession was on the rise and the advent of the steam age opened up viable career alternatives for many young Englishmen who, like Joshua Routledge, grew up in an agriculture-based society.


Early life

Born on 27 April 1773 and baptised on the 29th in
Riccall Riccall is a village and civil parish situated in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England, lying to the north of Selby and south of York. It was historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. According to the 2011 cens ...
,
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. Joshua Routledge was third of twelve children. Generations of Routledges were established as yeoman farmers and weavers in Riccall, a village about 9 miles (14 km) south of the city of
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
. Joshua's father was a blacksmith by trade, but he seems to have been pious, curious and adventurous by nature. The Industrial Revolution allowed the advancement of all sorts of radical new ideas in tandem with mechanical innovations. Religious, political, and social reformers took to the highways and byways spreading discontent with the
status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...
,
John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
being one reformer whose message took hold in Yorkshire. Wesley's brand of fervent evangelical
Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
encouraged lay preachers, which appealed very much to the
working classes The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
, William Routledge (1744-1822) for one. It is known that William with wife Sarah Bell (1746-1819), one-year-old Joshua and his two-year-old sister Dinah (1771-1791), joined a group of Methodists sailing to
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Canada in 1774. Records indicate that the family sailed on board the vessel ''Two Friends'', embarking from
Hull, Yorkshire Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from ...
the "week of 28th February to 7th March" and arriving in Halifax on 9 May 1774. It is certain that the family returned to Yorkshire before 1778 when Joshua's brother Joseph was born in Elvington, a village located about 7 miles southeast of York. Later on, they joined the Methodist movement as active members of the York Circuit, and according to an account by J. D. Greenhalgh published in 1882, William Routledge was among a list of "Wesleyan Methodist ministers admitted...in the year 1800." Bolton Archives & Local Studies: B929.2 ROU


Career

Nothing is recorded of Joshua Routledge's early education, but supposedly he learned something about the smithing trades from his father. In 1798 Routledge was in
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, Yorkshire where his occupation is given as "whitesmith" (
tinsmith A tinsmith is a person who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession may sometimes also be known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profession, though the same wo ...
) on a marriage certificate recorded at St Peter's Parish Church, Leeds. This was the occasion of his first marriage, on 5 November, to Mary King. A daughter, Ann, was born there in 1803.


The Round Foundry

Routledge may have apprenticed at the historic
Round Foundry The Round Foundry is a former engineering works off Water Lane in Holbeck, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Founded in the late 18th century, the building was developed into the Round Foundry Media Centre in 2005. History The Round Foundry was ...
in Leeds. Matthew Murray (1765–1826) and David Wood (1761–1820) partnered in building the Round Foundry circa 1795 and were later joined by James Fenton (1754–1834) and silent partner William Lister. Fenton, Murray, & Wood quickly gained a reputation for innovative thinking and sound technical practices. The firm became famous as designers and builders of textile machinery and steam engines that rivalled the Soho Works in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
operated by steam-age pioneers
James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...
and
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 engine ...
.


Routledge Engineer's Rule

By 1800, Routledge had become Manager at the Round Foundry. Somehow, along the way, he learned the value of
logarithm In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number  to the base  is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 o ...
s and thereby had the means of developing a method of measuring "all kinds of metals and other bodies" needed for engineering purposes. Using the principles of Edmund Gunter's (1581–1626)
logarithmic scale A logarithmic scale (or log scale) is a way of displaying numerical data over a very wide range of values in a compact way—typically the largest numbers in the data are hundreds or even thousands of times larger than the smallest numbers. Such a ...
s and
William Oughtred William Oughtred ( ; 5 March 1574 – 30 June 1660), also Owtred, Uhtred, etc., was an Kingdom of England, English mathematician and Anglican ministry, Anglican clergyman.'Oughtred (William)', in P. Bayle, translated and revised by J.P. Bernar ...
's (1574–1660) sliding rule, Routledge combined a 12-inch brass slide containing the logarithmic scales with an ordinary 2-foot ruler to which he added a table of commonly used references called gauge points. This rule became known as the Routledge Engineer's Rule. According to a handwritten, unsigned document on file at Bolton Archives (Lancashire) Routledge acquired a patent for his improved slide rule in 1813 but, to date, no record of this has been traced. It is certain that, in 1805, he published the first known ''Instructions for the Engineer's Improved Sliding Rule'' and that numerous editions followed before and after his death in 1829, the most recent being in 1983. A letter from his parents, dated 1811, records that Routledge was associated, at that time, with Thompson, Swift and Co, iron founders and steam engine makers located in Little Bolton,
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
, and a notice published in the
Manchester Mercury The ''Manchester Mercury'' was a Tory newspaper based in Manchester, England that published from 1752 until 1830. Notes

