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William Kennish (1799 – March 19, 1862) was an engineer, inventor, explorer, scientist, and poet, known primarily for inventions developed while he served in the
British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fra ...
(1821–1841). They ranged from improvements for artillery to navigation and steering devices. After retiring from the Navy, Kennish worked as a schoolteacher on the Isle of Man. But in 1849, he migrated to the United States for more opportunities. He began surveying gold lands in Colombia,
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
, for firms based in New York City. In 1855 he completed a report on a potential river aqueduct or canal across the northwest isthmus of present-day
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
, using the
Atrato River The Atrato River () is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá (or Gulf of Darién), where it forms a large, swampy delta. Its course crosses the Ch ...
and emptying into Bahia Humboldt, Chocó and the Pacific Ocean. That year Congress approved a joint military expedition of a US Navy and Army party to explore this, and Kennish acted as their guide. He later died in New York.


Life

Kennish was born in the Parish of Maughold, on the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...
, in a cottage at Cornaa on the Douglas-Ramsey Road. His parents were farmers, and he learned farming from his father. He grew up speaking Manx as his first language. He knew very little English until after he became a seaman in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...
at the age of 22. He learned English and rose to the rank of Master Carpenter by the time he was 27. In October 1826, he married Mary Byford, of Gillingham,
Chatham, Kent Chatham ( ) is a town located within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. The town developed around Chatham ...
, England.A. W. Moore, Chap. 6: ''Manx Worthies or Biographies of Notable Manx Men and Women'', pp. 188-121, Douglas, Isle of Man: S.K. Broadbent & Co., 1901 Between 1827 and 1832, while in the service of the Royal Navy, he invented a system ("A Method for Concentrating the Fire of a Broadside") for improving the aiming of naval artillery. Other inventions included a fuze for a shell, and a system for floating naval artillery to shore for land use. He invented a marine theodolite
, which was a key element of his improved method. He proposed the practice of painting naval vessels grey to reduce the distortion and decay caused by solar radiation on black-painted timbers. He also worked on creating an artificial horizon for navigation; a[n] automatic depth-sounding instrument; a method of drowning the magazine of a ship of war; an hydraulic ventilator; [and] a hydrostatic diving machine[.] When the Royal Navy became interested in
steam propulsion A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tran ...
, between 1832 and 1840, Kennish designed several steam engines and an early
screw propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upo ...
; but the Royal Navy did not take up his ideas. Disenchanted, he retired from the Royal Navy in November 1841. He worked for the Civilian Architect's Office at Woolwich Dockyard,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, until March 1844, when he and his family departed to settle on the Isle of Man. After leaving the Royal Navy and his scientific pursuits, Kennish began writing poetry about 1840. His collection of poems, ''Mona's Isle and Other Poems'', was published in 1844 in London, and was promoted in newspapers on the Isle of Man. In 1845 Kennish was hired as a parochial school master in Ballasalla but was not successful. In debt, he was imprisoned for debt for a brief time that year in Castle Rushen, Isle of Man. Shortly after this the debt was resolved, and Kennish was hired by the Royal Navy to conduct surveys of the coastline of the Isle of Man. Also about this time, he invented a pneumatic tube system to convey messages and suggested its use to the Admiralty. They did not adopt it but it was later used by the General Post Office in London. He promoted the idea after migrating to the United States, and it became widely used there in the years after his death.William Kennish


Migration to the USA

In 1849, Kennish migrated to the United States for more opportunities. He soon began surveying gold-bearing land in
Chocó Department, Colombia Choco or Chocó may refer to: *El Chocó, a region in western Colombia and adjacent parts of Panama and Ecuador **Chocó–Darién moist forests **Pacific/Chocó natural region **Chocó Department, Colombian administrative region *Choco languages, ...
, in South America. In 1855 he planned a route for an inter-oceanic river aqueduct across the northwest isthmus in this province, for the Hope Association of New York. His report on his survey of this proposed canal route was included in ''The Practicality and Importance of a Ship Canal to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans'', published in 1855 by George F. Nesbitt & Co. of New York. According to his papers, Kennish proposed to use part of the
Atrato River The Atrato River () is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá (or Gulf of Darién), where it forms a large, swampy delta. Its course crosses the Ch ...
(which flows north into the Atlantic), and possibly its tributary Rio Truando, to create a river aqueduct and inter-oceanic route across the isthmus of northwest present-day
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
, through Nerqua Pass and the valley of the Nerqua, to empty into Bahía Humboldt on the
Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
side. That year the US Congress approved a joint US Navy-Army military expedition to explore Kennish's proposed route in
Chocó Department, Colombia Choco or Chocó may refer to: *El Chocó, a region in western Colombia and adjacent parts of Panama and Ecuador **Chocó–Darién moist forests **Pacific/Chocó natural region **Chocó Department, Colombian administrative region *Choco languages, ...
. He was chosen as guide for the expedition. Kennish died in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 1862. Colombia, which then controlled all of the isthmus, rejected an offer from the US in the 19th century to build a canal across it. No further United States action was taken on a canal until after
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
revolted against Colombia and became independent in 1903. The Panamanians "negotiated a treaty with the United States that created a Canal Zone 10 miles (16 km) wide under U.S. sovereignty in exchange for an agreement by the United States to build the canal and to provide a regular annual payment to Panama. Although the U.S. government later agreed to pay $25 million to Colombia, the episode embittered Colombian-U.S. relations for many years." The canal was constructed from 1904 to 1914.


References


External links


''Mona's Isle and Other Poems''
available on ManxLiterature.com
William Kennish Biography
at kennish.com

at isle-of-man.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennish, William 1799 births 1862 deaths 19th-century British poets 19th-century Manx writers Manx emigrants to the United States Manx poets Panama Canal