Thomas Shaw Brandreth
Thomas Shaw Brandreth,
Early life and education
Brandreth was the son of a
Inventions
Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1821 for mathematical achievements, he had by that time invented a logometer (an early slide rule), and went on to design and patent a friction wheel and a clock escapement. These achievements led him into friendship with George Stephenson, and he played a role in the survey and engineering of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, particularly the crossing of Chat Moss. However, he resigned as a director of the line shortly before its completion.
In the early days of railroading, it was by no means clear that the
Family, judicial office, and Homer
Brandreth married a Harriet Byrom, of Fairview (a suburb of Liverpool), in 1822, by whom he had two daughters and five sons, among them Thomas Brandreth, a distinguished naval officer. A move to London further diminished his legal practice, and he ultimately declined the offer of a judgeship in Jamaica and retired to Worthing and devoted himself to the education of his children.
In retirement, he again took up the study of classical literature, and made a lengthy inquiry into the use of the digamma in the works of Homer. His studies were published in 1844 as A Dissertation on the Metre of Homer; and reflected in an edition of the Iliad with digammas. This was followed by a well-received translation of the Iliad into blank verse in 1846. Brandreth died in Worthing in 1873. He took an interest of local affairs, becoming a justice of the peace for West Sussex and taking a hand in the improvement of the town's infrastructure.
References
- ^ "Brandreth, Thomas Shaw (BRNT805TS)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Brandreth, Thomas Shaw. "Thomas Shaw Brandreth". Cambridge University Library. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
- Lane-Poole, Stanley (2004). "Brandreth, Thomas Shaw (1788–1873)". In rev. R. C. Cox (ed.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. required.)