Richard Trevithick

Richard Trevithick was an inventive genius who received scant recognition during his lifetime and who died penniless and destitute at Dartford in Kent in 1833. Had it not been for a few well-wishers, he would have received a pauper's funeral.

Like many of his contemporaries he possessed a natural ability for inventiveness, but was not one of the 'fashionable' circle of engineers that included the likes of James Watt, Mathew Boulton, George Stevenson and Thomas Newcommen. However, his contribution to the advancement of high pressure steam technology cannot be underestimated.

He showed little interest in academia and more inclined to sport as a young man. At six feet 2 inches tall, he was just as well known for his wrestling prowess and feats of strength - one such feat involved holding a sledgehammer in each hand, swinging them around in circles and throwing them over the roof of his Engine House!

Such `dreamers` were ridiculed for their fanciful notions, but it was their indomitable spirit and utter belief in their own abilities that changed the world.

Whilst working with his father in the Cornish mines he showed an early aptitude for engineering, and developed a new steam engine for extracting ore and refuse from mines. He had the idea of producing a steam locomotive, and by 1796 had built a miniature that worked. By 1801 he had built a full scale model.

It was at this time that James Watt had discounted the idea of high pressure steam locomotives, stating that such machines were prone to explosions. Trevithick was convinced that Watt and Mathew Boulton had tried to manipulated Parliament into banning such experiments. Whether they were genuinely concerned about the concept or were motivated by envy is a matter of conjecture.

In the latter part of the 18th century Richard Trevithick visited the parish of Madeley, where he called on the Darbys at their Coalbrookdale works. In 1803 he produced a steam locomotive there, though designed to run on rails, it was used to pump out mines on the Glebe land within the parish.

Having found various backers, Trevithick carried on with his experiments, and in 1804 the worlds first steam locomotive to carry passengers puffed at a speed of almost 5 miles an hour for a distance of nine miles through the Welsh countryside.

His steam locomotive worked but the three journeys it made broke the cast iron rails, as happened in London with another of his engines, which was capable of reaching speeds of 12 mile per hour.

Richard Trevithick was way ahead of his time; it was unfortunate that technology allied to his experiments did not keep pace with him.

He was also the man who first put forward the idea of tunneling under the Thames, and who wanted to construct a cast iron tower 1,000 feet tall, which would take visitors to the top via an air-powered lift.

Disillusioned, he left for South America to work as an engineer in silver mines.

It was in Columbia that a fellow Englishman gave the penniless Trevithick his fare back home to Britain.

In 1828, despite being petitioned by the likes of George Stevenson, who argued that Trevithick's early experiments were vital to the development of steam locomotion, Parliament refused to allow Trevithick a pension.

Richard Trevithick was one of Britain's greatest inventors, and one who received so little reward or recognition for his contributions to the advancement of mankind.