Thomas Hewes was a

millwright A millwright is a craftsperson or skilled tradesperson who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mecha ...

, textile machine manufacturer and civil engineer professionally active in England from 1790 to 1830. He was born in

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

Kent in 1768.

Early works

He installed the

Boulton and Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Eng ...

steam engine and associated millwork in McConnel and Kennedy's Old Mill,

Ancoats Ancoats is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is located next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre. Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has ...

in 1797.

Water wheels

In 1802 he was involved in building the mill, supplying the spinning machinery and erecting a 40 ft diameter iron water-wheel at George Allman's cotton mill in Bandon, County Cork, Ireland. It is speculated that he used iron in these mills in an early attempt at fireproof construction. The water wheel at Bandon was of iron- but in 1805 he built a wheel at Darley with a cast iron axle. He was involved in Belper in 1811 improving and replacing the wooden wheels used by Arkwright and Strutt. . These wheels were suspension wheels 21 ft 6in in diameter and 15 ft in width. The wheel were rim-drivenThe spokes were in diameter. The Belper wheel was controlled by a governor. He supplied a wheel to

Quarry Bank Mill Quarry Bank Mill (also known as Styal Mill) in Styal, Cheshire, England, is one of the best preserved textile factories of the Industrial Revolution. Built in 1784, the cotton mill is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a ...

in 1807, which he repaired in 1815 and in 1819 designed and installed the 'Great Wheel.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography Millwrights 1768 births Year of death missing {{UK-engineer-stub