Editing Joseph Whitworth

{{Short description|English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{for|the English footballer|Joe Whitworth}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox engineer
|image                = Joseph Whitworth.jpg
|image_size           = 
|caption              = By unknown artist, Whitworth {{circa|1846}}
|name                 = Sir Joseph Whitworth
|honorific_suffix     = [[Baronet|Bt]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] [[Royal Society of Arts|FRSA]]
|birth_date           = {{Birth date|1803|12|21|df=yes}}
|birth_place          = [[Stockport]], Cheshire, England, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
|death_date           = {{death date and age|1887|1|22|1803|12|21|df=yes}}
|death_place          = [[Monte Carlo]], Monaco
|education            =
|awards               =
|discipline           = 
|institutions         = [[Royal Society]]<br>[[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]]
|practice_name        =  
|significant_projects = 
|significant_design   = 
|significant_advance  = Whitworth standardised [[screw thread]]s
|significant_awards   = {{Plainlist|
[[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (1857)<ref name=frs/>}}
[[Albert Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Albert Medal]] (1868)
}}
'''Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet''' (21 December 1803 – 22 January 1887) was an English [[engineer]], entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist.{{sfn|Seccombe|1900}} In 1841, he devised the [[British Standard Whitworth]] system, which created an accepted standard for [[screw threads]].{{sfn|Roe|1916|p=101}} Whitworth also created the [[Whitworth rifle]], often called the "[[sharpshooter]]" because of its accuracy, which is considered one of the earliest examples of a [[sniper rifle]], used by some Confederate forces during the American Civil war.

Whitworth was created a [[baronet]] by [[Queen Victoria]] in 1869.<ref name="LG23544" />{{sfn|Whitworth|1873|p=}}{{sfn|Anon.|1869|p=23}} Upon his death in 1887, Whitworth bequeathed much of his fortune for the people of [[Manchester]], with the [[Whitworth Art Gallery]] and [[Christie Hospital]] partly funded by Whitworth's money. [[Whitworth Street]] and [[Whitworth Hall]] in Manchester are named in his honour.

Whitworth's company merged with the W.G. Armstrong & Mitchell Company to become [[Armstrong Whitworth]] in 1897.

==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. 
== Work ==
[[File:JFIScrewThread300.png|thumb|Graphic representation of formulas for the pitches of threads of screw bolts]]
[[File:Screw making machine, 1871.png|thumb|Screw-making machine from 1871]]

===Accuracy and standardisation ===
{{main|British Standard Whitworth}}
Whitworth popularised the [[Whitworth's three plates method|three-plates method]] for producing accurate flat surfaces (see [[Surface plate]]) during the 1830s, using [[engineer's blue]] and [[hand scraper|scraping]] techniques on three trial surfaces. Up until his introduction of the scraping technique, the same three-plate method was employed using polishing techniques, giving less accurate results. This led to an explosion of development of precision instruments using these flat-surface generation techniques as a basis for further construction of precise shapes.

His next innovation, in 1840, was a measuring technique called "end measurements" that used a precision flat plane and measuring screw, both of his own invention. The system, with a precision of one millionth of an inch (25&nbsp;[[nanometre|nm]]), was demonstrated at the [[Great Exhibition]] of 1851.

In 1841 Whitworth devised a standard for screw threads with a fixed thread angle of 55° and having a standard pitch for a given diameter. This soon became the first nationally standardised system; its adoption by the railway companies, who until then had all used different screw threads, led to its widespread acceptance. It later became a [[British Standard]], "[[British Standard Whitworth]]", abbreviated to BSW and governed by BS 84:1956.

=== Whitworth rifled musket ===
{{main|Whitworth rifle}}
Whitworth was commissioned by the [[War Department (UK)|War Department]] of the British government to design a replacement for the calibre .577-inch [[Pattern 1853 Enfield]], whose shortcomings had been revealed during the recent [[Crimean War]]. The [[Whitworth rifle]] had a smaller bore of {{convert|0.451|in|mm|3}} which was hexagonal, fired an elongated hexagonal bullet and had a faster rate of twist rifling [one turn in twenty inches] than the Enfield, and its performance during tests in 1859 was superior to the Enfield's in every way. The test was reported in ''[[The Times]]'' on 23 April as a great success. However, the new bore design was found to be prone to fouling and it was four times more expensive to manufacture than the Enfield, so it was rejected by the British government, only to be adopted by the [[French Army]]. An unspecified number of Whitworth rifles found their way to the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] states in the [[American Civil War]], where they were called "[[Whitworth Sharpshooters]]".  The rifles were capable of sub-[[Minute and second of arc|MOA]] groups at 500 yards.<ref name="youtube" /> It was often called the "[[sharpshooter]]" because of its accuracy, which is considered one of the earliest examples of a [[sniper rifle]].{{sfn|Atkinson|1996|p=}}{{sfn|Bradshaw|1985|p=}}{{sfn|Kilburn|1987|p=}}{{sfn|Kilburn|1990|p=}}{{sfn|Lea|1948|p=}}

[[Queen Victoria]] opened the first meeting of the [[National Rifle Association of the United Kingdom|National Rifle Association]] at [[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]], in 1860 by firing a Whitworth rifle from a fixed mechanical rest. The rifle scored a bull's eye at a range of {{convert|400|yd|m|sigfig=3}}.

