Editing Thomas Newcomen

{{Short description|English inventor, Baptist preacher and ironmonger}}
{{other people}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Thomas Newcomen
| image             = Thomas_Newcomen.webp
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = 1664{{sfnp|Rolt|Allen|1977|page=33}}
| birth_place       = [[Dartmouth, Devon|Dartmouth]], [[Devon]], England
| death_date        = 5 August 1729 (aged 65)<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/newcomen_thomas.shtml| title =Thomas Newcomen (1663 – 1729) | website = BBC History| access-date =29 April 2018}}</ref>
| death_place       = London, England
| residence         = 
| fields            = 
| workplaces        = 
| alma_mater        = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = Inventing the first practical [[steam engine]]
}}
[[File:Newcomen atmospheric engine animation.gif|thumb|Animation of a schematic Newcomen engine.<br>&ndash; Steam is shown pink and water is blue.<br>&ndash; Valves move from open (green) to closed (red)]]  
'''Thomas Newcomen'''  ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|nj|uː|k|ʌ|m|ə|n}}; February 1664{{efn-lr|This is often given as 1663 – see [[Old Style and New Style dates]]}}<!-- 1663/4 is now normally expressed as "1664": please do not alter this -->{{sfnp|Rolt |Allen|1977|page=33}} &ndash; 5 August 1729) was an English inventor, creator of the [[Newcomen atmospheric engine|atmospheric engine]] in 1712, [[Baptist]] [[lay preacher|preacher]] by calling and [[ironmonger]] by trade.

He was born in [[Dartmouth, Devon|Dartmouth]], in [[Devon]], England, to a merchant family and baptized at St. Saviour's Church on 28 February 1664.<ref name="ODNB" >{{cite DNB|wstitle=Newcomen, Thomas}}</ref> In those days, flooding in coal and tin mines was a major problem. Newcomen was soon engaged in trying to improve ways to pump out the water from such mines. His ironmonger's business specialised in designing, [[manufacturing]] and selling tools for the mining industry.

==Religious life==
[[File:Sketch of Newcomin house - Devonshire characters and strange events.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|left|The Newcomen house in Dartmouth]]
Thomas Newcomen was a lay preacher and a teaching elder in the local [[Baptist]] church. After 1710, he became the pastor of a local group of Baptists. His father had been one of a group who brought the well-known [[Puritan]] minister [[John Flavel]] to Dartmouth. Later one of Newcomen's business contacts in London, Edward Wallin, was another Baptist minister who had connections with the well-known Doctor [[John Gill (theologian)|John Gill]] of [[Southwark St John Horsleydown|Horsleydown, Southwark]].   Newcomen's connection with the [[Baptist]] church at [[Bromsgrove]] materially aided the spread of his steam engine, as the engineers [[Jonathan Hornblower (born 1719)|Jonathan Hornblower Sr.]] and his son were involved in the same church.

==Developing the atmospheric engine==
{{Main|Newcomen atmospheric engine}}
Newcomen's great achievement was his [[steam engine]], developed around 1712; combining the ideas of [[Thomas Savery]] and [[Denis Papin]], he created a steam engine for the purpose of lifting water out of a [[tin mining|tin mine]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Morris|first1=Charles R. Morris; illustrations by J.E.|title=The dawn of innovation the first American Industrial nininininRevolution|date=2012|publisher=PublicAffairs|location=New York|isbn=978-1-61039-049-1|page=42|edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n97K02J6eQgC&q=newcomen+in+1712}}</ref> It is likely that Newcomen was already acquainted with Savery, whose forebears were merchants in south [[Devon]].  Savery also had a post with the [[Commissioners for Sick and Hurt Seamen]], which took him to Dartmouth.  Savery had devised a "fire engine", a kind of [[thermic syphon]], in which steam was admitted to an empty container and then condensed.  The [[vacuum]] thus created was used to suck water from the [[sump]] at the bottom of the mine.  The "fire engine" was not very effective and could not work beyond a limited depth of around thirty feet.

Newcomen replaced the receiving vessel (where the steam was condensed) with a cylinder containing a piston based on Papin's design.  Instead of the vacuum drawing in water, it drew down the piston.  This was used to work a [[beam engine]], in which a large wooden beam rocked upon a central [[Lever|fulcrum]].  On the other side of the beam was a chain attached to a [[pump]] at the base of the mine.  As the steam cylinder was refilled with steam, readying it for the next [[power stroke (engine)|power stroke]], water was drawn into the pump cylinder and expelled into a pipe to the surface by the weight of the machinery. Newcomen and his partner [[John Calley (engineer)|John Calley]] built the first successful engine of this type at the Conygree Coalworks near [[Dudley]] in the West Midlands.  A working replica of this engine can be seen at the [[Black Country Living Museum]] nearby.

