Alderman John Joseph Mechi (1802–1880) was a

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary great ...

, banker, inventor and

Alderman of the City of London The Court of Aldermen forms part of the senior governance of the City of London Corporation. It comprises twenty-five aldermen of the City of London, presided over by the Lord Mayor (becoming senior alderman during his year of office). The Cou ...

. He experimented with new farming methods on his estate at

Tiptree Tiptree is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Essex, situated south-west of Colchester and around north-east of London. Surrounding villages include Messing, Essex, Messing, Tolleshunt Knights, Toll ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. Mechi was born in London 22 May 1802, the third son of Giacomo Mechi, a citizen of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, who had settled in England early in life, was naturalised, and obtained a post at

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official L ...

in the household of

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of J. Beyer of Poland Street, London. John at the age of sixteen was placed as a clerk in a house in

Walbrook Walbrook is a City ward and a minor street in its vicinity. The ward is named after a river of the same name. The ward of Walbrook contains two of the City's most notable landmarks: the Bank of England and the Mansion House. The street runs ...

, trading with

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, a job he had for ten years. In 1828 he set up on his own account as a cutler in a small workshop at 130

Leadenhall Street __NOTOC__ Leadenhall Street () is a street in the City of London. It is about and links Cornhill, London, Cornhill in the west to Aldgate in the east. It was formerly the start of the A11 road (England), A11 road from London to Norwich, but th ...

, from where he removed to No. 4 in the same street in 1830. Between 1830 and 1840 he made his fortune through the 'magic razor strop' which bears his name After the

Crimean war The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

and a fashion for beards, sales declined. On 10 November 1840 he took out a patent for 'improvements in apparatus to be applied to lamps in order to carry off heat and the products of consumption'. This was for the external shop-window lamps. From 1859 to 1869 he was in partnership with Charles Bazan, and then gave up his city business and moved to 112,

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place ...

. In 1841, after studying English farming, he became interested in improvements in agriculture, and accordingly purchased a farm of about 130 acres, including Tiptree Hall, at

Tiptree Heath Tiptree Heath is a 25 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Tiptree in Essex, England. It is managed by the Essex Wildlife Trust together with the Friends of Tiptree Heath. This is the largest surviving area of he ...

, one of the least productive districts in

. Here he tried deep drainage and the application of steam power, and made the farm profitable. The press acknowledged the services he had rendered to agricultural science by the introduction of modern processes into his model farm. He was appointed to the shrievalty of London in 1856, and in 1858 elected an alderman of the city. He was a member of the council of the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, and was a juror in the department of art and science at

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...

of 1851 and at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1855. His 1857 publication, ''How to Farm Profitably'', had in various forms a circulation of ten thousand copies. The failure of the Unity Joint Stock Bank in 1866, of which he was a governor, and an unfortunate connection with the Unity Fire and General Life Assurance Office, caused him such heavy losses that, instead of becoming

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...

, he was in August 1866 obliged to resign his aldermanic gown. Many bad seasons followed at Tiptree farm, particularly that of 1879, and at last, worn out with

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

and broken-hearted, his affairs were put in liquidation on 14 December 1880. He died at Tiptree Hall on 26 December 1880, and was buried in Tiptree Church on 1 January 1881. He was married twice; firstly, in 1823, to Fanny Frost, and secondly, in 1846, Charlotte, daughter of Francis Ward of

Chillesford Chillesford is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the B1084 road which runs east to west. Chillesford is 3 miles northwest of the small town of Orford. It is 5 miles sou ...

, Suffolk. A subscription was made for his widow and daughters.

Bibliography

* ''Letters on Agriculture'', 1844 * ''A Series of Letters on Agricultural Improvement'', 1845 * ''On the Principles which ensure Success in Trade'' 1850; another edition 1856 * ''How to Farm Profitably, particularly on Stiff Heavy Clays'' 1857; several editions * ''On the Sewerage of Towns as it affects British Agriculture'', 1860 * ''Mr. Mechi's Farm Balance Sheets, also his Lectures and Papers on Farming'', 1867 * ''Profitable Farming: Mr. Mechi's Latest Agricultural Sayings and Doings, with Balance Sheets'', 1869 * ''Profitable Farming: Being the Second Series of the Sayings and Doings of J.J. Mechi'', 1872 * ''How to Farm Profitably: Third Series'', 1876 * ''Mr. Mechi's Statement to his Visitors on Agricultural Improvements'', 1878. ** Some of Mechi's statements were replied to in publications by W. W. Good in 1851 and 1852, and by R. Rolton in 1853

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mechi, John Joseph 1802 births 1880 deaths English silversmiths English bankers 19th-century English farmers Aldermen of the City of London English people with disabilities English agriculturalists English non-fiction outdoors writers English investors 19th-century British inventors Sheriffs in the United Kingdom People from Tiptree Burials in Essex 19th-century English businesspeople