===Whitworth rifled cannon breech-loading artillery===
{{main|12-pounder Whitworth rifle}}
[[File:CW Arty Whitworth.jpg|thumb|alt=12-pounder Whitworth breechloading rifle|[[12-pounder Whitworth rifle]]]]
Whitworth also designed a large [[rifled breech loader|rifled breech-loading]] gun with a {{convert|2.75|in|mm|2}} bore, a {{convert|12|lb|11|oz|kg|2}} projectile and a range of about {{convert|6|mi|km|0}}. The spirally-grooved projectile was patented in 1855. This was rejected by the British Army, who preferred the guns from [[William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong|Armstrong]], but was used in the American Civil War.

While trying to increase the bursting strength of his gun barrels, Whitworth patented a process called "fluid-compressed steel" for casting steel under pressure and built a new steel works near Manchester. Some of his castings were shown at the Great Exhibition in [[Paris]] {{circa|1883}}.

==Legacy==
=== Scholarships ===
One of the most prominent forms of his generosity was his development of the Whitworth Scholarships with the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Still running to this day, this provides financial opportunities for young engineers with a strong blend of academic and practical abilities. The Whitworth Scholarship programmes still exist with 10-15 scholarships being awarded each year.<ref name="whitworthsociety.org" /> The scholarships are directed at outstanding engineers who, like Sir Joseph Whitworth, have excellent academic and practical skills and the qualities needed to succeed in industry, who are wishing to embark/or have already commenced on an engineering degree-level programme of any engineering discipline.  As of 2018, the Scholarship pays up to £5,450 per year for up to four years<ref name="whitworthscholarships.org.uk" /> in the case of a full time undergraduate. The handling and administration of the awards is now carried out by the [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]].<ref name="WSA" /> Since 2006, a Whitworth Senior Scholarship was agreed by the trustees to support Postgraduate Research leading to a [[Master of Philosophy|MPhil]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] or [[Engd|EngD]].

=== Memorials===
[[File:Whitworth memorial.JPG|thumb|upright|Plaque from the memorial in Whitworth Park, Darley Dale erected in 1894]]
[[Richard Copley Christie]] was a friend of Whitworth's. By Whitworth's will, Christie was appointed one of three [[legatee]]s, each of whom was left more than half a million pounds for their own use, 'they being each of them aware of the objects' to which these funds would have been put by Whitworth. They chose to spend more than a fifth of the money on support for [[Owens College]], together with the purchase of land now occupied by the [[Manchester Royal Infirmary]]. In 1897, Christie personally assigned more than £50,000 for the erection of the [[Whitworth Hall]], to complete the front quadrangle of Owens College. He was president of the Whitworth Institute from 1890 to 1895 and was much interested in the medical and other charities of Manchester, especially the Cancer Pavilion and Home, of whose committee he was chairman from 1890 to 1893, and which later became the [[Christie Hospital]].{{sfn|Ward| Curthoys|2004}} Part of his bequest was used  to construct the [[Whitworth Institute]] in Darley Dale.

The university's [[Whitworth Art Gallery]] (formerly the Whitworth Institute) and adjacent [[Whitworth Park]] were established as part of his bequest to Manchester after his death. Nearby [[University of Manchester|Whitworth Park Halls of Residence]] also bears his name, as does [[Whitworth Street]], one of the main streets in [[Manchester city centre]], running from London Road to the south end of Deansgate. Near 'The Firs' a cycleway behind [[Owens Park]] is called Whitworth Lane. In Darley Dale is another Whitworth Park. In recognition of his achievements and contributions to education in Manchester, the Whitworth Building on the [[University of Manchester]]'s Main Campus is named in his honour.

=== Whitworth Society ===
In 1923, the [[The Whitworth Society|Whitworth Society]] was founded by [[Henry Selby Hele-Shaw|Prof. Hele-Shaw FRS]], then president of the [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]] to support all Whitworth Scholars and to promote engineering in the UK.<ref name="whitworthsociety.org" /> The Society brings together those Whitworth Scholars who have benefited from Sir Joseph Whitworth's generosity.
== References ==

===Citations===
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="LG23544">{{London Gazette |issue=23544 |date=8 October 1869 |page=5446 }}</ref>

<ref name="youtube">{{YouTube|id=Hi-S_horZGk|title=Confederate Whitworth Sniper:  Hexagonal Bullets in 1860}}</ref>

<ref name="frs">{{cite web|title=Fellowship of the Royal Society 1660-2015 |url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RVVZY00MZNrK2YCTTzVrbTFH2t3RxoAZah128gQR-NM/pubhtml |publisher=[[Royal Society]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015185820/https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RVVZY00MZNrK2YCTTzVrbTFH2t3RxoAZah128gQR-NM/pubhtml |archive-date=15 October 2015 |location=London |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="imeche.org">{{Cite web |title=Scholarships and Awards |url=http://www.imeche.org/about-us/scholarships-and-awards/about/funding/joseph-whitworth-trust |work=imeche.org |access-date=2012-10-30}}</ref>

