Industrial Biography: Iron Workers and Tool Makers

by Samuel Smiles

Joseph Clement was born at Great Ashby in Westmoreland, in the year 1779. His father was a hand-loom weaver, and a man of remarkable culture considering his humble station in life. He was an ardent student of natural history, and possessed a much more complete knowledge of several sub-branches of that science than was to have been looked for in a common working-man. One of the departments which he specially studied was Entomology. In his leisure hours he was accustomed to traverse the country searching the hedge-bottoms for beetles and other insects, of which he formed a remarkably complete collection; and the capture of a rare specimen was quite an event in his life. In order more deliberately to study the habits of the bee tribe, he had a number of hives constructed for the purpose of enabling him to watch their proceedings without leaving his work; and the pursuit was a source of the greatest pleasure to him. He was a lover of all dumb creatures; his cottage was haunted by birds which flew in and out at his door, and some of them became so tame as to hop up to him and feed out of his hand. "Old Clement" was also a bit of a mechanic, and such of his leisure moments as he did not devote to insect-hunting, were employed in working a lathe of his own construction, which he used to turn his bobbing on, and also in various kinds of amateur mechanics.

His boy Joseph, like other poor men's sons, was early set to work. He received very little education, and learnt only the merest rudiments of reading and writing at the village school. The rest of his education he gave to himself as he grew older. His father needed his help at the loom, where he worked with him for some years; but, as handloom weaving was gradually being driven out by improved mechanism, the father prudently resolved to put his son to a better trade. They have a saying in Cumberland that when the bairns reach a certain age, they are thrown on to the house-rigg, and that those who stick on are made thatchers of, while those who fall off are sent to St. Bees to be made parsons of. Joseph must have been one of those that stuck on—at all events his father decided to make him a thatcher, afterwards a slater, and he worked at that trade for five years, between eighteen and twenty-three.

The son, like the father, had a strong liking for mechanics, and as the slating trade did not keep him in regular employment, especially in winter time, he had plenty of opportunity for following the bent of his inclinations. He made a friend of the village blacksmith, whose smithy he was accustomed to frequent, and there he learned to work at the forge, to handle the hammer and file, and in a short time to shoe horses with considerable expertness. A cousin of his named Farer, a clock and watchmaker by trade, having returned to the village from London, brought with him some books on mechanics, which he lent to Joseph to read; and they kindled in him an ardent desire to be a mechanic instead of a slater. He nevertheless continued to maintain himself by the latter trade for some time longer, until his skill had grown; and, by way of cultivating it, he determined, with the aid of his friend the village blacksmith, to make a turning-lathe. The two set to work, and the result was the production of an article in every way superior to that made by Clement's father, which was accordingly displaced to make room for the new machine. It was found to work very satisfactorily, and by its means Joseph proceeded to turn fifes, flutes, clarinets, and hautboys; for to his other accomplishments he joined that of music, and could play upon the instruments that he made. One of his most ambitious efforts was the making of a pair of Northumberland bagpipes, which he finished to his satisfaction, and performed upon to the great delight of the villagers. To assist his father in his entomological studies, he even contrived, with the aid of the descriptions given in the books borrowed from his cousin the watchmaker, to make for him a microscope, from which he proceeded to make a reflecting telescope, which proved a very good instrument. At this early period (1804) he also seems to have directed his attention to screw-making—a branch of mechanics in which he afterwards became famous; and he proceeded to make a pair of very satisfactory die-stocks, though it is said that he had not before seen or even heard of such a contrivance for making screws.

So clever a workman was not likely to remain long a village slater. Although the ingenious pieces of work which he turned out by his lathe did not bring him in much money, he liked the occupation so much better than slating that he was gradually giving up that trade. His father urged him to stick to slating as "a safe thing;" but his own mind was in favour of following his instinct to be a mechanic; and at length he determined to leave his village and seek work in a new line. He succeeded in finding employment in a small factory at Kirby Stephen, a town some thirteen miles from Great Ashby, where he worked at making power-looms. From an old statement of account against his employer which we have seen, in his own handwriting, dated the 6th September, 1805, it appears that his earnings at such work as "fitting the first set of iron loames," "fitting up shittles," and "making moddles," were 3s. 6d. a day; and he must, during the same time, have lived with his employer, who charged him as a set-off "14 weaks bord at 8s. per weak." He afterwards seems to have worked at piece-work in partnership with one Andrew Gamble supplying the materials as well as the workmanship for the looms and shuttles. His employer, Mr. George Dickinson, also seems to have bought his reflecting telescope from him for the sum of 12L.

