of John Dollond, the celebrated inventor of the Achromatic Refracting
Telescope, who, during the greater portion of his life, was engaged in
the business of a silk-manufacturer, in Stuart Street, Spitalfields.
Here Peter Dollond was born and spent the early portion of his life.
On reaching manhood he engaged in the same occupation as his father,
and for several years they carried on their manufactures together in
Spitalfields. Peter Dollond had, however, acquired some knowledge
of the theory of Optics, and he determined, if possible, to turn
the knowledge he had gained to the improvement of himself and his
family. He accordingly commenced business as an optician, under the
direction of his father, in the year 1750, occupying a small house
in Vine Street, Spitalfields. In 1752 John Dollond, who up till
then had pursued his original occupation, grew weary of pursuits so
little in accordance with the natural bent of his mind, and entered
into partnership with his son, in a house near to Exeter Change, in
the Strand. Here father and son began and continued that series of
experimental researches which, in June 1758, led to the memorable
conclusion on which was founded the construction of the Achromatic
Refracting Telescope. In the following year a patent was obtained for
the exclusive sale of these telescopes, but so limited were the means
of the authors of this invention, that, in order to defray the expenses
of the patent, they were compelled to sell a moiety of its value to an
optician, with whom they entered into partnership. Notwithstanding the
great practical value of this discovery, it produced little benefit
for some years to the owners of the patent. In 1761 John Dollond
died, leaving to his son Peter the task of carrying on the business
in partnership with the optician who had paid for the patent. This
connection was, however, of short duration, for the conduct of his
partner was so unsatisfactory, that in 1763 Mr. Dollond purchased from
him his share in the business for 200_l._, the full commercial value of
this most important discovery being considered at that time to be worth
only 400_l._ Peter Dollond was now in possession of the entire patent,
and he was soon called upon to contest its validity with the very man
who had so lately been concerned in protecting it. These suits were
uniformly decided in favour of Dollond, and although vexatious in their
character, were of advantage to him, not only in their immediate issue,
but also in extending the name, reputation, and sale of the object
whose right of ownership was contested.
Mr. Dollond now began to be more generally known, and made the
acquaintance of many of the philosophical men of the time, becoming
intimate with Dr. Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal at that period, and
with Mr. James Short, a man highly distinguished in arts and science.
To this latter gentleman he, in 1765, proposed an improvement in the
Achromatic Telescope, which Mr. Short laid before the Royal Society,
at the same time signifying that it had his entire concurrence and
approval. Among other works of Dollond are an improvement of Headley's
Quadrant, communicated to the Royal Society, in 1772, by the Astronomer
Royal; and an apparatus for the improvement of the Equatorial
instrument, laid before the Society, through the same medium, in 1779.
Mr. Dollond had now earned for himself a well-deserved reputation. In
1786 the American Philosophical Society, unsolicited, and with the
approval of Benjamin Franklin, elected him a member of their society.
About the year 1766 the optical business had been removed from the
Strand to St. Paul's Churchyard, where it became so extensive and
prosperous, that Mr. Dollond took into partnership his brother John.
For nearly forty years the brothers resided here, endeavouring, by
their cordial and united efforts, to improve and extend each branch of
their profession. In 1804 John, the younger brother, died, and in the
following year his place was supplied by a nephew, George Huggins, who,
on being admitted into partnership, changed his name to Dollond, and
eventually succeeded to the whole concern. In 1817 Peter Dollond took
up his residence at Richmond Hill, remaining there till June 1820, when
he removed to Kennington Common, where he breathed his last, having
arrived at his 90th year.--_Memoir by the Rev. Dr. Kelly._
BRYAN DONKIN, F.R.S., &c.
Born March 22, 1768. Died February 27, 1855.
