John Gilbert (1724–1795) was

land agent Land agent may be used in at least three different contexts. Traditionally, a land agent was a managerial employee who conducted the business affairs of a large estate (house), landed estate for a member of the landed gentry, supervising the farmi ...

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 ...

to the third Duke of Bridgewater and is credited with the idea that led to the building of the

Bridgewater Canal The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, Greater Manchester, Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester. It was ...

. John Gilbert was born in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. When he was aged 12–13 he was apprenticed to Matthew Boulton, a manufacturer of small metal objects and the father of

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 ...

, the engineer. When Gilbert was aged 19 his father died and he left his apprenticeship to superintend the family

lime Lime commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Botany ...

works. John's brother, Thomas, was working as agent to Lord Gower, brother-in-law of the Duke of Bridgewater. Thomas invited John to inspect the Duke's coal mines at

Worsley Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county ...

, and here John suggested the idea of a canal, to drain the mines and to convey the coal.Anon, p. 42. Around 1758 John was appointed as the Duke's agent and moved to live in Worsley. Here he started on the levelling and surveying work necessary for this project. Later

James Brindley James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century. Early life Born i ...

was appointed as engineer to the canal and the Duke, Gilbert and Brindley worked on the plans for the canal and supervised its building from

Worsley Old Hall Worsley Old Hall is a public house and restaurant in Worsley, Greater Manchester, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. History The present building on the site dates fr ...

. For the Duke, Gilbert also ran the

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

farm and set up a lead pencil factory at Worsley using

plumbago ''Plumbago'' is a genus of 10–20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. Common names include plumbago and leadwort (names which are also shared by the genus '' Cerat ...

from the Duke's mines in Keswick. When lime was found on the Duke's estate, Gilbert's previous experience helped to develop lime burning as an additional source of revenue. As separate undertakings, Gilbert worked on the drainage of

Martin Mere Martin Mere is a Mere (lake), mere near Burscough, in Lancashire, England, on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The mere is a vast marsh, around that was, until it was drained, the largest body of fresh water in England. History Martin Mere ...

and in the reclamation of the northern portion of

Chat Moss Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up part of the City of Salford, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. It also makes up part of Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside and Warrington ...

. In the 1770s Gilbert worked as agent for the

Duke of Devonshire Duke of Devonshire is a title in the Peerage of England held by members of the Cavendish family. This (now the senior) branch of the Cavendish family has been one of the wealthiest British aristocratic families since the 16th century and has be ...

working on a project to build an underground canal for his Ecton Hill mines. In the 1780s Gilbert developed the first deep salt mine at Marston Mine near the

Lion Salt Works The Lion Salt Works is the last remaining open pan salt works in Marston, near Northwich, Cheshire, England. It closed as a work in 1986 and is now preserved as a museum. History John Thompson Junior and his son Henry Ingram Thompson, a membe ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. At the time of his death work was proceeding to his design of an

inclined plane An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...

within the Worsley mining system.

References

Citations Sources * :Although no details of author and date are given, this is likely to be a reliable source as it was published for the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the river ...

Company in 1973 or later (a picture of the reopening of the canal is on the cover).

See also

References

Further reading