John Calley (engineer)

John Calley (also spelt Cawley) (1663 – May 1725, The Hague),[1] was a metalworker, plumber and glass-blower,[2] who became famous for being Thomas Newcomen's partner. Like Newcomen, he was a member of a Dartmouth family.

He helped develop the Newcomen atmospheric engine. He worked with Newcomen in introducing the engine to the Midlands, operating under the patent of Thomas Savery.[3] The engine they created was a variation on the then current technology using a combination of steam cylinders, pistons, surface condensation and the separation of parts that were usually placed together to create this new technology.[4]

He installed an early Newcomen engine at More Hall Colliery in the grounds of Austhorpe Hall in Leeds, where he is said to have become ill and died during maintenance work.[5] However, there is also evidence that he died in The Hague in 1725, while trying to secure a foreign patent for another device.

References
  1. J.J. Bootsgezel, "John Calley, the partner of Thomas Newcomen", Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 11:1, 135-137 :
  2. Gascoigne, Bamber. "History of Steam". HistoryWorld. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  3. L.T.C. Rolt and J.S. Allen, The Steam Engine of Thomas Newcomen (Landmark Publishing, Ashbourne 1997), 44-6.
  4. "Thomas Newcomen - The Steam Engines of Thomas Newcomen". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  5. "Newcomen Engine at Austhorpe, site of". Engineering Timelines Social Network. Retrieved 30 March 2013.


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