Charles Louis Hett
Charles Louis Hett (1845-1911) of C. L. Hett
1845 Born the 8th of thirteen children of John Hett, a Solicitor, and his wife Louisa.
Educated privately in Worksop
1862 Commenced apprenticeship with John Hick
1868-9 Draughtsman for W. Bracewell of Burnley
1870-2 Worked for Butterley Iron Co
1872 Went into business as C. L. Hett
1874 Wrote to The Engineer as secretary of the Brigg Steam Cultivation Co Ltd
1876 Wrote to The Engineer enquiring about the current knowledge on use of (hydraulic) rams
1877 Associate Member of Inst Civil Engineers[1]
1885 Announced "Hett's Turbine Governor".
1886 Letter from Hett to Engineering[2]: 'Sir,— In your issue of yesterday I find a reprint of a paper by Mr. Rigg which commences with the following statement:
“Few if any modern applications of mathematical
research have proved so interesting and instructive to
mechanical engineers as those investigations by which Mr.
Charles T. Porter first showed how the reciprocation of
high-speed pistons might be used to equalise pressures,
and conduce to the quiet running of engines driven much
faster than the speeds to which all makers of stationary
engines had until then been accustomed.”
Mr. Rigg is in error in giving Mr. Porter the credit of
being the first to show “how the reciprocation of high-speed pistons might be used to equalise pressures.” In
1871 Mr. Porter read a paper before the Polytechnic
Club of the American Institute (reprinted in Engineering, vol. ii., page 202) in which he approaches this question
as if it were entirely novel and, in his own words in “some points rank heresy.”
Yet five years previously, during a correspondence on counterweighting locomotives, I published a diagram
showing the effect of the inertia of the reciprocating parts
in modifying the pressure on the crank-pin. See my letter
under the nom de plume of “L.” in Engineering, vol. ii.,
page 496.
I have no wish to disparage Mr. Porter’s labours in this
direction, but at the present time when it is the fashion to
laud everything foreign and disparage everything British,
it appears necessary to correct any mis-statements as
appear in Mr. Rigg’s paper whenever they come before one’s notice.
I am, yours truly,
Charles Louis Hett.
Ancholme Foundry, Brigg, April 17,1886.'
Note: Hett's earlier letter was published in Engineering 1866/12/28.
HOWEVER, Charles T. Porter wrote to contradict this claim [3]
1891 Living at Foundry House, Broughton: Charles L. Hett (age 45 born Brigg, Lincs.), Turbine and Centrifugal Pump Manufacturer - Employer. With his brother Francis C. Hett (age 43 born Brigg, Lincs.), Solicitor. Two servants.[4]
1911 September 22nd. Died.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Civil engineer lists
- ↑ Engineering 1886/04/23
- ↑ Engineering 1886/06/04
- ↑ 1891 Census
- civil engineer records