==Later life and death==
Comparatively little is known of Newcomen's later life.  After 1715, the engine affairs were conducted through an unincorporated company, the '[[Proprietors of the Invention for Raising Water by Fire]]'.  Its secretary and treasurer was John Meres, clerk to the [[Society of Apothecaries]] in London.  That society formed a company which had a monopoly on supplying medicines to the Navy providing a close link with Savery, whose [[Will (law)|will]] he witnessed.  The Committee of the Proprietors also included Edward Wallin, a Baptist of Swedish descent; and pastor of a church at Maze Pond, [[Southwark]].  Newcomen died at Wallin's house in 1729, and was buried at [[Bunhill Fields]] burial ground on the outskirts of the [[City of London]]; the exact site of his grave is unknown.

By 1733, about 125 Newcomen engines, operating under Savery's patent (extended by statute so that it did not expire until 1733), had been installed by Newcomen and others in most of the important mining districts of Britain and on the Continent of Europe: draining coal mines in the [[Black Country]], Warwickshire and near [[Newcastle upon Tyne]]; at tin and copper mines in [[Cornwall]]; and in lead mines in [[Flintshire]] and [[Derbyshire]], amongst other places.

==After Newcomen==
The Newcomen engine held its place without material change for about 75 years, spreading gradually to more areas of the UK and mainland Europe. At first brass cylinders were used, but these were expensive and limited in size.  New iron casting techniques pioneered by the [[Coalbrookdale]] Company in the 1720s allowed bigger cylinders to be used, up to about 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter by the 1760s. Experience led to better construction and minor refinements in layout.  Its mechanical details were much improved by [[John Smeaton]], who built many large engines of this type in the early 1770s; his improvements were rapidly adopted.  By 1775, about 600 Newcomen engines had been built, although many of these had worn out before then, and been abandoned or replaced.

The Newcomen Engine was by no means an efficient machine, although it was probably as complicated as engineering and materials techniques of the early 18th century could support.  Much heat was lost when condensing the steam, as this cooled the cylinder.  This did not matter unduly at a colliery, where unsaleable small coal (slack) was available, but significantly increased the mining costs where coal was not readily available, as in Cornwall.  Newcomen's engine was gradually replaced after 1775 in areas where coal was expensive (especially in [[Cornwall]]) by an improved design, invented by [[James Watt]], in which the steam was condensed in a separate condenser.  The [[Watt steam engine]], aided by better engineering techniques including [[John Wilkinson (industrialist)|Wilkinson's]] boring machine, was much more fuel efficient, enabling Watt and his partner [[Matthew Boulton]] to collect substantial royalties based on the fuel saved.

Watt subsequently made other improvements, including the double-acting engine, where both the up and down strokes were power strokes.  These were especially suitable for driving textile mills, and many Watt engines were employed in these industries.  At first attempts to drive machinery by Newcomen engines had mixed success, as the single power stroke produced a jerky motion, but use of flywheels and better engineering largely overcame these problems.  By 1800, hundreds of non-Watt rotary engines had been built, especially in collieries and ironworks where irregular motion was not a problem but also in textile mills.{{sfnp|Rolt|1963}}

Despite Watt's improvements, Common Engines (as they were then known) remained in use for a considerable time, and many more Newcomen engines than Watt ones were built even during the period of Watt's patent (up to 1800), as they were cheaper and less complicated. Of over 2,200 engines built in the 18th century, only about 450 were Watt engines.  Elements of Watt's design, especially the Separate Condenser, were incorporated in many "pirate" engines.  Even after 1800 Newcomen type engines continued to be built and condensers were added routinely to these. × They were also commonly retro-fitted to existing Newcomen engines (the so-called "pickle-pot" condenser).

==Surviving Newcomen engines==
[[File:Dartmouth Newcomen engine.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Newcomen Memorial Engine]] in Dartmouth]]
There are examples of Newcomen engines in the [[Science Museum, London]], England and the [[The Henry Ford|Ford Museum]], [[Dearborn, Michigan]] US, amongst other places.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Russell|first1=Ben|title=In pursuit of power|url=https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/a-new-age/|website=Science Museum|date=31 July 2012 |access-date=19 March 2015}}</ref>

In 1964, the [[Newcomen Society]] of London arranged for a Newcomen engine at [[Hawkesbury Junction]], Warwickshire to be transferred to Dartmouth, where it can be seen working using a hydraulic arrangement instead of the steam boiler.<ref>(Eric Preston,''Thomas Newcomen of Dartmouth'', Dartmouth History Research Group 2012, {{ISBN|1-899011-27-7}})</ref> According to Dr. Cyril Boucher of the Newcomen Society,<ref>''Transactions of the Newcomen Society'' 35, October 1962</ref> this [[Newcomen Memorial Engine]] dates from about 1725, with new valve gear and other parts added later.

