Philip Taylor (1786-1870), engineer
1786 Born the fourth son of John Taylor (1750-1826), hymn writer of Norwich, and his wife, Susanna Taylor (1755-1823); his grandmother was Margaret Meadows (d. 1781), whose only sister, Sarah, had sons David and Peter, who were sugar-refiners in London, and John (her fourth son) who was a brewer and became a partner in Whitbread and Co.[1]; she was also the grandmother of Harriet Martineau, the writer. He was the brother of Richard Taylor, Edward Taylor, John Taylor, Arthur Taylor, and Sarah Austin
He was educated at Dr. Houghton's school in Norwich
Initially studied surgery but then worked for a Mr Fitch in Norwich, chemist and druggist; set up a factory to make wooden pillboxes by machine.
1801-05 Taylor was with his brother John, who was employed by a copper mine in western Devon, for the Martineau family of Norwich
1812 Philip and his brother John started a chemical works at Stratford, East London. Initially Philip was concerned with pharmaceuticals and apparatus, while John worked on metallurgical chemistry. They were backed by the Martineau family. One joint invention was an "acetometer", used to check excise duty on vinegar. Philip Taylor resided in the adjoining parish of Bromley.
Philip Taylor and John Taylor went into business with John Martineau as J. P. Taylor and Martineau. The partnership was dissolved in 1827
In 1813 Taylor married Sarah, daughter of Robert Fitch, surgeon, of Ipswich (presumably the same person he had first worked for). He had eight children
1816 and 1818 Patented the application of high-pressure steam to evaporation, used in Whitbreads brewery and by sugar refiners.
Devised a method of making gas from oil for lighting public and private buildings; patented by John and Philip[2].
Between 1816 and 1825 applied for several patents
From 1816 Taylor was involved in steam engine design.
He testified in 1817 before a House of Commons select committee on steam navigation, and during his evidence said he did not know Arthur Woolf personally. At this time he was described as a "manufacturing" or "operative" chemist. His interest in steam came via high-pressure boilers, as reported in 1823 by Peter Ewart.
1818 John and Philip Taylor supplied gas lighting equipment to the Norwich textile mill of Joseph Oxley and Sons.[3]
On 3 July 1824 he took out a patent for a horizontal steam engine (No. 4983).
In 1825 Taylor & Martineau was producing a standard factory stationary steam engine, of a type that would become common. Later they sold a boiler and steam engine to Marc Séguin, French rail pioneer, then working for a steamer company on the Rhône River.
Harvey of Hayle produced engines to Taylor's design for Arthur Woolf
1821 Assisted Marc Isambard Brunel in his debt crisis
Director of the Thames Tunnel Co.
1824 On the exportation of machinery and the moral condition of the working class [4][5][6]
1824 Of City Road, Mddx. Patent for apparatus to produce gas. [7]
1824 Patent for improvements to steam engines [8]
1824 Moved to South Wales; involved with the British Iron Co; patent for making iron. Later moved to France.
1828 Patented the hot-blast process in the manufacture of iron in France. The validity of the patent was disputed and was not established until 1839.
1836 Founded engineering works at Marseilles with his sons
1845 he bought a shipbuilding yard at La Seyne, near Toulon, which became a large and flourishing concern employing 2000 men.
Philip Taylor also developed his activity in Genoa where, in 1846, he laid the foundations, together with Fortunato Prandi, in Sampierdarena, of one of the largest Italian mechanical construction companies.
1847-1852 Taylor went to Sampierdarena, in Genoa, Italy, at the invitation of the government of the Kingdom of Sardini, and with Fortunato Prandi established Taylor and Prandi. In 1852 a new agreement was signed with the government and the railway company. The Taylor & Prandi facility was acquired by a company comprised of Carlo Bombrini (director of the National Bank of the Sardinian Kingdom), Raffaele Rubattino, Giacomo Filippo Penco (financier) and Giovanni Ansaldo, and the Ansaldo company was born.[9] [10]
1853 Philip Taylor merged the workshops he owned (a foundry in Marseille in the neighburhood of Menpenti and the naval works of La Seyne) with the Forge de la Capelette, of which he was one of the main shareholders, to form the Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, located in Marseille and La Seyne.[11]
1855 Disposed of his business to the Compagnie des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée.
1870 Died at home near Marseilles on 1 July. 'Taylor. — On the 1st inst, at his residence, St. Marguerite, near Marseilles, Philip Taylor, Esq., civil engineer, Knight of the Legion of Honour in France, and of Order of St. Maurice in Italy, in his 85th year.[12]
See also [6] 'AUX ORIGINES DE LA SOCIÉTÉ DES FORGES ET CHANTIERS DE LA MÉDITERRANÉE - L’œuvre de l’industriel anglais Philip Taylor (1846-1853)
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ A memoir of the history of the Taylor Family of Norwich, by Philip Taylor, 1886 [1]
- ↑ East London Gas Industry [2]
- ↑ Norfolk Chronicle - Saturday 17 October 1818
- ↑ Mechanics Magazine 1824/03/13
- ↑ Mechanics Magazine 1824/03/20
- ↑ Mechanics Magazine 1824/03/27
- ↑ Mechanics Magazine 1824/08/07
- ↑ Mechanics Magazine 1824/08/28
- ↑ [3] Wikipedia - Philip Taylor
- ↑ [4] Wikipedia - Taylor & Prandi
- ↑ [5] 'El papel de los técnicos ingleses en la industria metalurgica y mecánica del norte del Mediterráneo (1835-1875): una primera aproximacion' by Olivier Raveux, 1994
- ↑ Sheffield Daily Telegraph - Thursday 07 July 1870