{{Infobox person , honorific_prefix = , name = Joseph Elkington , honorific_suffix = , image = Joseph Elkington.jpg , caption = , alt = black and white reproduction of a painted, bust-length portrait of a white male , birth_name = , birth_date = Baptised 1 January 1740 , birth_place =

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, England , death_date = October 1806 , death_place = , death_cause = , resting_place = Graveyard of

All Saints' Church, Madeley All Saints' Church is an Anglican church in Madeley, Staffordshire, England, and in the Diocese of Lichfield. The building dates mostly from the 14th and 15th centuries, and the chancel was rebuilt in the 19th century. It is Grade I listed. Desc ...

, Staffordshire, England , resting_place_coordinates = , monuments = In All Saints' churchyard,

Stretton-on-Dunsmore Stretton-on-Dunsmore is a village and civil parish in the English county of Warwickshire. Its population in the 2001 Census was recorded as 1,143, rising slightly to 1,159 at the 2011 Census. In the 19th century the population was 634. The vill ...

, Warwickshire , nationality = English , other_names = , education = , alma_mater = , occupation = {{Plainlist, * Farmer * Drainage engineer , known_for = Improvements to land drainage , notable_works = , spouse = , children = , parents = , relatives = George Elkington (grandson) , awards = £1,000 and gold ring Joseph Elkington (baptised 1 January 1740H. S. Torrens, 'Elkington, Joseph (bap. 1740, d. 1806)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 16 Feb 2013
/ref> at

, died October 1806) was an English agriculturalist, lauded by parliament for his reforms to land drainage.{{Cite web, title = Farm engineer Joseph Elkington was an expert in his field, last=Upton, first=Chris, work = Birmingham Post, date = 15 February 2013, accessdate = 2013-02-16, url = http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leisure-birmingham-guide/postfeatures/2013/02/15/farm-engineer-joseph-elkington-was-an-expert-in-his-field-65233-32809502/

Career

While farming at

Princethorpe Princethorpe is a village and civil parish in the Rugby district of Warwickshire, England. In the 2011 census the parish had a population 376, increasing to 429 at the 2021 census. Princethorpe is located roughly halfway between the towns of Ru ...

, Warwickshire he devised a way of using

borehole A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petrol ...

s to drain boggy land. For this innovation, and concerned that his frail health would result in the loss of his knowledge before it was shared, parliament awarded him, in 1795, £1,000 and a gold ring. Edinburgh land surveyor John Johnstone (d. 1838) was employed by the Board of Agriculture to study Elkington's methods. Elkington subsequently worked in partnership with

Lancelot "Capability" Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English la ...

to develop drainage plans for the latter's landscaping schemes, starting with one at Fisherwick Park near

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

. Elkington moved to Hey House in Staffordshire in 1797 to farm {{convert, 500, acres, ha of land at Madeley, which became known as Bog Farm.

Personal life

Elkington was the eldest son of Joseph Elkington (1697–1758), a yeoman farmer, and Mary, née Gallimore (died 1750). He had

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

. He married Sarah Webb (baptised 1738, died 1821), daughter of Richard and Mary, on 26 December 1760. Nine of their children survived Elkington. His grandson was the industrialist George Elkington. He died at Hay House on 17 October 1806 and was buried in the churchyard at

on 20 October. A monument to him in All Saints' churchyard, Stretton-on-Dunsmore, calls him a "pioneer of land drainage".

References

{{Reflist

External links

Stretton-on-Dunsmore History Society page
with pictures of the memorial

with picture of the ring {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Elkington, Joseph 1806 deaths People from Warwickshire (before 1974) People from Madeley, Staffordshire English civil engineers 18th-century English farmers Year of birth unknown People with epilepsy 1740 births 19th-century English farmers

Career

Personal life

Further reading

References

External links