William Dent Priestman (23 August 1847 7 September 1936), born near
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south- ...
was a Quaker and engineering pioneer, inventor of the Priestman Oil Engine, and co-founder with his brother Samuel of the
Priestman Brothers engineering company, manufacturers of cranes, winches and excavators. Priestman Brothers built the earliest recorded
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...
powered by an
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...
.
Biography
William along with ten other offspring was the son of Leeds corn-miller (and latterly
NER director) Samuel Priestman.
["Priestman, William Dent". Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology]
He was educated at
Bootham School
Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England.
The schoo ...
in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, and then apprenticed at the Humber Iron Works, later at the
North Eastern Railway (NER) in
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...
. In 1869 he then joined the engineering company owned by
William Armstrong.
(William Armstrong & Company, later to become
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...
).
His father purchased the Holderness Foundry in Hull, and he began to do business independently; his brother joined him at the company, which later became
Priestman Brothers.
In the 1870s a licence to manufacture petrol engines (of a type designed by Eugène Etève, similar to
Étienne Lenoir
Jean Joseph Étienne Lenoir, also known as Jean J. Lenoir (12 January 1822 – 4 August 1900), was a Belgian-French engineer who developed the internal combustion engine in 1858. Prior designs for such engines were patented as early as 1807 ( ...
's engines) was obtained. The dangers and insurance costs of engines run on highly flammable petrol caused him to investigate the use of lamp oil in internal combustion engines. He obtained patents, including a patent for an oil vaporiser in 1885.
His investigations led him to develop one of the first reliable engines to work on a fuel heavier (more viscous and with a higher boiling point) than petrol,
known as the 'Priestman Oil Engine'.
In 1894 William and Samuel Priestman were given the
John Scott Award for their engine.
Having lost control of the Priestman company in 1895 following insolvency William spent the rest of his life helping others. He died in Hull in 1936.
Legacy
The Priestman Oil Engine
The Priestman Oil Engine used a pressurised fuel tank, and fuel injection through a nozzle into a chamber heated by exhaust gasses in order to create a suitably combustible mixture in the cylinder. Incomplete vaporisation of the fuel resulted in some condensation on the walls of the cylinder; as a result the fuel both lubricated the cylinder as well as providing power. The engine also controlled the speed by connections between valves on the fuel inlets and a speed governor.
Ignition was by
electric spark
An electric spark is an abrupt electrical discharge that occurs when a sufficiently high electric field creates an ionized, electrically conductive channel through a normally-insulating medium, often air or other gases or gas mixtures. Michael F ...
.
The engine was produced from 1888 to 1904 with over 1,000 engines manufactured,
and found use on barges. One engine was trialled on the
Hull and Barnsley Railway
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in af ...
powering a shunting locomotive, this is the earliest known example of a locomotive powered by an internal combustion engine.
One engine has been preserved as a stationary exhibit at the
Streetlife Museum of Transport in
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south- ...
. The engine design was recognised by the Engineering Heritage Hallmark Scheme awarded by the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...
in 2000 for its significance in British engineering history.
Priestman Brothers
The company founded by William and Samuel Priestman produced diggers and dredgers as well as engines; in 1895 the company became bankrupt, and the brothers lost control of the firm. The company continued in the business of producing diggers and dredgers well into the latter half of the 20th century.
Other
In addition to his contribution to industry Priestman was also credited with inducing Sir
Edward Fry
Sir Edward Fry, (4 November 1827 – 19 October 1918) was an English Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Lord Justice of Appeal (1883–1892) and an arbitrator on the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Biography
Joseph Fry (1795-1879) and Mar ...
to introduce an initial draft of the Bribery and Illicit Communications Act.
See also
*
Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine
The Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine, named after its inventor Herbert Akroyd Stuart and the manufacturer Richard Hornsby & Sons, was the first successful design of an internal combustion engine using heavy oil as a fuel. It was the first to use a s ...
*
History of the internal combustion engine
Various scientists and engineers contributed to the development of internal combustion engines. In 1791, the English inventor John Barber patented a gas turbine. In 1794 Thomas Mead patented a gas engine. Also in 1794 Robert Street patented an i ...
References
Literature
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Priestman, William Dent
Engineers from Kingston upon Hull
English Quakers
British mechanical engineers
1847 births
1936 deaths
Businesspeople from Kingston upon Hull
People educated at Bootham School