Bryan Donkin was born at Sandoe, in Northumberland. His father, who
followed the business of a surveyor and land agent, was acquainted with
John Smeaton, the eminent engineer, from having had occasion to consult
him frequently on questions relating to the bridges and other works
on the Tyne. Donkin early showed a taste for science and mechanics,
and when almost a child was to be found continually occupied in making
various ingenious mechanical contrivances. He commenced life in the
same business as his father, being engaged for a year or two as land
agent to the Duke of Dorset. Donkin, however, soon showed the bent
of his natural genius by quitting this agency, and going to consult
Smeaton as to how he could best become an engineer. By Smeaton's
advice, he apprenticed himself to Mr. Hall, of Dartford, in the
carrying on of whose works he was soon able to take so active a part,
that in 1801-2 he was principally entrusted with the construction of a
model of the first machine for making paper, the execution of which had
been put into Messrs. Hall's hands by the Messrs. Fourdrinier. The idea
of this machine originated with Mr. Roberts, and formed the subject
of a patent, which was assigned to Messrs. Bloxam and Fourdrinier.
After considerable expense had been incurred, and many trials made
with the model, the paper produced was found to be of too inferior a
quality for sale. The model remained at Mr. Hall's works for some time,
till at length Donkin agreed with the owners to take the matter in
hand himself, and for this purpose took premises at Bermondsey (still
occupied by his sons). In 1804 he succeeded in producing a machine
which, on being erected at Frogmore, Herts, and set to work, was found
to be successful, although still far from perfect. A second one, in
which still further improvements were introduced, was consequently made
the following year and erected at Two-waters; and in 1810 eighteen
more of these complex machines were erected at various mills, some of
which are even now at work. The practical difficulties having been
at length overcome, these machines soon superseded, both at home and
abroad, the ordinary method of making paper by hand; and although the
original idea was not Mr. Donkin's, still to him the credit is due of
having developed, and practically introduced into general use, these
most useful and complete mechanical contrivances, by means of which the
process of making paper is carried on uninterruptedly from the liquid
pulp to the perfect sheet ready for writing or printing.
About the year 1812 Donkin's attention was turned to the subject of the
preservation of meat and vegetables in air-tight cases, and he erected
a considerable manufactory for this purpose at Bermondsey. Mr. Donkin
was also one of the first to introduce improvements into printing
machinery. In 1813 he, in conjunction with Mr. Bacon, secured a patent
for a Polygonal printing machine, and in the same year invented and
brought into use composition rollers, by which some of the greatest
difficulties experienced at that time in printing by machinery were
overcome. Among other inventions and mechanical contrivances of
Donkin's are a very beautiful screw-cutting and dividing machine; an
instrument to measure the velocity of the rotation of machinery; and
a counting engine: for the two last gold medals were awarded by the
Society of Arts. In 1820 Mr. Donkin was much engaged with Sir William
Congreve in contriving a method of printing stamps in two colours, with
compound plates, for the prevention of forgery; and with the aid of
Mr. Wilks, who was at that time his partner, he produced the beautiful
machine now used at the Excise and Stamp Offices, and by the East India
Company at Calcutta.
Mr. Donkin was an early member of the Society of Arts, and became one
of the vice-presidents. From this society he received two medals, one
for his invention of an instrument to measure the velocity of the
rotation of machinery, and another for his counting-engine.
During the last forty years of his life he was greatly occupied as a
civil engineer, and was one of the originators and a vice-president
of the Institution of Civil Engineers, which was founded by one
of his pupils, Mr. Henry Palmer, and a few other gentlemen, the
Royal Charter being obtained by Mr. Telford and himself. He died
in his eighty-seventh year, having passed a long life in an almost
uninterrupted course of usefulness and good purpose.--_From the
Proceedings of the Royal Society_, Nov. 30, 1855.
WILLIAM JAMES FRODSHAM, F.R.S.
Born July 25, 1778. Died June 29, 1850.
William J. Frodsham was born in London, and brought up under the care
of his grandfather, a great admirer of John Harrison, the inventor
of the timekeeper for ascertaining the longitude at sea. From thus
spending his early life with his grandfather, young Frodsham acquired a
strong desire to engage in the business of chronometer making, he was
consequently apprenticed to a man eminent in that art. Shortly after
completing his apprenticeship Mr. Frodsham, in the year 1800, entered
into partnership with Mr. W. Parkinson of Lancaster, and hence arose
the celebrated firm of Parkinson and Frodsham.