From Kirby Stephen Clement removed to Carlisle, where he was employed by Forster and Sons during the next two years at the same description of work; and he conducted himself, according; to their certificate on his leaving their employment to proceed to Glasgow in 1807, "with great sobriety and industry, entirely to their satisfaction." While working at Glasgow as a turner, he took lessons in drawing from Peter Nicholson, the well-known writer on carpentry—a highly ingenious man. Nicholson happened to call at the shop at which Clement worked in order to make a drawing of a power-loom; and Clement's expressions of admiration at his expertness were so enthusiastic, that Nicholson, pleased with the youth's praise, asked if he could be of service to him in any way. Emboldened by the offer, Clement requested, as the greatest favour he could confer upon him, to have the loan of the drawing he had just made, in order that he might copy it. The request was at once complied with; and Clement, though very poor at the time, and scarcely able to buy candle for the long winter evenings, sat up late every night until he had finished it. Though the first drawing he had ever made, he handed it back to Nicholson instead of the original, and at first the draughtsman did not recognise that the drawing was not his own. When Clement told him that it was only the copy, Nicholson's brief but emphatic praise was—"Young man, YOU'LL DO!" Proud to have such a pupil, Nicholson generously offered to give him gratuitous lessons in drawing, which were thankfully accepted; and Clement, working at nights with great ardour, soon made rapid progress, and became an expert draughtsman.

Trade being very slack in Glasgow at the time, Clement, after about a year's stay in the place, accepted a situation with Messrs. Leys, Masson, and Co., of Aberdeen, with whom he began at a guinea and a half a week, from which he gradually rose to two guineas, and ultimately to three guineas. His principal work consisted in designing and making power-looms for his employers, and fitting them up in different parts of the country. He continued to devote himself to the study of practical mechanics, and made many improvements in the tools with which he worked. While at Glasgow he had made an improved pair of die-stocks for screws; and, at Aberdeen, he made a turning-lathe with a sliding mandrill and guide-screws, for cutting screws, furnished also with the means for correcting guide-screws. In the same machine he introduced a small slide rest, into which he fixed the tool for cutting the screws,—having never before seen a slide rest, though it is very probable he may have heard of what Maudslay had already done in the same direction. Clement continued during this period of his life an industrious self-cultivator, occupying most of his spare hours in mechanical and landscape drawing, and in various studies. Among the papers left behind him we find a ticket to a course of instruction on Natural Philosophy given by Professor Copland in the Marischal College at Aberdeen, which Clement attended in the session of 1812-13; and we do not doubt that our mechanic was among the most diligent of his pupils. Towards the end of 1813, after saving about 100L. out of his wages, Clement resolved to proceed to London for the purpose of improving himself in his trade and pushing his way in the world. The coach by which he travelled set him down in Snow Hill, Holborn; and his first thought was of finding work. He had no friend in town to consult on the matter, so he made inquiry of the coach-guard whether he knew of any person in the mechanical line in that neighbourhood. The guard said, "Yes; there was Alexander Galloway's show shop, just round the corner, and he employed a large number of hands." Running round the corner, Clement looked in at Galloway's window, through which he saw some lathes and other articles used in machine shops. Next morning he called upon the owner of the shop to ask employment. "What can you do?" asked Galloway. "I can work at the forge," said Clement. "Anything else?" "I can turn." "What else?" "I can draw." "What!" said Galloway, "can you draw? Then I will engage you." A man who could draw or work to a drawing in those days was regarded as a superior sort of mechanic. Though Galloway was one of the leading tradesmen of his time, and had excellent opportunities for advancement, he missed them all. As Clement afterwards said of him, "He was only a mouthing common-council man, the height of whose ambition was to be an alderman;" and, like most corporation celebrities, he held a low rank in his own business. He very rarely went into his workshops to superintend or direct his workmen, leaving this to his foremen—a sufficient indication of the causes of his failure as a mechanic.[1]

