Joshua Routledge

Routledge may have apprenticed at the historic Round Foundry in Leeds. Matthew Murray (1765–1826) and David Wood (1761–1820) partnered in building the Round Foundry circa 1795 and were later joined by James Fenton (1754–1834) and silent partner William Lister. Fenton, Murray, & Wood quickly gained a reputation for innovative thinking and sound technical practices.[7] The firm became famous as designers and builders of textile machinery and steam engines that rivalled the Soho Works in Birmingham operated by steam-age pioneers James Watt and Matthew Boulton.

By 1800, Routledge had become Manager at the Round Foundry.[8] Somehow, along the way, he learned the value of logarithms and thereby had the means of developing a method of measuring "all kinds of metals and other bodies"[9] needed for engineering purposes. Using the principles of Edmund Gunter's (1581–1626) logarithmic scales and William Oughtred's (1574–1660) sliding rule, Routledge combined a 12-inch brass slide containing the logarithmic scales with an ordinary 2-foot ruler to which he added a table of commonly used references called gauge points. This rule became known as the Routledge Engineer's Rule.

According to a handwritten, unsigned document on file at Bolton Archives (Lancashire)[10] Routledge acquired a patent for his improved slide rule in 1813 but, to date, no record of this has been traced. It is certain that, in 1805, he published the first known Instructions for the Engineer's Improved Sliding Rule[11] and that numerous editions followed before and after his death in 1829, the most recent being in 1983.[12]

A letter from his parents, dated 1811, records that Routledge was associated, at that time, with Thompson, Swift and Co, iron founders and steam engine makers located in Little Bolton, Lancashire, and a notice published in the Manchester Mercury[13] dated 12 November 1811 informs that his partnership with that firm had been dissolved by mutual consent.

In 1816 Routledge had a prosperous ironmonger (hardware) business at 26 Deansgate in Bolton.[14] That business allowed him time to engage in other engineering pursuits as well as support his inventive activities. Thus, in February 1818, he acquired a patent for "An Improvement or Improvements Upon the Rotary Steam Engine."[15][16] A newspaper account dated 8 August 1822 and quoted in Historical Gleanings Bolton & District describes him as the "spirited and ingenious inventor" of a portable, steam-powered machine that broke stones for road repair at the "astounding rate of 70 or 80 tons in ten hours," something "never before contemplated."[5]

About this time, his name appears among the original shareholders of Bolton Gaslight and Coke Company supplying gas to the towns of Great and Little Bolton[17]

In 1822 he entered into a short-lived partnership (dissolved 1824) with William Kay of Bury Lancashire to supply iron pillars to the specification of William Fairbairn for the "fireproof" Hudcar Mill, said to be state-of-the-art for cotton mills of the day. The Hudcar Mill, built for manufacturer Thomas Haslam,[18] was demolished in 1977.[19] Pigot and Dean's Directory of 1821–22 styles the partnership of Kay and Routledge as Brass and Ironfounders and Engineers.[20]

Routledge undertook another engineering project with Joseph (1765–1842)[21] and Thomas Ridgway (1778–1839)[22] to extend and rearrange the pioneering Wallsuches Bleach Works in Horwich, Lancashsire sometime before leaving England, in 1824, for Warsaw, Poland. Wallsuches Bleach Works is preserved as a Grade II listed complex,[23] described as a "rare survival of a once large scale important industry in the Bolton area".[24]

In Poland, Routledge engaged with Thomas Evans & Co of Warsaw to erect a large steam corn mill.[25] This foundry was the forerunner of Lilpop, Rau i Loewenstein, another noteworthy engineering firm distinguished by its expertise in the manufacture of railroad engines and other heavy-duty industrial machinery.

A contemporary of Routledge by the name of Benjamin Hick (1787/90–1842) also received training at the Round Foundry, and the two ambitious young men left Leeds for greener pastures sometime around 1810. Both settled in Bolton Lancashire where engineering advances in the machinery needed for large scale cotton milling would soon bring about boom times for the whole region. Joshua witnessed the marriage of his sister Elizabeth (1783–1826) to Benjamin Hick in April 1811.[27] Hick went on to found the highly respected Bolton engineering firm Benjamin Hick & Sons, later Hick, Hargreaves & Co.

Elizabeth and Benjamin had five children: Mary born in 1813, John in 1815, Benjamin in 1818, William in 1820, and Eliza Rachel in 1821. John Hick, besides his notable engineering career while extending the family firm, distinguished himself as Bolton town councillor for 9 years before serving as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1868 to 1880.

Soon after witnessing the marriage of Elizabeth and Benjamin, Joshua followed suit, marrying Frances Abel on 14 July 1811.[28] Frances was the widow of James Abel (1770–1801), a prominent Freemason in Bolton. She had two children from that marriage, Mary Ann who died in 1802 aged 2 years and 9 months and Samuel (1802–1842). Upon marrying Joshua she became stepmother to his daughter Ann who died on 19 August 1814 and was buried, alongside her half siblings, in the Abel family plot at St Peter's Parish Church.[29]

Frances (1777–1844) came from the politically and socially active Bowker family. Her elder brothers, William Bowker (b 1768) and Jonathan (b 1770), made significant contributions to the building and running of Great and Little Bolton during the early 1800s. Bowker's Row, a small street in the heart of Bolton, is named for them. Both Jonathan and William are found on a list of "Bolton Politicians in 1806," and William was elected Boroughreeve in 1812.[30]

During 1819, in reference to the infamous Peterloo Massacre, William Bowker, as Boroughreeve, wrote a letter advising the local Magistrate that the leading men of the town intended to protest by "meeting publicly to address the Prince Regent on the late proceedings at Manchester on the 16th of August last." Joshua Routledge was among the signers of the letter.[31]