Читать книгу Memoirs of the Distinguished Men of Science of Great Britain Living in the Years 1807-8 - William Walker - Страница 16

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Born in Middlesex, May 20, 1772. Died May 3, 1828.

Sir William Congreve was the son of the first baronet, an Artillery officer of the same name. He entered early into the branch of military service his father had pursued, and, in 1816, attained in it the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was also at this time equerry to the Prince Regent, which office he retained on the occasion of his quitting the military service in 1820. Congreve very early distinguished himself by his inventions in the construction of missiles. He invented the rocket which bears his name in the year 1808, and succeeded in establishing this destructive engine of warfare as a permanent instrument in military and naval tactics, both at home and abroad. It was used by Lord Cochrane in his attack on the French squadron in the Basque roads, in the expedition against Walcheren, at Waterloo, and with most serviceable effect in the attack on Algiers. It was also used at the battle of Leipzig in 1813, and for its service on this occasion the Order of St. Anne was conferred on Sir William by the Emperor of Russia. Since that time the rocket has been much improved and modified, and has become an essential part of every armament, not in England alone, but universally.

Sir William Congreve was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in the year 1811. In 1812 he became a Member of Parliament for Gatton, and in 1820 and 1826 for Plymouth. He succeeded his father as baronet in 1814. Besides the above important invention, Sir William wrote and published in 1812 an 'Elementary Treatise on the Mounting of Naval Ordnance,' and in 1815 'A Description of the Hydro-Pneumatic Lock.' During the course of the same year he obtained a patent for a new mode of manufacturing gunpowder. This invention consisted, first, of a machine for producing as perfect a mixture as possible of the ingredients; and, secondly, of an improved mode of passing the mill-cake under the press, and a new granulating machine. In 1819 a patent was granted to him for an improved mode of inlaying or combining different metals, and another for certain improvements in the manufacture of bank-note paper for the prevention of forgery.

The last public service performed by Sir William was the drawing up and publishing, in 1823, a very interesting report on the gaslight establishments of the metropolis. In 1826, he became mixed up in the speculative mania which prevailed at that period, and was ultimately compelled to seek refuge on the continent at Toulouse, where he shortly afterwards died at the age of fifty-six.—Annual Register, 1828.