During his entire life Mr. Frodsham devoted himself to the advancement
of the art he had engaged in, and being ably assisted by his
partner effected various improvements in chronometers, watches, and
other timekeepers, and was also the author of a paper on pendulum
experiments. Mr. Frodsham lived to an advanced age, surviving his
partner by many years. During his career he acquired a large fortune,
which he bequeathed to his family, leaving at the same time a sum of
1000_l._ to the Clockmakers' Company, of which he had been Master
several times during his life. Mr. Frodsham died at Chatham Place,
Hackney, and was buried in Highgate Cemetery.
DAVIES GIDDY GILBERT, D.C.L., P.R.S.
Born March 6, 1767. Died December 24, 1839.
Davies Giddy Gilbert was born at Tredrea, in the parish of St. Erth,
in the west of Cornwall. His paternal name was Giddy, his father
being the Rev. Edward Giddy of St. Erth. His mother, an heiress of
very considerable property, was Catherine Davies, allied to the noble
family of Sandys, and a descendant of William Noye, attorney general
in the reign of Charles the First. Young Giddy, not being of very
robust health, was reared with great care, and his education chiefly
superintended by his father, who was an accomplished scholar, and a man
of acknowledged ability and attainments.
As Gilbert grew up, it was thought desirable to place him in the
grammar school at Penzance; and for this purpose his parents
removed for about eighteen months to that town. In 1782 they went to
Bristol, where their son's studies were assisted for some time by Mr.
Benjamin Donne. In 1785 Gilbert matriculated at Oxford, and became a
gentleman-commoner of Pembroke College. He was already master of a
considerable amount of mathematical and physical knowledge, the greater
portion of which he had acquired by almost unassisted application.
While residing at the University he associated with the senior members
of his college, preferring their company to that of students of his own
age; and considering the natural bent of his tastes, which led him to
prefer the study of the severer sciences to the elegancies of classical
literature, it is not surprising that such should be the case. Dr.
Parr, writing at this time to the late Master of Pembroke, speaks of
Mr. Giddy, then twenty-three years old, as 'the Cornish Philosopher,'
and adds that he deserved that name.
During his residence at Oxford, Gilbert was a regular attendant at
the lectures on anatomy and mineralogy, delivered by Dr. Thompson,
at Christ Church. He also attended with assiduity the lectures on
chemistry and botany of Drs. Beddoes and Sibthorp, with whom he
contracted a friendship, which terminated only with their lives. To
the former of these two gentlemen Gilbert subsequently introduced his
friend Sir Humphry Davy, at that time in comparatively humble life, but
whose extraordinary combination of poetical and philosophical genius
had attracted Gilbert's attention, and he thus had the merit and good
fortune of contributing to rescue from obscurity one of the greatest
discoverers in modern chemistry.
Mr. Gilbert continued to reside principally at his college until the
year 1793, when, having previously taken the honorary degree of M.A.,
he returned to Cornwall to serve as sheriff, and to divide his time,
between the cultivation of science and literature, and the duties
of a magistrate in a populous and busy town. Previous to this, in
the year 1791, he had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society,
his certificate describing him as being "devoted to mathematical and
philosophical pursuits." It was signed by Thomas Hornsby, Savilian
professor of astronomy, G. Shuckburgh, N. Maskelyne, George Staunton,
and other Fellows. In 1804 Mr. Gilbert became a member of Parliament
for Helstone, and at the general election in 1806, was chosen to
represent Bodmin, continuing to sit for that borough until December,
1832. He was emphatically the representative of scientific interests
in the House of Commons, and was continually appointed to serve on
committees of inquiry touching scientific and financial questions.
He acted as Chairman of the committee for rebuilding London Bridge,
causing it to be widened ten feet more than originally proposed, and
he greatly contributed by his exertions to carry many very important
public projects, amongst which may be mentioned, the Breakwater at
Plymouth, and the bill for the revision of weights and measures, of
which he was appointed a commissioner. He was also a member of the
Board of Longitude.
