] Angier March Perkins (21 August 1799 – 22 April 1881) was an American

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

who worked most of his career in the United Kingdom and was instrumental in developing the new technologies of

central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. A central heating system has a Furnace (central heating), furnace that converts fuel or electricity to heat through processes. The he ...

Life

Perkins was born in Old Newburyport, Massachusetts, the second son of six children of

Jacob Perkins Jacob Perkins (July 9, 1766 – July 30, 1849) was an American inventor, mechanical engineer and physicist based in the United Kingdom. Born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Perkins was apprenticed to a goldsmith. He soon made himself known with a ...

and his wife, Hannah, ''née'' Greenleaf. His name came from that of his father's brother in-law and close friend Angier March. Jacob Perkins travelled to the UK in 1819 in order to exploit his

bank note A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commer ...

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

inventions and Angier March followed in 1821 to join his father in the printing business.McConnell (2004) Angier March eventually took charge of his father's business but in 1828 launched his own heating and steam engineering enterprise. He married Julia Georgina Brown in 1831 and in the same year filed the first of his

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s for heating equipment. His first steam heating system was installed in 1832 in the home of

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent choosing and mentoring a successor. The governor ...

John Horley Palmer so that the owner could grow

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

s. He also installed heating systems in commercial premises. Angier March's business prospered and he moved to larger premises, sharing an office with his father who, though still inventive, enjoyed less commercial success. He ultimately became involved in improved methods for

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...

iron and designs for

piping and plumbing fittings A fitting or adapter is used in pipe systems to connect sections of pipe (designated by nominal size, with greater tolerances of variance) or tube (designated by actual size, with lower tolerance for variance), adapt to different sizes or ...

. His high-pressure steam technology proved to have other uses, including a mobile baker's

oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool that is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...

for the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

Family

Angier March had two sons: *Angier Greenleaf Perkins (1832–1871), also an engineer; *

Loftus Perkins Loftus Perkins (8 May 1834 – 27 April 1891) was an English engineer, particularly involved in developing the practical technologies of central heating and refrigeration. Life Perkins was born in London, the son of Angier March Perkins and was ...

(1834–1891), was

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

d to his father in 1848 becoming a partner in A. M. Perkins & Son in 1866. Angier March died April 22, 1881, at his family home in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

and was buried in the family vault in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

. He was age 81.

Honours and offices

*Associate of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...

, (1840); *

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

, (1849).

References

Bibliography

* *McConnell, A. (2004)
Perkins, Angier March (1799–1881)
, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', Oxford University Press, accessed 14 August 2007 (subscription required)

External links

*
A history of the development of the Baker Perkins Group
Baker Perkins Historical Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Perkins, Angier March 1799 births 1881 deaths American engineers Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery American expatriates in the United Kingdom