Joseph Clement

Joseph Clement (born June 13, 1779 in Asby , Eden District (Cumbria) , † February 28, 1844 in Southwark , South London ) was a British engineer and industrialist .

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His father Thomas, a weaver who had built a lathe himself, taught him mechanics and natural history . Joseph initially worked as a weaver and roofer and then apprenticed to a blacksmith. Around 1805 he worked in a loom factory in Kirkby Stephen . He then moved on via Carlisle to Glasgow , where he learned to draw with Peter Nicholson. Around 1812 he worked at Leys, Masson & Co. in Aberdeen , where he attended lectures on natural philosophy at Marischal College .

In 1813 he moved to London, where he worked with Alexander Galloway in Holborn. A little later he switched to Joseph Bramah in Pimlico , who gave him a five-year contract as chief draftsman in April 1814. After Brahmah's death the following December, he became chief draftsman at Henry Maudslay in Lambeth , where he designed a marine steam engine.

In 1817, with the support of the Duke of Northumberland in the Newington district , he was able to set up his own workshop for precision machines. He invented an elliptical compass , for which he was awarded the gold medal by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts in 1818 . His main interest was the improvement of machine tools, especially lathes. In 1828 he started manufacturing taps. His journeyman Joseph Whitworth later played a major role in standardization. Between 1824 and 1833 he built Charles Babbag's first difference machine .

In later years he constructed an organ . He had an illegitimate daughter, Sarah Clement, with Agnes Esson of County Durham .

literature

• Oxford dictionary of national biography. Volume 12

supporting documents

1. ↑ http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/Joseph_Clement_by_Samuel_Smiles
2. ↑ http://www.glasgowsculpture.com/pg_biography.php?sub=nicholson_p