Perhaps the last Newcomen-style engine to be used commercially – and the last still remaining on its original site – is at the [[Elsecar Heritage Centre]], near [[Barnsley]] in [[South Yorkshire]]. It was restored to working condition between 2012 and 2015, the refurbished engine was unveiled by [[Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh|Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex]], in May 2016.<ref>''Bansley Museums Annual Review 2015-2016'', page 10; url=http://www.elsecar-heritage.com/content/downloads/Barnsley-Arts-and-Museums-Annual-Review-15-16-41719234.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923235913/http://www.elsecar-heritage.com/content/downloads/Barnsley-Arts-and-Museums-Annual-Review-15-16-41719234.pdf |date=23 September 2020 }}</ref> Another Newcomen engine that can be shown working is the modern replica engine at the [[Black Country Museum]] in Dudley, West Midlands. The [[Newcomen Memorial Engine]] at [[Dartmouth, Devon|Dartmouth]] can be seen moving, but is worked by hydraulics.

==Recognition==
On 23 February 2012 the [[Royal Mail]] released a stamp featuring Newcomen's atmospheric steam engine as part its "Britons of Distinction" series.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Tom Banks |url=http://www.designweek.co.uk/news/purpose-designs-britons-of-distinction-stamps/3034087.article |title=Purpose designs Britons of distinction stamps |magazine=Design Week |date= 23 February 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{Notelist-lr}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
  | last = Jenkins
  | first = Rhys
  | title = Savery, Newcomen and the Early History of the Steam Engine in The Collected Papers of Rhys Jenkins
  | publisher = Newcomen Society
  | year = 1936
  | location = Cambridge
  | pages = 48–93}}

* {{cite book
  | last = Rolt
  | first = Lionel Thomas Caswell
  | author-link = L. T. C. Rolt
  | title = Thomas Newcomen. The Prehistory of the Steam Engine.
  | publisher = David & Charles
  | year = 1963
  | edition = 1
  | location = Dawlish
  | pages = 158}}
* {{cite book
  | last = Preston
  | first = Eric
  | title = Thomas Newcomen of Dartmouth and the Engine that Changed the World.
  | publisher = Dartmouth and Kingswear Society and Dartmouth History Research Group
  | year = 2012
  | location = Dartmouth
  | pages = 60
  | isbn = 978-1-899011-27-8}}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Rolt
  | first1 = Lionel Thomas Caswell
  |first2=John S.  |last2=Allen 
   | title = The Steam Engines of Thomas Newcomen
  | publisher = Moorland Publishing Company
  | year = 1977
  | edition = 2
  | location = Hartington
  | pages = 160
  | isbn = 0-903485-42-7 
}}
* {{cite journal
  | last = Kanefsky 
  | first = John 
  |author2=John Robey
   | title = Steam Engines in 18th-Century Britain: A Quantitative Assessment
  | journal = Technology and Culture
  | volume = 21
  | issue = 2| pages = 161–186
  | publisher = The Johns Hopkins University Press
  | location = Baltimore
  | year = 1980| doi = 10.2307/3103337
  | jstor = 3103337 | s2cid = 111410577 
 }}
* {{cite book
  | last = Musson
  | first = A. E.
  |author2=Eric Robinson
   | title = Science and Technology in the Industrial Revolution
  | publisher = Manchester University Press
  | year = 1969
  | location = Manchester
  | pages = 393 (Chpt. XII)
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0c-8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA393
  | isbn = 0-7190-0370-9 }}
* {{cite book |title=Dictionary of National Biography: Index and Epitome |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionarynatio07leegoog |year=1903 |publisher=Smith, Elder & Co. |editor-first=Sidney |editor-last=Lee}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Young |first1=W.A. |title=Thomas Newcomen, Ironmonger The contemporary background |journal=Transactions of the Newcomen Society |date=1939 |volume=20 |issue=1 |page=1-15 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/tns.1939.001}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Thomas Newcomen}}
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Newcomen, Thomas}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Newcomen, Thomas}}

{{Steam engine configurations|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newcomen, Thomas}}
[[Category:Thomas Newcomen| ]]
[[Category:1664 births]]
[[Category:1729 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Bunhill Fields]]
[[Category:English Baptists]]
[[Category:History of mining]]
[[Category:People from Dartmouth, Devon]]