On the 8th of April, 1808, he married Mary Ann Gilbert, only niece of
Charles Gilbert of Eastbourne in Sussex, under whose will he came into
possession of considerable estates in that county; and, in compliance
with its conjunctions, obtained permission to assume the name and arms
of Gilbert.
Mr. Gilbert contributed several important papers on mathematical
subjects to the 'Philosophical Transactions.' In July, 1819, he
succeeded Samuel Lyons in the office of treasurer to the Royal Society,
which office he retained until elected President in 1828. He was also
the author of numerous papers in the 'Quarterly Journal of Science
and Arts,' and presented the world with the fruits of his labours
as an antiquary, by publishing, in 1838, 'The Parochial History of
Cornwall,' in four volumes 8vo., founded on the manuscript histories
of Mr. Hals and Mr. Tonkin. Mr. Gilbert was a diligent collector of
ancient traditions, legendary tales, songs, and carols, illustrating
the manners of the Cornish peasants, and printed various ballads at his
house at Eastbourne. He possessed great memory and powers of quotation
and anecdote; his conversation has been described as being a continued
stream of learning and philosophy, adapted with excellent taste to the
capacity of his auditory, and enlivened with anecdotes to which the
most listless could not but listen and learn.
"His manners," says Dr. Buckland, "were most unaffected, childlike,
gentle, and natural. As a friend, he was kind, considerate, forbearing,
patient, and generous; and when the grave was closed over him, not one
man, woman, or child, who was honoured with his acquaintance, but felt
that he had a friend less in the world."
Mr. Gilbert retired from the chair of the Royal Society in 1830, and
two years later from Parliament; he did not, however, resign himself
to repose, but continued in many ways still to advocate the cause of
science. In 1839 he became much weaker in health and spirits; and
although he made a journey to Durham, and afterwards into Cornwall,
where he presided for the last time at the Anniversary of the Royal
Geological Society of Cornwall (of which he had been President since
its institution in 1814), he was evidently unequal to the exertions he
was making. His last visit was to Oxford, which University had some
years before conferred on him the title of D.C.L. From that period he
never went into public, but, bidding farewell to London, retired to his
house at Eastbourne on the 7th of November, 1839, where he died on the
24th of the following December. His body was borne to the grave by his
own labourers, and followed by his widow and family, which consisted of
one son (the present J. D. Gilbert, F.R.S.) and two daughters.--_Weld's
History of the Royal Society, with Memoirs of the Presidents._ London,
1848.
CHARLES HATCHETT, F.R.S.
Born January 2, 1765. Died March 10, 1847.
Charles Hatchett was born at a house in Long Acre, where his father
carried on the business of a coachmaker. He was sent to a school known
by the name of Fountayne's, situated in what was formerly called
Marylebone Park. On leaving school, Mr. Hatchett continued to live for
some time with his father, purposing to follow the same business; he,
however, never took kindly to it, but spent the chief part of his time
in perusing books of science, or in attending lectures on scientific
subjects; and his father, perceiving the bent of his inclination, made
him a handsome allowance, to enable him to prosecute his studies.
An amusing story is told by the Rev. Mr. Lockwood, Rector of Kingham,
who was an intimate friend of Mr. Hatchett's, that one day he
remembered asking Hatchett what first led him to turn his attention to
the study of chemistry; he replied, that he believed it was his love
for raspberry-jam; for, when quite a boy, he used to accompany his
mother to the storeroom, and on one occasion, while as usual entreating
for some jam, she locked the door, and putting the key in her pocket,
told him he might now get as much as he could. This somewhat nettled
the lad, and setting his wits to work, he remembered having read of the
power of certain acids to dissolve metals. Young Hatchett accordingly
purchased what he thought would suit his purpose, and applying it
to the lock of the cupboard, gained an entrance, and carried off in
triumph the pot of jam.
