George Smart
of London
1812 Patent granted to George Smart of Westminster for an improved method of preparing timber so as to prevent its shrinking[1]
1814 April 1: Patent for improvements in machinery for grinding corn and various other articles granted toGeorge Smart of Ordnance Wharf, Westminster[2][3]
1822 George Smart, Pedlar's Acre, London, became a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.[4]
1822 Patent sealed, 4th July, to George Smart of Pedlar's Acre, Lambeth, for an Improvement in the Manufacture of Chains, which he denominated Mathematical Chains. [5]. This would relate to his bridge patent (see below).
1824 Patented an iron lattice girder bridge. It was intended to be assembled from wrought iron links and bolts of uniform sizes. He recommended that the diagonals of the girder be set at an angle of about 18 degrees to the horizontal. The piers could be of similar construction. By virtue of the relatively small size of the components, it was described as being portable and capable of being put up in a few days (by an army, for example). It was also envisaged that any part could be removed and replaced without endangering the bridge. A scale model, about 8 - 10 ft long, had been erected at Mr. Smart's Saw Mills at Lambeth Marsh: 'We were favoured with a sight of it ourselves, and were not a little astonished to see a heavy man jump in the middle of it, and the concussion was like that of jumping on a solid rock, there being no apparent vibration.'[6]
1826 Silver Vulcan Medal 'presented to George Smart of King's Arms Wharf, Lambeth, for his trussed girder of wrought iron, a model of which has been placed in the Society's Repository.' 'The girder is made by welding an arched bar of wrought iron to a longer straight bar, and then turning the ends of this latter either up or down .... The arch is prevented from giving way or buckling when the weight presses upon it, by means of blocks of well-seasoned wood inserted at intervals between the two bars ....' 'A very heavy mass of brickwork, over a gateway leading from the Poultry, is supported in this manner...'.[7]
1837 Advert: 'York-road, Lambeth.—The remaining Portion of the valuable Leasehold Estate of the late Mr. George Smart, engineer, deceased.
MR. ROBERTS is instructed by the Mortgagees to OFFER for SALE, at the Mart, MONDAY, June 26, at Twelve, an extensive and highly valuable LEASEHOLD ESTATE, situate in York-road and York-street, Lambeth, near Westminster-bridge, comprising the well-known Albany Bath-house, with its highly-esteemed tepid swimming or plunging bath and warm and cold baths, established many years, and greatly resorted to in all seasons. Also Messrs. Smart and Hardy’s Saw-mills, with timber yard; Messrs. Keene and Co.’s Patent Indian Rubber Web Manufactory; and Mr. Fulton’s Pepper-mill, all worked by steam power; two eligible Building Frontages in road; and a private Dwelling-house in York-street; let at a rental of 755l. per annum, and is heldat ground rents of 80l. 15s. 6d., for terms of82 and 85 years.
May be viewed by application to the tenants; particulars to be had on the premises; at the Auction Mart; of Charles Gwillim Jones, Esq., Solicitor, 11, Gray's Inn-square; of Messrs. White and Whitmore, Bedford-row ; Messrs. J. and S. Pearce, Phillips, and Bolger, St Swithin’s-lane; and of Mr. Roberts, Surveyor and Auctioneer, 68, Chancery-lane.'[8]
Clearly George Smart was a prolific inventor. It has been suggested that he was probably the first to conceive of wrought iron as the ideal material for the construction of lattice girder bridges. He owned one of the first commercial saw mills in London and designed his own machinery, including improvements to circular saws. He proposed a new system for sweeping chimneys to avoid the abuse of 'climbing boys'. In 1796 he was elected to the Society of Arts. One member, Henry Robinson Palmer, exhibited a full-size working model of his 'suspension railway' at Smart’s Pedlar’s Acre premises. 'Smart’s work was well respected by his more erudite scientific contemporaries who appreciated his meticulous observations and his capacity to understand and raise informed doubts about the findings of acknowledged experts in the field such as Belidor and Buffon.' [9]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ [1] The Belfast Monthly Magazine, Volume 9, 1812
- ↑ [2] The Repertory of Patent Inventions, 1814
- ↑ Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent - Saturday 12 April 1828: Notice of expiry of patent granted in April 1814
- ↑ 1822 Institution of Civil Engineers
- ↑ [3] 'The London Journal of Arts and Sciences for 1823', Volume 5
- ↑ [4] Register of Arts, and Journal of Patent Inventions, Volume 2, 23 October 1824, pp.49-51
- ↑ [5] Transactions of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, Volume 45, 1827
- ↑ Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser - Saturday 17 June 1837
- ↑ [6] 'Iron in Building, 1750-1855: Innovation and Cultural Resistance' by Pedro Paulo d'Alpoim Guedes, thesis submitted for Ph.D. degree at the University of Queensland, December 2010. NB Large pdf