Expatriate British Engineers in the Industrial Revolution
Introduction
Many countries were keen to adopt technology developed in Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution. Buying machinery, or gaining knowledge of designs and techniques, was often not sufficient to make progress, and there was a demand for the direct involvement of experienced engineers and other workers.
For a time, British government policy was firmly against such transfer of technology, discouraging emigration of skilled workers and banning the export of machinery and information. Many British industrialists disagreed with this policy, partly because it limited the market for their products, and partly because other countries would be encouraged to make strenuous efforts to develop their own machinery, and become competitors.
For the present purposes, the period of interest is up to the 1850s.
Engineers and Entrepreneurs
Allcard, Buddicom and Co of France - Railway equipment
Michael Alcock (1714-1785) of France
Charles Brown (1827-1896) of Switzerland
John Cockerill of Belgium
Job Dixon of France, Belgium and Holland
James Edward Earnshaw of Germany
Hall, Powell and Scott of Rouen
John Holker of Rouen
Samuel Owen of Sweden
William Richards (1816-1893) Spain - gas industry
John Steele of Rouen
Samuel Slater USA - Textile production
William Wilkinson (1744-1808) France - iron production
Other Workers
It was often the case that merely acquiring a machine or process was of no use to the purchaser, making it necessary to hire skilled operators from Britain or Ireland. Rarely do we know their names, but a notable exception applies to workers employed by a number of textile producers in Norway[1]
Other Aspects of Technology Transfer
Although beyond the scope of this entry, much has been written about the acquisition of technical know-how, particularly by France, by means of overt and covert intelligence gathering. The sources provide fascinating information, and often include the names of expatriate workers.[2] [3].
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 'British Technology and European Industrialization' by Kristine Bruland, Cambridge University Press, 1989
- ↑ [1] 'Examples of industrial and military technology transfer in the eighteenth century / Des exemples de transferts techniques industriels et militaires au dix-huitième siècle, by Margaret Bradley, 2e semestre 2010 : Les techniques et la technologie entre la France et la Grande-Bretagne XVIIe-XIXe siècles
- ↑ [2] Selection of Reports and Papers of the House of Commons: Vol 17, 1836: 5th Report of the Select Committee on Artizans and Machinery