Anne Trevithick/ELLIS

   Richard Trevithick, was born in the small hamlet of Tregajorran in the parish of Illogan, (between Camborne and Redruth) in Cornwall, UK. It was the 13^th of April, 1771. The little cottage he was born in was only a mile or so from Dolcoath Mine, where his father, Richard Trevithick Snr, was a mine ‘Captain’, his mother, Ann Teague, was a miner's daughter.

   One of six children, Trevithick was the youngest-but-one and the only boy. He grew up in the Illogan tin-mining district, the heart of one of the richest mineral mining areas of Cornwall. Immersed in mining and engineering from such a young age, watching steam engines pump water from the deep tin and copper mines, it was perhaps inevitable that his curiosity about the engineering and other aspects of mining would be so great.

   The independently minded young Richard performed poorly in school. Educated at the village school in Camborne he did not take much advantage of the education available. When not playing truant the young Trevithick was more interested in sport than academic learning. Although he did show an exceptional aptitude for arithmetic, often arriving at the correct answers despite using unconventional means, Trevithick once put his teacher in a dilemma by offering to do six sums to the pedagogue's one.

   Possibly not having the best opinion of master Trevithick his schoolmaster described him as "a disobedient, slow, obstinate, spoiled boy, frequently absent and very inattentive". Actually his own father considered him a “loafer”, so perhaps the teacher wasn’t so wide of the mark.

   Considering that Trevithick displayed an extraordinary talent for engineering, and would go on to be one of the most outstanding of early steam-power pioneers, it is hard to believe he remained scarcely literate throughout his career.

   Trevithick grew to be a lad of “prodigious strength”, 6’2’’, broad-shouldered, a massive head and bright blue eyes. He was said to be able to throw sledge hammers over the tops of engine houses and had a reputation for being one of the best wrestlers in Cornwall, it’s little wonder he became known as the “Cornish giant”. One story of the eighteen year old lad’s strength says he was observed to write his name on a beam, six feet from the floor, with “half a hundredweight” hanging from his thumb! Richard Trevithick might appear fierce but he was said to be tender-hearted, buoyant, and recklessly imprudent, a trait which often left him somewhat depressed.

   As his father was ‘Captain’, or manager, of several important mines, Dolcoath, Wheal Chance, Wheal Treasury, and Eastern Stray Parks, it is fairly obvious Trevithick would work in one of these mines. In 1790 the 19 year old Trevithick started work at the East Stray Park Mine, earning up to 30 shillings (£1.50) per month. Initially his popularity was due to his stature and the respect the men had for his father, and of course he knew many of the local miners having lived amongst them all his life. However, Trevithick’s enthusiasm and initiative soon earned his colleagues' respect in his own right. Quickly drawn into the fascinating world of engines, pumps and other mining machines Trevithick showed great technical ability. His intuitive ability to solve problems conquered many that had perplexed educated engineers, and at an unusually young age gained him status as a consultant.

   This was a time of great developments in steam power with engineers all over Cornwall striving to find solutions to problems and increase the effectiveness of steam engines. One such was Jonathan Hornblower (II) who was using the idea of compounding. Basically this is the coupling of two or more cylinders were steam is passed from the first cylinder to the second cylinder where it expands further and provides more drive. Hornblower patented his principle in 1781 and Trevithick saw this system in operation at Tincroft Mine in 1792 and made a report on it to his father. One of the problems with the engine was the valve gear cutting-in at the wrong time during the stroke and not allowing the full expansive working of the steam in the cylinder. Imperfect understanding of physics then was hampering many of the brains of the time but, Arthur Woolf did install a successful compound engine in 1814 at the Wheal Abraham mine. Clearly Trevithick was keeping himself up to date with all the latest developments, and possibly he understood their relationships to each other better than those around him. In 1795 Trevithick improves and then re-erects the Watt engine at wheal treasury mine providing a big increase in the engines efficiency.

