Sir William Congreve, 1st Baronet
Sir William Congreve, 1st Baronet | |
|---|---|
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| Children | Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet  |
| Titles | baronet |
Personal life
William Congreve was born in
Congreve was made a Baronet on 7 December 1812.[4] He died on 30 April 1814. He was succeeded in his posts by his son.[2]
Military career
By 1778 Congreve had obtained the rank of Captain and was appointed Superintendent of Military Machines. He worked out of
Sir William became the deputy comptroller of the Woolwich Royal Laboratory in 1783, with control over the Faversham and Waltham Abbey mills.[6] In 1789, then-Major Congreve was appointed as comptroller. Author Brenda Buchanan asserts, that during his time in these positions, he oversaw three major changes in the manufacturing of gunpowder, being "the substitution of edge runner mills for stamping mills ..., the production of charcoal by low-temperature distillation in closed iron cylinders, and the employment of screw presses for compacting powder into cakes."[8] In this role he also implemented the manufacture of two different kinds of powder, one for muskets and one for canons. Congreve believed that the different powders led to an increase in ballistic force.[8] However Steele and Doorland have suggested that the perceived increase in strength may have come from better quality construction materials.[5]
Congreve oversaw the establishment of two new facilities at Portsmouth and Plymouth which were dedicated to revitalizing damp or lumpy powder, as the procedure for fixing such issues was quicker than the process for making new powder. This resulted in an improved method of extracting saltpetre and consequently higher quality gunpowder.[9]
References
- ^ a b Debrett (1824). Baronetage of England, 5th Edition, Volume II. London.
- ^ a b Urban, Sylvanus (July–December 1828). "The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle". 144 (21).
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Urban, Sylvanus (July–December 1831). "The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle". 101 (24).
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Burke, John (1839). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, 6th Edition. London: Henry Colburn.
- ^ ISBN 026219516X.
- ^ ISBN 9780226439686.
- ^ Crocker, Glenys (1999). The Gunpowder Industry. Buckinghamshire, UK: Osprey Publishing.
- ^ a b Buchanan, Brenda (2006). Gunpowder, Explosives And the State: A Technological History. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
- ISBN 9780521768092.