On the 24th of March, 1786, when just one-and-twenty, Mr. Hatchett
married the only daughter of Mr. John Collick, of Saint Martin's Lane,
and shortly afterwards, in company with his wife, visited Russia and
Poland, where they remained for nearly two years. On returning to
England, Mr. Hatchett established himself in a house at Hammersmith,
which he fitted with an excellent laboratory, so as to be able to
pursue his chemical studies. On the 9th of March, 1807, he was elected
into the Royal Society, his first paper having appeared in their
'Transactions' in 1796; it was entitled, 'An Analysis of the Carinthian
Molybdate of Lead, with Experiments on the Molybdic Acid; to which are
added, some Experiments and Observations on the Decomposition of the
Sulphate of Ammonia.' This paper was followed by fifteen others, on
various subjects, exhibiting the extent and research of his chemical
investigations. In one of these, published in 1802, and entitled an
'Analysis of a Mineral Substance from North America, containing a metal
unknown,' Mr. Hatchett gives an account of his discovery of the metal
Columbium.
During the later portion of his life, Mr. Hatchett was often called
upon committees, whenever points of chemistry or other sciences were
to be discussed. In 1818, he formed one of the commission, comprising
amongst others Dr. Wollaston, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir William Congreve,
Davies Gilbert, &c., appointed to authorize an inquiry into the best
means of preventing the forgery of bank notes; he was also one of the
chemists (consisting of Brande, Hatchett, Wollaston, and Young) who met
at Sir Joseph Banks's house, to decide on the respective merits of Sir
Humphry Davy and George Stephenson, in the matter of the safety-lamp.
Besides his scientific attainments, Hatchett possessed great
conversational powers; he was good-humoured, full of drollery, and
never at fault for some jocular or pleasant story, to amuse the company
he might be with. At the Royal Society Club, of which he was a member,
he was a great favourite, particularly with Sir Joseph Banks, who,
after Dr. Johnson, used to call him a clubable man. Sir John Barrow
gives the following anecdote:--That "one day, at the club, Hatchett
amused us with the story of a dream, which he prefaced by saying that,
although it was 'such stuff as dreams are made of,' it still contained
a reality in its conclusion, which had very much distressed him. He
dreamt that he had lost his way, but came to a dark and dismal-looking
building, into which he passed through a forbidding sort of gate,
opened by a black-looking porter, who closed it immediately after him.
He walked on, and everywhere observed clumps of ill-looking people
skirmishing and fighting, while a little beyond were other groups,
weeping and in great distress; further on still were flames of fire.
Beginning to think he had got into a very bad place, he endeavoured
to retrace his steps and get out again; but the black doorkeeper
refused to let him pass. A furious fight ensued, and he pummelled the
negro-looking rascal, first with one fist and then with another. At
length he was brought to his senses by a scream, which, to his dismay,
proceeded from his poor wife, and he found that, instead of pummelling
the black doorkeeper, he had given Mrs. Hatchett a black eye."
In 1809, Mr. Hatchett was elected one of the chosen few of the Literary
Club, originally instituted by Dr. Johnson and Sir Joshua Reynolds;
and on the death of Dr. Burney, in 1829, was appointed to the chief
official station of treasurer to the club.
In 1810 he took up his residence at Belle Vue House, Chelsea,
where he continued for the remainder of his life, which terminated
in 1847, Mr. Hatchett having then attained the advanced age of
eighty-two.--_Sketches of the Royal Society and Royal Society Club, by
Sir John Barrow, Bart., F.R.S._ London, 1849.
WILLIAM HENRY, M.D., F.R.S., &c.
Born December 12, 1774. Died September 2, 1836.
Dr. William Henry, the distinguished chemical philosopher, was born at
Manchester. His father, Mr. Thomas Henry, was a zealous cultivator of
chemical science. The earliest impressions of Henry's childhood were,
therefore, such as to inspire interest and reverence for the pursuits
of science; and he is said, when very young, to have sought amusement
in attempting to imitate, with such means as were at his disposal, the
chemical experiments which his father had been performing. A severe
accident which occurred in early life, by disqualifying him for the
active sports of boyhood, also contributed to determine his taste for
books and sedentary occupations. This injury, occasioned by the fall
of a heavy beam upon his right side, was of a very serious nature,
and materially checked his growth; it left as its consequence acute
neuralgic pains, which recurred from time to time, with more or less
severity, during the remainder of his life.