John Metcalf (engineer)
John Metcalf (born August 15, 1717 in Knaresborough in the United Kingdom , † April 26, 1810 in Spofforth , Yorkshire ) in the United Kingdom also known as Blind Jack of Knaresborough or Blind Jack Metcalf , was a British civil engineer and the first professional road builder who made its appearance in England during the Industrial Revolution .
Blind since the age of six, John had an eventful life that, according to his own account, was well documented shortly before his death. In the period from 1765 to 1792 he built about 180 miles of toll roads, mostly in the north of England.
Early life
John was born into a poor family in the August 15, 1717 Knaresborough in the English county of Yorkshire born. His father was a horse breeder. At the age of six, John lost his sight from smallpox infection; he received violin lessons in order to have a source of income later. He became an accomplished violinist and made a living from it in his early adult years. In 1732, at the age of fifteen, Metcalf followed Morrison as a violinist at Queen's Head, a tavern in Harrogate . Morrison had played there for seventy years. Metcalf also had an affinity for horses and made money from horse trading . Although blind, he took up swimming and diving, as well as cockfighting , card games, horseback riding, and even hunting. He knew the local area so well that he was paid to guide visitors.
In 1739 Jack befriended Dorothy Benson, daughter of the landlord of the Granby Inn in Harrogate . When he got another woman pregnant at the age of 21, Dorothy asked him not to marry the other woman and Jack fled. He spent some time on the North Sea coast between Newcastle and London, including living with his aunt in Whitby. He continued to work as a violinist. When he heard that Dorothy was about to be married to a shoemaker, Jack returned and ran away with her. They married and had four children. Dorothy died in 1778.
His violin playing gave him social connections and a patron, Colonel Liddell. After an oft-told story, the Colonel decided to take his young protégé to London , 190 miles to the south. John found the Colonel's leisurely pace too slow and walked ahead. He reached London first and returned to Yorkshire before the Colonel came. He coped with it on foot and blind, and history shows Jack's assertiveness and ingenuity.
During the Second Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, Jack's contacts got him the job of assistant to the royal procurement officer in the Knaresborough area. Jack went to Scotland with the army. He did not take part in combat operations, but was hired to transport cannons over muddy ground. He was later captured and released.
After the war, he used his Scottish experience and started importing stockings from Aberdeen to England.
Career
Before his time in the army had to be Jack hauliers tried where he used a four-wheeled cart with a seat and a horse at his local travel. When the competition got tough, he switched to transporting fish between the coast and Leeds and Manchester. After 1745 he bought a stone wagon and worked with it between York and Knaresborough. By 1754, his business grew to a stagecoach line . He drove a car himself and made two trips a week in the summer and one a week in the winter months.
Road builders
In 1765 the British Parliament passed a law allowing toll companies to be formed to build new toll roads in the Knaresborough area. There were few people with road construction experience and John took the opportunity, building on his practical experience as a haulier.
He won the contract to build the three mile (5 km) stretch between Minskip and Ferrensby of a new road from Harrogate to Boroughbridge . He explored this section of the landscape alone and worked out the most practical route.
Metcalf went on to build roads through Lancashire , Derbyshire , Cheshire and Yorkshire , including roads between:
- Knaresborough and Wetherby
- Wakefield , Huddersfield and Saddleworth (via Standedge Pass)
- Bury and Blackburn with a branch to Accrington
- Skipton , Colne and Burnley
Metcalf believed that a good road should have a good substructure, be well drained, and have a smooth convex surface to allow rainwater to quickly seep into trenches on the side. He understood the importance of good drainage because he knew it was the rain that was causing most of the problems on the roads.
He drew up a path, a road through a bog with a number of rafts from heather (a type of heather produce) and gorse ( gorse ) bound in bundles to use as foundation. That established its reputation because the other engineers thought it wasn't possible.
He had acquired an unparalleled mastery of using his own accurate method of calculating costs and materials that he could never successfully explain to others.
Next life
Competition from canals eventually cut back on his profits, and he retired to Spofforth , Yorkshire with a daughter and her husband in 1792 . During his career he built 180 miles of roads. At 77 he moved to York, where he told a publisher a detailed account of his life. Blind Jack of Knaresborough died on April 26, 1810 at his home in Spofforth at the age of 93. He is buried in the churchyard in Spofforth.
monument
A statue of John Metcalf was placed in Knaresborough Market Square, across from the Blind Jack's pub.
epitaph
His tombstone, erected in Spofforth churchyard at the expense of Lord Dundas, bears this epitaph :
"Here lies John Metcalf, one whose infant sight
Felt the dark pressure of an endless night;
Yet such the fear of his dauntless mind,
His limbs full strung, his spirits unconfined,
That, long ere yet life's bolder years began,
The sightless efforts mark'd th 'aspiring man;
Nor mark'd in vain — high deeds his manhood dared,
And commerce, travel, both his ardor shared.
' Twas his a guide's unerring aid to lend—
O'er trackless wastes to bid new roads extend;
And, when rebellion reared her giant size,
'Twas his to burn with patriot enterprise;
For parting wife and babes, a pang to feel,
Then welcome danger for his country's weal.
Reader, like him, exert thy utmost talent given!
Reader, like him, adore the bounteous hand of Heaven. "
Sources and individual references
- - -, 1795, The Life of John Metcalf, Commonly Called Blind Jack of Knaresborough , Printed and sold by E. and R. Peck, York, 153 Pages | Google books: [2] , [3]
- ---, 1804, The Life of John Metcalf , Third edition, Leeds
- Smiles, 1861, John Metcalf, Road Maker , chapter in Lives of the Engineers Vol 1 Part III Ch V
- Porrit, A. 6th Feb 1962, John Metcalf Blind Road Maker , Halifax Antiquarian Society Pamphlet.
- Andrews, William. "Epitaphs on Notable Persons." Curious epitaphs. 1883. Reprint. London: Hull Press, 1899. 149-153. Print. | Project Gutenberg: [4]
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Metcalf, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British civil engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 15, 1717 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Knaresborough , UK |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 26, 1810 |
| Place of death | Spofforth (North Yorkshire) , United Kingdom |