   Edward Bull, chief designer for Boulton and Watt and their engine erector in Cornwall prior to the arrival of William Murdoch, had set up engines at several mines managed by Richard Trevithick Snr. Trevithick Jnr. came up with several improvements, and working with William Bull (Edwards son) and William West, introduced high pressure steam systems to the engine at East Stray. The engine was so successful that Trevithick was appointed engineer for the Ding Dong mine, in Penzance in 1796. In 1796 Trevithick and West inverted the Edward Bull designed ‘Watt’, low-pressure atmospheric type, engine and added high pressure steam. The 28inch cylinder design became a direct acting engine but still used the condensing method. Ding Dong mines high-pressure engine was so successful it was soon in great demand in Cornwall and South Wales. While at Ding Dong he also created, and installed a high-pressure engine for raising the ore and refuse from mines. He worked on building and modifying steam engines to avoid the royalties due to Watt on the separate condenser patent.

   This was seen by James Watt as a direct infringement of his 'condenser patent', and despite  Trevithick and Bull visiting Watt at his Soho Foundry, Watt set an injunction upon him for infringing Boulton and Watt patents. Apparently the court official who went to serve the injunction couldn’t find Trevithick so posted the paperwork "on the minestuffs", which is now taken to mean nailed to the ‘count house’ door. Today the ruin of the Count (Account) House is the only structure still standing from Richard Trevithick's time at Dong Dong mine. Trevithick became acquainted with Davies Giddy in 1796 and became a close friend of the influential politician and scientist (MP for Helston and later Bodmin from 1804-1832 and president of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall from 1814). Giddy was also High Sheriff of Cornwall from 1792 to 1793 so it is possible that the issues with Watt’s patents may have contributed to these men becoming acquainted. Whatever the reason for their first meeting, Giddy became an adviser and advocate of Trevithick’s experiments.

   1797 proved a mixed year emotionally for Trevithick. His father passed away at Pendponds, near Camborne, on 1 August 1797, still managing four of the mines until that day. Just a few months later Trevithick married Jane Harvey of Hayle. She was the daughter of prominent local foundry works ownwer, John Harvey, founder of “Harveys of Hayle”.  The couple were married on 7th of November 1797, at St. Erth Parish Church and lived at Moreton House, near Redruth.

   Together they raised six children and Jane stood by her husband through triumph and adversity. There is no indication that she ever regretted her decision to marry Richard. When she died at Pencliff, Hayle, on the 21st of March 1868, she had survived her husband by over thirty years. The six Children were:-

   Strong steam. Up to this time steam power had been in the low pressure ‘Watt’ style, that is to say close to atmospheric pressure, then condensing the steam to let the atmosphere push the cylinder down. While Watt distrusted ‘strong steam’ fearing it uncontrollable, Trevithick thought differently. Trevithick worked with 'strong steam’, meaning high pressure steam, throughout his life. By using high pressure steam and allowing it to expand within the cylinder, the condensing stage was eliminated, and Watt’s patent was circumvented. This enabled him to make smaller, more compact engines. No longer needing large brick buildings to support and house the engines meant they could be made small and powerful enough to attach to a carriage so they could propel themselves on roads or railways. The linear motion could be directly converted into circular motion via a crank off of the piston instead of using an inefficient, and often very large, beam. The use of a crank instead of a beam obviously added to the ability to reduce the overall system of propulsion to a much smaller size too. William Murdoch was the first to think of so-called ‘strong steam’ and demonstrated it in his model engines. Similarly in the U.S. Oliver Evans was working along these lines but It is clear Murdoch and Trevithick were able to converse on the subject of steam there is no evidence to suggest Trevithick was aware of Evans’ work. Chief Engineer of the Meux and Reid owned Griffin Brewery in London, Arthur Woolf, was also experimenting independently with high pressure steam. The owners were keen to have the best steam engine in London. In 1796 they had a Hornblower and Maberly Engine which Woolf believed he could modify to make substantial savings in coal consumption. Saving coal was of utmost importance to the Cornish engineers as the ore-mine operators were obliged to import coal to the mines as Cornwall itself had no coal mines; and transporting coal was expensive. This led not only to the growth of Cornish engineering and their ingenious solutions but also to the great demand for their work and services across Great Britain. The savings in coal allowed the Mine captains to move from using steam power for pumping out water but also to use it for hoisting ore and spoil from the mine. In all Trevithick built 30 engines for that purpose alone, and demand spread to South Wales.

