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William Pool was an inventor and
He designed a feathered paddle wheel that would smoothly cut the water instead of the paddles "slapping" the water. Paddle steamers could virtually double their speed, reaching . In June and July 1829 his ‘’Pool’s Patent Principle’’ were fitted to Captain Temperton's steam packet ''The Favourite'' and the first voyage was made on the 27 July. A return journey from Lincoln to Boston could now be completed in one day.
On 16 September 1827 he was granted a patent by the Edinburgh Patent Office ''For certain improvements in machinery for propelling vessels and giving motion to mills and other machinery.'' His paddles were now fitted to other local paddle steamers such as the ''Countess of Warwick'', ''The British Queen'' and the ''Celerity'' and there was widespread adoption of his design.
whitesmith A whitesmith is a metalworker who does finishing work on iron and steel such as filing, lathing, burnishing or polishing.
The term also refers to a person who works with "white" or light-coloured metals, and is sometimes used as a synonym for tinsmi ...
who worked in Lincoln. He was most notable for building an iron boat in 1820 and ''Pool’s Patent Principle'' for ''feathering'' paddle steamer wheels, which he patented in 1829.
Career
William Pool was born about 1783 at Thorne, Yorkshire, a shipbuilding port on the riverDon
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
. About 1812 Pool moved to Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
and married Catherine Dobb of Rotherham
Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
. Their second child was baptised at St Michael's on the Mount, when they were living at Hospital Gate or Christ's Hospital Terrace, just below Lincoln Cathedral. In this period he is known to have re-hung the Cathedral Bells and worked for Lord Monson, designing kitchen ranges and smoke jacks at Burton Hall near Lincoln. In 1820 he was to build an iron ship near the Pyewipe inn on the Fossdyke, which he successfully rowed.
With the increasing use of the River Witham
The River Witham is a river almost entirely in the county of Lincolnshire in the east of England. It rises south of Grantham close to South Witham at , passes through the centre of Grantham (where it may be closely followed using the Riversi ...
as a route for transporting passengers between Lincoln and Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
there was demand for swifter transport between the two commercial centres. Pool came to know Henry Bell of Helensburgh and with his help, he worked on new designs for paddle steamers. In 1812 Bell had built a steam powered paddle steamer called the which was a development of William Symington
William Symington (1764–1831) was a Scottish engineer and inventor, and the builder of the first practical steamboat, the Charlotte Dundas.
Early life
Symington was born in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, to a family he described as ...
’s '' Charlotte Dundas'' which had been launched in 1803. The ''Charlotte Dundas'' had a stern paddle wheel, while Bell was placing paddle wheels on the sides of the vessel. It was this design of paddle steamer
A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses we ...
that William Pool was to develop. He designed a feathered paddle wheel that would smoothly cut the water instead of the paddles "slapping" the water. Paddle steamers could virtually double their speed, reaching . In June and July 1829 his ‘’Pool’s Patent Principle’’ were fitted to Captain Temperton's steam packet ''The Favourite'' and the first voyage was made on the 27 July. A return journey from Lincoln to Boston could now be completed in one day.
On 16 September 1827 he was granted a patent by the Edinburgh Patent Office ''For certain improvements in machinery for propelling vessels and giving motion to mills and other machinery.'' His paddles were now fitted to other local paddle steamers such as the ''Countess of Warwick'', ''The British Queen'' and the ''Celerity'' and there was widespread adoption of his design.
References
Bibliography
*Obituary, Lincolnshire Chronicle. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pool, William English inventors Boat and ship designers 1780s births 1856 deaths