{{reflist History of Manchester Newspapers published in Manchester Publications disestablished in 1830 Publications estab ...
dated 12 November 1811 informs that his partnership with that firm had been dissolved by mutual consent.


Improved Rotary Steam Engine

In 1816 Routledge had a prosperous
ironmonger Ironmongery originally referred, first, to the manufacture of iron goods and, second, to the place of sale of such items for domestic rather than industrial use. In both contexts, the term has expanded to include items made of steel, aluminium ...
(hardware) business at 26 Deansgate in Bolton. That business allowed him time to engage in other engineering pursuits as well as support his inventive activities. Thus, in February 1818, he acquired a patent for "An Improvement or Improvements Upon the Rotary Steam Engine." A newspaper account dated 8 August 1822 and quoted in ''Historical Gleanings Bolton & District'' describes him as the "spirited and ingenious inventor" of a portable, steam-powered machine that broke stones for road repair at the "astounding rate of 70 or 80 tons in ten hours," something "never before contemplated." About this time, his name appears among the original shareholders of Bolton Gaslight and Coke Company supplying gas to the towns of
Great Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...
and Little Bolton In 1822 he entered into a short-lived partnership (dissolved 1824) with William Kay of
Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
Lancashire to supply iron pillars to the specification of William Fairbairn for the "fireproof" Hudcar Mill, said to be state-of-the-art for cotton mills of the day. The Hudcar Mill, built for manufacturer Thomas Haslam, was demolished in 1977. Pigot and Dean's Directory of 1821–22 styles the partnership of Kay and Routledge as
Brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
and Ironfounders and
Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
s. Routledge undertook another engineering project with Joseph (1765–1842) and Thomas Ridgway (1778–1839) to extend and rearrange the pioneering
Wallsuches Wallsuches is a small district of Horwich, Greater Manchester, England. Etymology The etymology of the place-name itself is unclear, although it is believed the name may be from Old English ''wella'' (or the regional dialect variant wella) "strea ...
Bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color (whitening) from a fabric or fiber or to clean or to remove stains in a process called bleaching. It often refers specifically, to ...
Works in Horwich, Lancashsire sometime before leaving England, in 1824, for
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, Poland. Wallsuches Bleach Works is preserved as a
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
complex, described as a "rare survival of a once large scale important industry in the Bolton area". In Poland, Routledge engaged with Thomas Evans & Co of Warsaw to erect a large steam corn mill. This foundry was the forerunner of
Lilpop, Rau i Loewenstein Lilpop, Rau i Loewenstein (, often shortened to Lilpop or LRL) was a Polish engineering company. Established in 1818 as an iron foundry, with time it rose to become a large holding company specialising in iron and steel production, as well as all ...
, another noteworthy engineering firm distinguished by its expertise in the manufacture of railroad engines and other heavy-duty industrial machinery.


Family Connections

Joshua Routledge was twice married, first in 1798 to Mary King about whom nothing more has been found, except that a daughter Ann (1803–1814) came from that union."Family History Library"
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City Utah: Film 0918376


