Simon Goodrich (1773–1847) was an engineer to the British

Navy Board The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the ...

Life

He was said to have been born 28 October 1773 in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. His education and training is unknown. In 1796 he was appointed draughtsman in the office of Sir

Samuel Bentham Sir Samuel Bentham (11 January 1757 – 31 May 1831) was a noted English mechanical engineer and naval architect credited with numerous innovations, particularly related to naval architecture, including weapons. He was the only surviving siblin ...

Inspector General of Naval Works Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

, and in 1799 was promoted to the post of Mechanist and Bentham's deputy. On the incorporation of the Naval Works Department with the Navy Board in 1808, he was given the title of Mechanist under the Civil Architect and Engineer. The office was discontinued on 25 Dec. 1812 on the abolition of the office of Civil Architect, when it was provided that Goodrich should have preference over others of his profession whenever his services were wanted.Order in council 28 Nov. 1812, TNA PC 2/194 pp. 67–70; ADM 7/819 pp. 293–4. Goodrich was responsible to Bentham for the management of the installation of the machinery at the

Portsmouth Block Mills The Portsmouth Block Mills form part of the Portsmouth Dockyard at Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, and were built during the Napoleonic Wars to supply the British Royal Navy with pulley blocks. They started the age of mass-production using ...

, and for the Metal Mills and millwright's shop at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. He was also responsible for the mechanical engineering work at all the other Naval Dockyards, and travelled incessantly on Naval business. As well as his main responsibilities over time he was involved in devising machinery for testing anchor chains; for investigating different firefighting apparatus used on shipboard; reporting on machinery for making rope and cordage, and on saw-milling apparatus; for making seagoing trials of steam vessels. He was also involved greatly in the day-to-day management of the manufacturing staff. He was in close contact with many of the important engineers of the time, including

Richard Trevithick Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a British inventor and mining engineer. The son of a mining captain, and born in the mining heartland of Cornwall, Trevithick was immersed in mining and engineering from an early age. He w ...

Matthew Murray Matthew Murray (1765 – 20 February 1826) was an English steam engine and machine tool manufacturer, who designed and built the first commercially viable steam locomotive, the twin cylinder ''Salamanca'' in 1812. He was an innovative design ...

Henry Maudslay Henry Maudslay ( pronunciation and spelling) (22 August 1771 – 14 February 1831) was an English machine tool innovator, tool and die maker, and inventor. He is considered a founding father of machine tool technology. His inventions were a ...

, Sir

Marc Isambard Brunel Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (, ; 25 April 1769 – 12 December 1849) was a French-British engineer who is most famous for the work he did in Britain. He constructed the Thames Tunnel and was the father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Born in Franc ...

and, particularly, Joshua Field.

Family

Goodrich married Susanna Lloyd on 25 December 1797 at the Navy church of Saint Martin in the Fields, Westminster and had two daughters. He lived at 9 Upper Eton St Pimlico in 1811 and in various locations in Portsmouth. On his retirement Goodrich moved to Lisbon, and died there 3 September 1847 and was survived by his wife.

Legacy

After his death, Goodrich's papers and drawings were returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and by 1875 were in a library collection somewhere (the location has yet to be discovered). They were later transferred to the library of the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

, London which has now been transferred to Wroughton, Swindon. The SML accessioning records give no clue about the origins. The Simon Goodrich papers are a source of detailed information about what is something of a dark age in our knowledge of the engineering background to 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 ...

References

* Woolrich, A. P., Goodrich, Simon, in '' A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers'' vol 1, (2002) p 261 * Coad, Jonathan, ''The Portsmouth Block Mills : Bentham, Brunel and the start of the Royal Navy's Industrial Revolution'', 2005, {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodrich, Simon 1773 births 1847 deaths Engineers from Suffolk