On entering Galloway's shop, Clement was first employed in working at the lathe; but finding the tools so bad that it was impossible to execute satisfactory work with them, he at once went to the forge, and began making a new set of tools for himself. The other men, to whom such a proceeding was entirely new, came round him to observe his operations, and they were much struck with his manual dexterity. The tools made, he proceeded to use them, displaying what seemed to the other workmen an unusual degree of energy and intelligence; and some of the old hands did not hesitate already to pronounce Clement to be the best mechanic in the shop. When Saturday night came round, the other men were curious to know what wages Galloway would allow the new hand; and when he had been paid, they asked him. "A guinea," was the reply. "A guinea! Why, you are worth two if you are worth a shilling," said an old man who came out of the rank—an excellent mechanic, who, though comparatively worthless through his devotion to drink, knew Clement's money value to his employer better than any man there; and he added, "Wait for a week or two, and if you are not better paid than this, I can tell you of a master who will give you a fairer wage." Several Saturdays came round, but no advance was made on the guinea a week; and then the old workman recommended Clement to offer himself to Bramah at Pimlico, who was always on the look out for first-rate mechanics.

Clement acted on the advice, and took with him some of his drawings, at sight of which Bramah immediately engaged him for a month; and at the end of that time he had given so much satisfaction, that it was agreed he should continue for three months longer at two guineas a week. Clement was placed in charge of the tools of the shop, and he showed himself so apt at introducing improvements in them, as well as in organizing the work with a view to despatch and economy, that at the end of the term Bramah made him a handsome present, adding, "if I had secured your services five years since, I would now have been a richer man by many thousands of pounds." A formal agreement for a term of five years was then entered into between Bramah and Clement, dated the 1st of April, 1814, by which the latter undertook to fill the office of chief-draughtsman and superintendent of the Pimlico Works, in consideration of a salary of three guineas a week, with an advance of four shillings a week in each succeeding year of the engagement. This arrangement proved of mutual advantage to both. Clement devoted himself with increased zeal to the improvement of the mechanical arrangements of the concern, exhibiting his ingenuity in many ways, and taking; a genuine pride in upholding the character of his master for turning out first-class work.

On the death of Bramah, his sons returned from college and entered into possession of the business. They found Clement the ruling mind there and grew jealous of him to such an extent that his situation became uncomfortable; and by mutual consent he was allowed to leave before the expiry of his term of agreement. He had no difficulty in finding employment; and was at once taken on as chief draughtsman at Maudslay and Field's where he was of much assistance in proportioning the early marine engines, for the manufacture of which that firm were becoming celebrated. After a short time, he became desirous of beginning business on his own account as a mechanical engineer. He was encouraged to do this by the Duke of Northumberland, who, being a great lover of mechanics and himself a capital turner, used often to visit Maudslay's, and thus became acquainted with Clement, whose expertness as a draughtsman and mechanic he greatly admired. Being a man of frugal and sober habits, always keeping his expenditure very considerably within his income, Clement had been enabled to accumulate about 500L., which he thought would be enough for his purpose; and he accordingly proceeded, in 1817, to take a small workshop in Prospect Place, Newington Butts, where he began business as a mechanical draughtsman and manufacturer of small machinery requiring first-class workmanship.

From the time when he took his first gratuitous lessons in drawing from Peter Nicholson, at Glasgow, in 1807, he had been steadily improving in this art, the knowledge of which is indispensable to whoever aspires to eminence as a mechanical engineer,—until by general consent Clement was confessed to stand unrivalled as a draughtsman. Some of the very best drawings contained in the Transactions of the Society of Arts, from the year 1817 downwards,—especially those requiring the delineation of any unusually elaborate piece of machinery,—proceeded from the hand of Clement. In some of these, he reached a degree of truth in mechanical perspective which has never been surpassed.[2] To facilitate his labours, he invented an extremely ingenious instrument, by means of which ellipses of all proportions, as well as circles and right lines, might be geometrically drawn on paper or on copper. He took his idea of this instrument from the trammel used by carpenters for drawing imperfect ellipses; and when he had succeeded in avoiding the crossing of the points, he proceeded to invent the straight-line motion. For this invention the Society of Arts awarded him their gold medal in 1818. Some years later, he submitted to the same Society his invention of a stand for drawings of large size. He had experienced considerable difficulty in making such drawings, and with his accustomed readiness to overcome obstacles, he forthwith set to work and brought out his new drawing-table.