Who was James Watt?
Scientist and perfector of Steam motion.
Date and Place of Birth:
19th January 1736. Greenock, Strathclyde, Scotland.
Family Background:
Son of the Treasurer and Magistrate of Greenock,
who was also a successful ship and house builder.
Education:
By his mother then local grammar school. Glasgow
University.
Chronology/Biography of James Watt:
1753: Goes to Glasgow
to become a maker of mathematical instruments.
1755: Moves to London
to try and become an apprentice to an instrument maker.
1757: Returns to
Glasgow where he works as an instrument maker at the University.
1759: Opens a shop
in Saltmarket, Glasgow selling instruments and toys.
1764: He repairs
a non-working model of the Newcomen steam engine which developed
his interest in steam.
1765: He fits the
Newcomen Engine with a separate condenser unit to increase its power.
1767: Employed as
a surveyor for the Forth and Clyde Canal.
1768: Builds a prototype
of his new improved stream engine with his partner John Roebuck.
1769: Patented "A
New Invented Method of Lessening the Consumption of Steam and Fuel
in Fire Engines.
1772: Partnership
with Roebuck broke up.
1774: Left Scotland
for Birmingham.
1775: Entered into
a new partnership this time with Matthew Boulton
of Birmingham whom he had already been introduced to by William
Small.
Statue of James Watt outside
Birmingham Central Library
1776: Boulton
and Watt build two new steam engines.
1781: Invented a
rotary motion device to be fitted to his engine.
1782:
Took out a patent on a double acting engine where the piston both
pushes and pulls.
1783:
The unit of Horse Power was experimentally calculated by Watt and
his name was later to be used as a unit of power.
1784: Although he
described steam locomotion in one of his Patents he dissuaded William
Murdock from investigating this further.
1785: Both Boulton
and Watt were elected as Fellows of the Royal Society of London.
1786: He invented
the centrifugal governor which automated the speed of an engine
for the first time.
1790: He invented
a reliable pressure gauge for his engines.
1796: Richard Trevithick
visits the Soho Foundry.
1800: Retires from
the Boulton and Watt company but pursues other interests.
Marriage:
1. 1764: To his cousin Margaret Miller (died
1773).
2. 1776: To Ann MacGregor.
Places of Interest:
BIRMINGHAM:
Soho House, Handsworth
Birmingham Central Library, Archives Department
Statue of Watt outside Central Library
Statue of Matthew Boulton, James Watt
and William Murdoch in Broad Street, Birmingham
LONDON:
Science Museum
Date and Place of Death:
25th August 1819. Heathfield House, Handsworth,
Birmingham, England.
Age at Death:
83.
Site of Grave:
St. Mary's Church, Handsworth, Birmingham, England.
