John Harvey (ironfounder)

John Harvey
Nationality British

Engineering career

Discipline Mechanical
Projects Harvey & Co of Hayle
Significant design Improvement of the beam engine
Simpson design waterworks beam engine by Harvey's of Hayle, Hereford Waterworks Museum

John Harvey was a Cornishman whose career started as a blacksmith and engineer at Carnhell Green near Hayle, in west Cornwall. In 1779 he established a foundry and engineering works at Hayle called Harvey & Co.[1] By 1800 the company employed more than 50 people and continued to grow as Harvey worked with many of the great Cornish engineers and entrepreneurs of the day. These included Richard Trevithick, William West, and, more importantly, Arthur Woolf. In 1797, Harvey's daughter, Jane, married Richard Trevithick.

Harvey & Co. built up a reputation for world class stationary beam engines designed to pump water out of the deep Cornish tin and copper mines. The Cornish beam engine became world-famous and was exported overseas, and remains the largest type of beam engine ever constructed; the largest of all, with a 144-inch-diameter (3,700 mm) cylinder which powered eight separate beams, was used to drain the Haarlemmermeer in the Netherlands—it is preserved in the Museum De Cruquius.[2]

Crimean siege mortar made by Harvey's of Hayle

Harvey's also produced a range of products, from hand tools to ocean-going ships including the USS Cornubia. The company was expanded by John's son, Henry, in collaboration with Arthur Woolf, who was the chief engineer. At that time it was the main mining engine foundry in the world, with an international market served through their own port at Foundry Town, Hayle.

Harvey's of Hayle reached their peak in the early- to mid-19th century and then, along with the Cornish mining industry in general, suffered a gradual and slow decline. Harvey's acquired the Cornish Copper Company in 1875. The engineering works and foundry were closed in 1903, although the company continued to trade as a general and builders merchant, eventually merging with UBM to become Harvey-UBM in 1969.

List of ships

Ship GRT Yard No For Date of launch
Henry Harvey 23 May 1857[3]
Cornubia 589 Hayle and Bristol Steam Packet Company 27 February 1858[4]
SS Riviere 124 1860
Minros Charles Henry Smith of Swansea 22 April 1860[5]
Penair 213 1862
Royal Bride 286 March 1863
Welsh Girl 1 August 1863
Cornish Girl 175 Porthleven United Shipping Company April 1864[6]
Eliza Bain 300 Hitchens, Bain and Company 12 November 1864[7]
SS St Agnes 175 Mr. Hitchens of St Agnes 24 June 1865[8]
SS Bessie 287 6 September 1865
SS Margaret 232 June 1866
SS Western Wave 229 25 October 1866[9]
SS Hayle 353 Tom Mawr Company of Neath 10 June 1867[10]
Unnamed Brigantine 214 Captain H Thomas of St Ives 21 June 1867[11]
SS Mary Johns 181 William Johns of St Ives 21 May 1868[12]
Hannibal 370 Captain Hannibal Thomas 1868[13]
PS Dolphin South Devon Railway Company 24 July 1869[14]
PS Guide 104 Dartmouth Steam Packet Company 7 September 1869[15]
SS The Girl of the Period 306 27 May 1870[16]
SS Batara Bayon Sree 118 J.B. Mansfield of Teignmouth 8 September 1871[17]
SS Senor Rostro 398 George Batters of London 29 March 1873[18]
SS Frank Batters 380 16 May 1874[19]
SS Lady of the Isles 152 West Cornwall Steam Ship Company 9 March 1875[20]
SS Victor W. Jewell of Falmouth 10 June 1875[21]
T.S.B. 289 Thomas Bolitho and Sons, Penzance 5 November 1877[22]
SS Penwith 289 February 1878
SS King’s Bridge Packet 110 15 April 1879[23]
SS Thornhill 275 25 October 1880[24]
SS Emperor 106 29 July 1880
SS Tynron 306 26 January 1881
SS Emperor 114 32 July 1883
SS Eagle 103 33 August 1883
SS Dauntless 120 36 October 1884
SS Lanisley 148 42 Thomas Bolitho and Sons, Penzance June 1887[25]
SS Carnsew 340 39 22 August 1888[26]
SS Dartmeet 655 43 Whiteway and Ball or Torquay 9 August 1888[27]
SS Lyonnesse 382 45 West Cornwall Steamship Company 2 February 1889[28]
SS Advance 154 46 1889
SS Tongshan 1750 47 24 October 1889[29]
SS Penwith 1978 48 R.B.Chellew 3 July 1890[30]
SS Penpol 2033 49 R.B. Chellew 12 December 1890[31]
SS Ramleh 2660 51 6 June 1891[32]
SS Landore 539 52 Welsford and Company 23 September 1891[33]
SS Mersey 536 53 30 November 1891
SS Avon 536 54 1892
SS Volney 361 55 Rogers and Bright of Liverpool 25 July 1892[34]
SS Hayle 423 56 20 March 1893[35]

See also

References

  1. Cornish mining engineers
  2. Gisolf, Robert J. H. "Cruquius monument". Cruquius Museum. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  3. "Launch at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 5 June 1857. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  4. "Hayle. Launch of a steamer". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 5 March 1858. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  5. "Yacht building". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. England. 28 April 1860. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  6. "Ship Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 29 April 1864. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  7. "Ship-building at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 18 November 1864. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  8. "Launch at Hayle". Lake’s Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser. Cornwall. 1 July 1865. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  9. "Launch at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 1 November 1866. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  10. "Launch at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 11 June 1867. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  11. "Launch of a Brigantine at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 27 June 1867. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  12. "Vessel Launched". Cornubian and Redruth Times. Cornwall. 22 May 1868. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  13. "Hayle". Cornubian and Redruth Times. Cornwall. 3 July 1868. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  14. "Fitting-up the Steam Paddle-Boat". Cornubian and Redruth Times. Cornwall. 6 August 1869. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  15. "Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 11 September 1869. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  16. "Hayle. Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 21 May 1870. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  17. "Hayle. Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 9 September 1871. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  18. "Hayle. Ship Launch". West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser. Cornwall. 5 April 1873. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  19. "Hayle. Launch of a Steam Boat". West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser. Cornwall. 21 May 1874. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  20. "The Traffic with Scilly". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 20 March 1875. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  21. "Hayle. Launch of a Steamer". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 12 June 1875. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  22. "Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 9 November 1877. Retrieved 29 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  23. "A Launch". Cornishman. Cornwall. 17 April 1879. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  24. "Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 29 October 1880. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  25. "Hayle. Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 1 July 1887. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  26. "Launch at Hayle". Cornishman. Cornwall. 25 August 1887. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  27. "Hayle. Launching a new steamer". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 16 August 1888. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  28. "Ship Launch at Hayle". Cornishman. Cornwall. 7 February 1889. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  29. "Steamer Launch at Hayle". Cornishman. Cornwall. 31 October 1889. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  30. "Shipbuilding at Hayle. Launch of the S.S. Penwith". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 10 July 1890. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  31. "Launch at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 18 December 1890. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  32. "The Shipbuilding Trade in Cornwall. Launch of a Steamship at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 11 June 1891. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  33. "Successful launch at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 1 October 1891. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  34. "A visit to the works of Messrs. Harvey and Co at Hayle". Cornishman. Cornwall. 13 October 1892. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  35. "Launch of a new steamer". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 23 March 1893. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).

External links

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