<ref name="whitworthscholarships.org.uk">{{Cite web |title=Whitworth Scholarship Awards (Undergraduate & Masters) - Details |work=whitworthscholarships.org.uk |access-date=27 March 2020 |url= http://www.whitworthscholarships.org.uk/wsa_details.php }}</ref>

<ref name="WSA">{{Cite web |title=Whitworth Scholarship Awards |work=imeche.org |access-date=27 March 2020 |url= https://www.imeche.org/careers-education/scholarships-and-awards/apprentice-to-undergraduate }}</ref>

<ref name="whitworthsociety.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.whitworthsociety.org/Resources/Background%20Whitworth.docx|title=Whitworth Scholarship|website=whitworthsociety.org|access-date=2018-12-07}}</ref>

<ref name="tMaB">{{cite magazine|magazine= The Manufacturer and Builder |volume =19 |issue =6 |date=June 1887|title= Scientific: Sir Joseph Whitworh |pages= 133–134}}</ref>

}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
*{{cite book|author=Anon.|title=The Illustrated London Almanack 1869|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_hBAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA23|year=1869|publisher=Illustrated London News|location=London}}
*{{cite book | last = Atkinson | first = Norman | author-link = Norman Atkinson | title = Sir Joseph Whitworth: "the World's Best Mechanician" | publisher = [[Sutton Publishing|Sutton]] | year = 1996 | location = Gloucester|isbn = 0-7509-1211-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Bradshaw|first=L.D.|title=Origins of Street Names in the City Centre of Manchester: A Selection|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEoAAgAACAAJ|year=1985|publisher=Richardson|isbn=978-0-907511-87-8}}
*{{cite web | last =Edkins | first =Jo | title =Small units | work =Imperial Measures of Length | date =2009 | url =http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/units/length.htm#small | access-date =2009-09-23 | archive-date =17 November 2020 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20201117150355/http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/units/length.htm#small | url-status =dead }}
*{{cite book|last=Kilburn|first= Terence |date=1987|title=Joseph Whitworth: Toolmaker|publisher= Scarthin Books |isbn=0907758223}}
*{{cite book|last=Kilburn|first=Terrence|title=Darley's 'Lady Bountiful': Lady Mary Louisa Whitworth, 1829-1896|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRUmcgAACAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Higham Press}}
*{{cite book|last=Lea|first=Frederick Charles|author-link=Frederick Charles Lea|title=Sir Joseph Whitworth, a Pioneer of Mechanical Engineering|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tNptAAAAIAAJ|year=1948|publisher=Longman|location=London}}
*{{cite book|last=Roe|first=Joseph Wickham|author-link=Joseph Wickham Roe|title=English and American Tool Builders|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/englishandameri03roegoog/page/n154/mode/2up|year=1916|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven, CT|chapter=Ch. IX Whitworth}}
*{{cite ODNB|first1=A. W.|last1= Ward|title=Christie, Richard Copley (1830–1901) |first2= M. C. |last2=Curthoys|date=23 September 2004|id=32408}}
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Whitworth, Joseph|first=Thomas|last= Seccombe|volume=61}}
*{{cite book |last1=Whitworth |first1=Joseph |last2=Wallis |first2=George |title=The Industry of the United States in Machinery, Manufactures, and Useful and Ornamental Arts. Compiled from the Official Reports of Messrs. Whitworth and Wallis |date=1854 |publisher=G. Routledge & Co. |location=London, England |hdl=2027/coo.31924030701001}}
*{{cite book|last=Whitworth|first=Joseph|title=Miscellaneous Papers on Mechanical Subjects: Guns and Steel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IshXAAAAYAAJ|year=1873|publisher=Longmans, Green, Reader, & Dyer}}
{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Joseph Whitworth}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-npo|pro}}
{{s-bef |before=[[William Fairbairn]] }}
{{s-ttl |title=President of the [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]] |years=1856–1857 }}
{{s-aft| after=[[John Penn (engineer)|John Penn]] }}
{{s-bef |before=[[Robert Napier (engineer)|Robert Napier]] }}
{{s-ttl |title=President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers |years=1865–1866 }}
{{s-aft| after=John Penn }}
{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{s-new|Creation}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Baronet]]<br />'''(of The Firs)''' | years=1869–1887}}
{{s-non|reason=Extinct}}
{{s-end}}
{{Portal bar|United Kingdom|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitworth, Joseph}}
[[Category:1803 births]]
[[Category:1887 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Stockport]]
[[Category:19th-century English philanthropists]]
[[Category:American Civil War industrialists]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:English mechanical engineers]]
[[Category:Engineers from Lancashire]]
[[Category:English inventors]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Firearm designers]]
[[Category:History of Greater Manchester]]
[[Category:Machine tool builders]]
[[Category:People associated with the University of Manchester]]
[[Category:People of the Industrial Revolution]]
[[Category:Bessemer Gold Medal]]
[[Category:19th-century English businesspeople]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts]]