William Pool was an inventor and

whitesmith A whitesmith is a metalworker who does finishing work on iron and steel such as filing, lathing, burnishing or polishing. The term also refers to a person who works with "white" or light-coloured metals, and is sometimes used as a synonym for tinsm ...

who worked in Lincoln. He was most notable for building an iron boat in 1820 and ''Pool’s Patent Principle'' for ''feathering'' paddle steamer wheels, which he patented in 1829.

Career

William Pool was born about 1783 at Thorne, Yorkshire, a shipbuilding port on the river

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

. About 1812 Pool moved to

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

and married Catherine Dobb of

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

. Their second child was baptised at St Michael's on the Mount, when they were living at Hospital Gate or Christ's Hospital Terrace, just below

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, also called Lincoln Minster, and formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, is a Church of England cathedral in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Lincoln and is the Mo ...

. In this period he is known to have re-hung the Cathedral Bells and worked for Lord Monson, designing kitchen ranges and smoke jacks at Burton Hall near Lincoln. In 1820 he was to build an iron ship near the Pyewipe inn on the Fossdyke, which he successfully rowed. With the increasing use of the

River Witham The River Witham is a river almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riversi ...

as a route for transporting passengers between Lincoln and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

there was demand for swifter transport between the two commercial centres. Pool came to know Henry Bell of Helensburgh and with his help, he worked on new designs for paddle steamers. In 1812 Bell built a steam powered paddle steamer called the which was a development of

William Symington William Symington (1764–1831) was a Scottish engineer and inventor during the Georgian era. He is most well known as the builder of the first practical steamboat, the Charlotte Dundas. The engine has been described as ''"without doubt the mo ...

's ''

Charlotte Dundas ''Charlotte Dundas'' is regarded as the world's second successful steamboat, the first towing steamboat and the boat that demonstrated the practicality of steam power for ships.Fry, p. 27. Early experiments Development of experimental steam eng ...

'' which had been launched in 1803. The ''Charlotte Dundas'' had a stern paddle wheel, while Bell was placing paddle wheels on the sides of the vessel. It was this design of

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

that William Pool was to develop. He designed a feathered paddle wheel that would smoothly cut the water instead of the paddles "slapping" the water. Paddle steamers could virtually double their speed, reaching . In June and July 1829 his "Pool's Patent Principle" were fitted to Captain Temperton's steam packet ''The Favourite'' and the first voyage was made on the 27 July. A return journey from Lincoln to Boston could now be completed in one day. On 16 September 1827 he was granted a patent by the Edinburgh Patent Office ''For certain improvements in machinery for propelling vessels and giving motion to mills and other machinery.'' His paddles were now fitted to other local paddle steamers such as the ''Countess of Warwick'', ''The British Queen'' and the ''Celerity'' and there was widespread adoption of his design.

References

Bibliography

*Obituary, Lincolnshire Chronicle. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pool, William English inventors Boat and ship designers 1780s births 1856 deaths