John Isaac Hawkins
Encyclopedia
John Isaac Hawkins was an inventor who practiced civil engineering
.
He was known as the co-inventor of the ever-pointed pencil, an early mechanical pencil
, and of the upright piano.
, Somerset
, England, the son of Joan Wilmington and her husband Rev. Isaac Hawkins, a watchmaker who became first a Wesleyan
minister, and after moving the family to London a minister in the Swedenborgian
movement, which John Isaac would also follow. John Isaac emigrated to the United States about 1790, attending college in New Jersey, where he studied medicine and later, chemical filtration. He married there, living at Bordentown
and Philadelphia. He operated a non-vocational craft school in Bristol, Pennsylvania from about 1800. He returned to England in 1803, and opened a London sugar refinery. He also continued inventing and performed "experiments of a delightfully awful character". In 1825, he went to Vienna to superintend the construction of a beet sugar works there, and subsequently did the same in Paris. Back in England he superintended the construction of the Thames Tunnel
under Isambard Kingdom Brunel
. Later in life he fell into debt and concluding that America presented a better opportunity to profit from his patents, he decided to re-emigrate, departing in autumn 1848. Returning to New Jersey, "as a grey old man" he lived with his third wife "who was barely out of her teens". Lectures there for local ladies could not survive their disapproval of his display of human skulls or the preserved organs of his deceased adopted son, his only child, whom he had dissected following the boy's death at age seven. He published the Journal of Human Nature and Human Progress, but this was short-lived, and he died in poverty and relative obscurity at Rahway
or Elizabethtown, New Jersey, 28 June 1855.
pianino or cottage pianoforte — the “portable grand” as he then called it — which he patented in 1800.
There had been upright grand pianos as well as upright harpsichords, the horizontal instrument being turned up upon its wider end and a keyboard and action adapted to it. William Southwell, an Irish piano-maker, had in 1798 tried a similar experiment with a square piano, to be repeated in later years by William Frederick Collard of London; but Hawkins was the first to make a piano, or pianino, with the strings descending to the floor, the keyboard being raised, and this, although at the moment the chief, was not his only merit. He anticipated nearly every discovery that has since been introduced as novel. His instrument is in a complete iron frame, independent of the case; and in this frame, strengthened by a system of iron resistance rods combined with an iron upper bridge, his sound-board is entirely suspended. An apparatus for tuning by mechanical screws regulates the tension of the strings, which are of equal length throughout. The action, in metal supports, anticipated Robert Wornum
's in the checking, and later ideas in a contrivance for repetition. This bundle of inventions was brought to London and exhibited by Hawkins himself; but the instrument was poor in tone.
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
.
He was known as the co-inventor of the ever-pointed pencil, an early mechanical pencil
Mechanical pencil
A mechanical pencil or a propelling pencil is a pencil with a replaceable and mechanically extendable solid pigment core called a lead . It is designed such that the lead can be extended as its point is worn away...
, and of the upright piano.
Life
Hawkins was born 14 March 1772 at TauntonTaunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England, the son of Joan Wilmington and her husband Rev. Isaac Hawkins, a watchmaker who became first a Wesleyan
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
minister, and after moving the family to London a minister in the Swedenborgian
The New Church
The New Church is the name for a New religious movement developed from the writings of the Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg . Swedenborg claimed to have received a new revelation from Jesus Christ through continuous heavenly visions which he experienced over a period of at least...
movement, which John Isaac would also follow. John Isaac emigrated to the United States about 1790, attending college in New Jersey, where he studied medicine and later, chemical filtration. He married there, living at Bordentown
Bordentown, New Jersey
Bordentown City is in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 3,924. Bordentown is located at the confluence of the Delaware River, Blacks Creek and Crosswicks Creek...
and Philadelphia. He operated a non-vocational craft school in Bristol, Pennsylvania from about 1800. He returned to England in 1803, and opened a London sugar refinery. He also continued inventing and performed "experiments of a delightfully awful character". In 1825, he went to Vienna to superintend the construction of a beet sugar works there, and subsequently did the same in Paris. Back in England he superintended the construction of the Thames Tunnel
Thames Tunnel
The Thames Tunnel is an underwater tunnel, built beneath the River Thames in London, United Kingdom, connecting Rotherhithe and Wapping. It measures 35 feet wide by 20 feet high and is 1,300 feet long, running at a depth of 75 feet below the river's surface...
under Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
. Later in life he fell into debt and concluding that America presented a better opportunity to profit from his patents, he decided to re-emigrate, departing in autumn 1848. Returning to New Jersey, "as a grey old man" he lived with his third wife "who was barely out of her teens". Lectures there for local ladies could not survive their disapproval of his display of human skulls or the preserved organs of his deceased adopted son, his only child, whom he had dissected following the boy's death at age seven. He published the Journal of Human Nature and Human Progress, but this was short-lived, and he died in poverty and relative obscurity at Rahway
Rahway, New Jersey
Rahway is a city in southern Union County, New Jersey, United States. It is part of the New York metropolitan area, being 15 miles southwest of Manhattan and five miles west of Staten Island...
or Elizabethtown, New Jersey, 28 June 1855.
Pianino
Hawkins was the first to see the importance of using iron in pianoforte framing. He was living in Philadelphia when he invented and first produced thepianino or cottage pianoforte — the “portable grand” as he then called it — which he patented in 1800.
There had been upright grand pianos as well as upright harpsichords, the horizontal instrument being turned up upon its wider end and a keyboard and action adapted to it. William Southwell, an Irish piano-maker, had in 1798 tried a similar experiment with a square piano, to be repeated in later years by William Frederick Collard of London; but Hawkins was the first to make a piano, or pianino, with the strings descending to the floor, the keyboard being raised, and this, although at the moment the chief, was not his only merit. He anticipated nearly every discovery that has since been introduced as novel. His instrument is in a complete iron frame, independent of the case; and in this frame, strengthened by a system of iron resistance rods combined with an iron upper bridge, his sound-board is entirely suspended. An apparatus for tuning by mechanical screws regulates the tension of the strings, which are of equal length throughout. The action, in metal supports, anticipated Robert Wornum
Robert Wornum
Robert Wornum was a piano maker working in London during the first half of the 19th century. He is best known for introducing small cottage and oblique uprights and an action considered to be the predecessor of the modern upright action which was used in Europe through the early 20th century...
's in the checking, and later ideas in a contrivance for repetition. This bundle of inventions was brought to London and exhibited by Hawkins himself; but the instrument was poor in tone.
Other inventions and works
- The mechanical pencil
- Invented and obtained a patent in 1803 for the polygraphPolygraph (duplicating device)A Polygraph is a device that produces a copy of a piece of writing simultaneously with the creation of the original, using pens and ink.Patented by John Isaac Hawkins in 1803, it was most famously used by the third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson, who acquired his first polygraph in 1804, later...
, a mechanism for producing a duplicate copy while a handwritten original was created. This is credited with being the first autopenAutopenAn autopen is a machine used for the automatic signing of a signature. The reason for employing an autopen is typically emotive, intending to form a compromise between making every signature by hand, and printing a reproduction of the signature, which is perceived as impersonal by the...
. - The iridium-tipped gold pen, an effective and durable replacement for goose quill pens
- Patented an improved physiognotracePhysiognotracePhysiognotrace: The physiognotrace is an instrument designed to trace a person's physiognomy, most specifically the profile in the form of a silhouette: it is also known as physionotrace in French. The instrument is a descendant of the pantograph, a drawing device that magnifies figures.-History:A...
, a device by which one could quickly produce a silhouette (a paper cut-out) profile - Trifocal corrective eyeglass lenses, patented in 1827, also coining the name "bifocal" for the dual focal length lenses invented by Benjamin FranklinBenjamin FranklinDr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
- Translated M. Camus's "A Treatise on the Teeth of Wheels"
- Experimented with machines for reproducing sculptures
- Perfected Perkins'Jacob PerkinsJacob Perkins was an Anglo-American inventor, mechanical engineer and physicist. Born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Perkins was apprenticed to a goldsmith...
steam gun, intended to eliminate warfare by making resistance impossible.