Hick Family

A contemporary of Routledge by the name of
Benjamin Hick Benjamin Hick (1 August 1790 – 9 September 1842) was an English civil and mechanical engineer, art collector and patron; his improvements to the steam engine and invention of scientific tools were held in high esteem by the engineering pr ...
(1787/90–1842) also received training at the Round Foundry, and the two ambitious young men left Leeds for greener pastures sometime around 1810. Both settled in Bolton Lancashire where engineering advances in the machinery needed for large scale cotton milling would soon bring about boom times for the whole region. Joshua witnessed the marriage of his sister Elizabeth (1783–1826) to Benjamin Hick in April 1811."Family History Library"
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City Utah: Film 6904337
Hick went on to found the highly respected Bolton engineering firm Benjamin Hick & Sons, later
Hick, Hargreaves & Co B. Hick and Sons, subsequently Hick, Hargreaves & Co, was a British engineering company based at the Soho Ironworks in Bolton, England. Benjamin Hick, a partner in Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell, later Rothwell, Hick & Co., set up the company in par ...
. Elizabeth and Benjamin had five children: Mary born in 1813, John in 1815, Benjamin in 1818, William in 1820, and Eliza Rachel in 1821.
John Hick John Harwood Hick (20 January 1922 – 9 February 2012) was a philosopher of religion and theologian born in England who taught in the United States for the larger part of his career. In philosophical theology, he made contributions in the are ...
, besides his notable engineering career while extending the family firm, distinguished himself as Bolton town councillor for 9 years before serving as a Conservative Member of Parliament from
1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...
to
1880 Events January–March * January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia. * January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy. * February � ...
.


Abel and Bowker Families

Soon after witnessing the marriage of Elizabeth and Benjamin, Joshua followed suit, marrying Frances Abel on 14 July 1811. Frances was the widow of James Abel (1770–1801), a prominent
Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
in Bolton. She had two children from that marriage, Mary Ann who died in 1802 aged 2 years and 9 months and Samuel (1802–1842). Upon marrying Joshua she became stepmother to his daughter Ann who died on 19 August 1814 and was buried, alongside her half siblings, in the Abel family plot at St Peter's Parish Church. Frances (1777–1844) came from the politically and socially active Bowker family. Her elder brothers, William Bowker (b 1768) and Jonathan (b 1770), made significant contributions to the building and running of Great and Little Bolton during the early 1800s. Bowker's Row, a small street in the heart of Bolton, is named for them. Both Jonathan and William are found on a list of "Bolton Politicians in 1806," and William was elected Boroughreeve in 1812. During 1819, in reference to the infamous Peterloo Massacre, William Bowker, as Boroughreeve, wrote a letter advising the local
Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
that the leading men of the town intended to protest by "meeting publicly to address the
Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness ...
on the late proceedings at
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
on the 16th of August last." Joshua Routledge was among the signers of the letter. Bolton Archives & Local Studies: ZHE11/15/82


Last Days

Tragically, Routledge contracted a cancerous tumor while in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
where he died on 8 February 1829 in a state of near penury, having received little or no payment or support from his employers during his illness. An 1888 newspaper article quoted one of the last entries in his diary: "F anny, his wifebeen up to Evans for money, but he did not give any; did nothing but abuse me as usual; and she abused him as ill, but he is callous to everything." After Joshua's death, Frances returned to Bolton with their three children: William (1812–1872), Frances (1814–1872), and Henry (1817–1884). William and Henry went into engineering along with their half-brother Samuel Abel. William and Henry both inherited the inventive spirit of their father, having, between the two, qualified for numerous mechanical patents in their day. Their sister Frances remained unmarried and nothing more of her career is known.


Legacy

The Routledge Engineer's Rule proved to be the model for further slide rule improvements during the 19th and even into the 20th century, including Wilkinson's Routledge's Spinners' Rule, Armstrong's Drafting Rule, Hawthorne's Locomotive Rule, Carrett's General Engineering Rule, and Noble's Eureka Slide Rule. In 1921, James Noble, an engineer at Sheffield, published the 7th edition of his ''Instructions for the Use of the Eureka Slide Rule'' in which he acknowledges the "Routledge Rule," stating that "ere long it will have to be taught in all towns throughout the Kingdom, as anyone who has the Rule well in hand will work out questions while another is committing them to paper."


References


External links


Science Museum
Working model of a Rotary Steam Engine patented by J. Routledge, 1818
''Instructions for the use of the Practical Engineer's & Mechanic's Improved Slide Rule''
as arranged by J. Routledge, engineer.

Routledge Engineer's Rule by Rabone and Sons
Classic Slide Rules
Routledge Engineer's Rule by Bradburn and Sons * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Routledge, Joshua Engineers from Yorkshire English inventors 1773 births 1829 deaths 19th-century English people 19th-century British engineers People of the Industrial Revolution British steam engine engineers People from Selby District