   1798. The First engine was sent to Arthur Woolf in London, and another association was commenced. Through 1799 Trevithick continued to gain experience and realised that other improvements in boiler making and the safer use of high pressure steam confirmed that the steam should provide the power stroke rather than the atmosphere. This meant the cylinder and piston becoming ever smaller. He followed that with an enclosed piston and gearing to use both strokes to provide power, the so called double action engine. In 1800 Trevithick built a highly ingenious double-acting high-pressure engine at Cook's Kitchen mine. It was called a ‘puffer’ or ‘puffer whim’ by those who heard it (as it made a distinctly different noise to the condensing engines in general use before this time) and because it vented steam into the atmosphere via a vertical chimney. It is also important for us to remember that the ‘high pressure steam’ we’re talking of was still only a few atmospheres above the normal atmospheric pressure, hardly high pressure at all by today’s standards.

   In 1800, Watt's earlier patent on "a carriage propelled by a steam engine" expired and a new chapter of steam engineering commenced. Many people could now work on their ideas to improve Watt’s engines and the combinations of ideas flourished. Between 1800 and 1802 Trevithick built two engines for winding at Stray Park Mine. The second was a ‘puffer’ set horizontally, controlled with a four-way stopcock and a horizontal cylinder set into the boiler. These ideas were developed alongside his plans for automotive transport. While working full time on the mines engines Trevithick still kept adapting ideas and making more models. During 1800 and 1801 he was busy designing and building a genuine steam carriage, built locally on a site near the present day Fore Street in Camborne. A vehicle he completed by Christmas Eve, 1801.

   Known locally as the ‘Captain Dick's puffer’ or ‘The Puffing Devil’, it made a short experimental trip, on the roads of Camborne and up Camborne Hill (where a plaque now commemorates the event), from Camborne Cross, to the nearby village of Beacon. It was carrying a full load of people, the first passengers ever moved by steam power. Trevithick looked after the engineering of the vehicle while his cousin and associate, Andrew Vivian, steered the machine. It made just the one short journey that day because it broke down! Nevertheless, it inspired the popular Cornish folk song ‘Camborne Hill’. The locomotive's principle features were a high pressure horizontal cylinder boiler, enclosing the firebox and a single vertical cylinder let into it. The double acting piston was linked by a rod to a crankshaft, which also carried a large flywheel helping to maintain smooth motion. The wheels are surprisingly small and steering via very rudimentary tiller affair. It was reported as having a fully loaded weight of 1520kg and a speed of 9 mph (14.5 km/h) on flat ground.

   One of the problems holding back Trevithick’s automotive vehicles was the difficulty experienced in keeping up steam, something reminiscent of Cugnot’s machine. These experiments would have been further interrupted by the terrible state of the Cornish roads, which led to the engine having several accidents. On the last of these occurrences the locomotive was turned over after passing over a gully in the road. The crew righted the vehicle and left it under some shelter then took their leave in order to have a meal of roast goose and liquid refreshments in a nearby public house. Having neglected to put out the fire the water boiled off and the engine overheated with the then predictable result of the machine being reduced to a pile of embers. Nevertheless sufficient progress had been made for Trevithick, and Andrew Vivian, to make a journey to London in January 1802. There they were interviewed by Count Rumford and Humphrey Davy, and, with some difficulty, obtained the historic patent for ‘high-pressure engines for stationary and locomotive use’ on March the 26th of that year. A patent he shared with Vivian whom he also took on as a full partner. James Watt argued that high pressure steam, and the higher temperatures required, would result in dangerous explosions. This was the reason he himself had rejected the idea to power a locomotive citing it to be “too risky”. Trevithick later accused Boulton & Watt of using their influence to lobby Parliament to pass a bill banning his experiments with steam locomotives. Certainly Parliment’s interventions in later years severely curtailed the steam locomotion industry in Britain and led to this early head start in the world of automotive road transport being lost to the French almost a century later. The practicalities of Trevithick’s High pressure steam engine were proved beyond doubt at the Coalbrookdale Company's works in Shropshire in 1802. Trevithick forced a measured amount of water to a measured height proving the amount of work done. His stationary engine became a bench mark, running at an unprecedented boiler pressure of 145 psi and giving 40 piston strokes in a minute.