Joseph Elkington

While farming at Princethorpe, Warwickshire he devised a way of using boreholes to drain boggy land.[2] For this innovation, and concerned that his frail health would result in the loss of his knowledge before it was shared,[1] parliament awarded him, in 1795, £1,000 and a gold ring,[2] Edinburgh land surveyor John Johnstone (d. 1838) was employed by the Board of Agriculture to study Elkington's methods.[1]

Elkington subsequently worked in partnership with Lancelot "Capability" Brown to develop drainage plans for the latter's landscaping schemes, starting with one at Fisherwick Park near Lichfield.[2]

Elkington moved to Hey House in Staffordshire in 1797 to farm 500 acres (200 ha) of land at Madeley,[2] which became known as Bog Farm.[1]

Elkington was the eldest son of Joseph Elkington (1697–1758), a yeoman farmer, and Mary, née Gallimore (died 1750).[1] He had epilepsy.[1] He married Sarah Webb (baptised 1738, died 1821), daughter of Richard and Mary, on 26 December 1760.[1] Nine of their children survived Elkington.[1] His grandson was the industrialist George Elkington.[2] He died at Hay House on 17 October 1806[1] and was buried in the churchyard at All Saints, Madeley[2] on 20 October.[1] A monument to him in All Saints churchyard, Stretton-on-Dunsmore, calls him a "pioneer of land drainage".[2]

• Johnstone, John (1797). Account of the Mode of Draining Land According to the System Practised by Mr Joseph Elkington (1st ed.).
• Holland, Christopher John; Langley, Anne D.; Moore, Adam (2006). Joseph Elkington: Warwickshires Land Drainage Pioneer. Stretton Millennium History Group. ISBN 9780953746248.

• Stretton-on-Dunsmore History Society page with pictures of the memorial
• Elkington family history page with picture of the ring