Editing Joseph Whitworth (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===
Whitworth was born in John Street, [[Stockport]], Cheshire, where the Stockport Courthouse is today. The site is marked by a blue plaque on the back wall of the courthouse. He was the son of Charles Whitworth, a teacher and [[Congregational]] minister, and at an early age developed an interest in [[machinery]]. He was educated at [[Idle, West Yorkshire|Idle]], near Bradford, [[West Riding of Yorkshire]]; his aptitude for mechanics became apparent when he began work for his uncle.{{sfn|Bradshaw|1985|pp=57–58}}

===Career===
After leaving school Whitworth became an [[indentured]] [[apprentice]] to his uncle, Joseph Hulse, a cotton spinner at Amber Mill, [[Oakerthorpe]] in Derbyshire. The plan was that Whitworth would become a partner in the business. From the outset he was fascinated by the mill's machinery. Soon, he mastered the techniques of the cotton spinning industry. Even at this age, however, he noticed the poor standards of accuracy and was critical of the milling machinery. This early exposure to the mechanics of the industry forged in him the ambition to make machinery with much greater precision. His apprenticeship at Amber Mill lasted for a four-year term after which he worked for another four years as a mechanic in a factory in [[Manchester]]. He then moved to London where he found employment working for [[Henry Maudslay]], the inventor of the [[screw-cutting lathe]], alongside such people as [[James Nasmyth]] (inventor of the [[steam hammer]]) and [[Richard Roberts (engineer)|Richard Roberts]].

Whitworth developed great skill as a mechanic while working for Maudslay, developing various precision machine tools and also introducing a box casting scheme for the iron frames of machine tools that simultaneously increased their rigidity and reduced their weight.

Whitworth also worked for [[Holtzapffel|Holtzapffel & Co]] (makers of lathes used primarily for [[ornamental turning]]) and [[Joseph Clement]]. While at Clement's workshop he helped with the manufacture of [[Charles Babbage]]'s calculating machine, the [[Difference engine]]. He returned to [[Openshaw]], 
Manchester, in 1833 to start his own business manufacturing [[Lathe (tool)|lathe]]s and other machine tools, which became renowned for their high standard of workmanship. Whitworth is attributed with the introduction of the [[Thousandth of an inch|thou]] in 1844.{{sfn|Edkins|2009}} In 1853, along with his lifelong friend, artist and art educator [[George Wallis]] (1811–1891), he was appointed a British commissioner for the New York International Exhibition. They toured around industrial sites of several American states, and the result of their journey was a report 'The Industry of the United States in Machinery, Manufactures and Useful and Applied Arts, compiled from the Official Reports of Messrs Whitworth and Wallis, London, 1854.'{{sfn|Whitworth|Wallis|1854|p=}}

[[File:Chcc blue sky.jpg|thumb|The Firs, now the Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre]]

Whitworth received many awards for the excellence of his designs and was financially very successful. In 1850, then a President of the [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]], he built a house called [[Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre|'The Firs']] in Fallowfield in south Manchester designed by [[Edward Walters]]. In 1854 he bought [[Stancliffe Hall]] in Darley Dale, Derbyshire and moved there with his second wife Louisa in 1872. He supplied four six-[[ton]] blocks of stone from Darley Dale quarry, for the lions of [[St George's Hall, Liverpool|St George's Hall in Liverpool]]. He was conferred with Honorary Membership of the [[Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland]] in 1859.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Honorary Members and Fellows |url=http://www.iesis.org/honorary-fellows.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003200051/http://www.iesis.org/honorary-fellows.html |archive-date=Oct 3, 2020 |website=IESIS}}</ref> He was elected a [[List of Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1857|Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1857]].<ref name="frs" />

A strong believer in the value of [[technical education]], Whitworth backed the new [[Mechanics' Institute, Manchester|Mechanics' Institute]] in Manchester (later [[UMIST]]) and helped found the [[Manchester School of Design]]. In 1868, he founded the [[Whitworth Scholarship]] for the advancement of mechanical engineering. He donated a sum of £128,000 to the government in 1868 (approximately £6.5 million in 2010) to bring "science and industry" closer together and to fund scholarships.<ref name="imeche.org" /> In 1869, [[Queen Victoria]] made Whitworth a [[baronet]].

===Death===
[[File:The Grave of Sir Joseph Whitworth Bart.jpg|thumb|The grave of Sir Joseph Whitworth Bart. In the grounds of [[St Helen's Church, Darley Dale|St Helen's Parish Church, Darley Dale]], Derbyshire (Whitworth's grave is the central tomb)]] 
In January 1887 at the age of 83, Sir Joseph Whitworth died in [[Monte Carlo]] where he had travelled in the hope of improving his health. He was buried at St Helen's Church, [[Darley Dale]], Derbyshire. A detailed obituary was published in the American magazine ''The Manufacturer and Builder''.<ref name="tMaB"/> He directed his trustees to spend his fortune on philanthropic projects, which they still do to this day.