Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SIR WILLIAM CUBITT (1785-1861)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 608 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

SIR See also:WILLIAM See also:CUBITT (1785-1861)  , See also:English engineer, was See also:born in 1785 at Dilham in See also:Norfolk, where his See also:father was a See also:miller . After serving an See also:apprenticeship of four years (18o0-18o4) as a joiner and cabinetmaker at Statham, he became associated with an agricultural-See also:machine maker, named See also:Cook, who resided at Swanton . In 1807 he patented self-regulating sails for See also:wind-See also:mills, and in 1812 he entered the See also:works of Messrs Ransome of See also:Ipswich, where he soon became See also:chief engineer, and ultimately a partner . Meanwhile, the subject of the employment of criminals had been much in his thoughts; and the result was his introduction of the treadmill about 1818 . In 1826 he removed to See also:London, where he gained a very large practice as a See also:civil engineer . Among his works were the See also:Oxford See also:canal, the, See also:Birmingham & See also:Liverpool Junction Canal, the improvement of the See also:river See also:Severn, the See also:Bute docks at See also:Cardiff, the See also:Black Sluice drainage and its outfall sluice at See also:Boston See also:harbour, the Middlesborough docks and See also:coal drops in the See also:Tees, and the See also:South-Eastern railway, of which he was chief engineer . The Hanoverian See also:government consulted him about the harbour and docks at See also:Harburg; the See also:water-works of the See also:city of See also:Berlin were constructed under his immediate superintendence; he was asked to See also:report on the construction of the See also:Paris & See also:Lyons railway; and he was consulting engineer for the See also:line from See also:Boulogne to See also:Amiens . Among his later works were two floating landing stages at Liverpool, and the See also:bridge for carrying the London See also:turnpike across the See also:Medway at See also:Rochester . In 1851, when he was See also:president of the Institution of Civil See also:Engineers, he was knighted for his services in connexion with the buildings erected in See also:Hyde See also:Park for the See also:exhibition of that See also:year . He retired from active See also:work in 1858, and died on the 15th of See also:October 1861 at his See also:house on Clapham See also:Common, London . His son, See also:Joseph See also:Cubitt (1811-1872), was trained under him, and was engineer of various See also:railways, including the See also:Great See also:Northern, London, See also:Chatham & See also:Dover, and See also:part of the London & South-Western .

End of Article: SIR WILLIAM CUBITT (1785-1861)
[back]
CUBICLE (Lat. cubiculum)
[next]
THOMAS CUBITT (1788-1855)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.