John Harvey (ironfounder)

John Harvey was a Cornishman whose career started as a blacksmith and engineer at Carnhell Green near Hayle, in west Cornwall. In 1779 he established a foundry and engineering works at Hayle called Harvey & Co.[1] By 1800 the company employed more than 50 people and continued to grow as Harvey worked with many of the great Cornish engineers and entrepreneurs of the day. These included Richard Trevithick, William West, and, more importantly, Arthur Woolf. In 1797, Harvey's daughter, Jane, married Richard Trevithick.

John Harvey
Born1730
Died1803
NationalityBritish
OccupationEngineer
Engineering career
DisciplineMechanical
ProjectsHarvey & Co of Hayle
Significant designImprovement of the beam engine
Simpson design waterworks beam engine by Harvey's of Hayle, Hereford Waterworks Museum

Harvey & Co. built up a reputation for world class stationary beam engines designed to pump water out of the deep Cornish tin and copper mines. The Cornish beam engine became world-famous and was exported overseas, and remains the largest type of beam engine ever constructed; the largest of all, with a 144-inch-diameter (3,700 mm) cylinder which powered eight separate beams, was used to drain the Haarlemmermeer in the Netherlands—it is preserved in the Museum De Cruquius.[2]

Crimean siege mortar made by Harvey's of Hayle

Harvey's also produced a range of products, from hand tools to ocean-going ships including the USS Cornubia. The company was expanded by John's son, Henry, in collaboration with Arthur Woolf, who was the chief engineer. At that time it was the main mining engine foundry in the world, with an international market served through their own port at Foundry Town, Hayle.

Harvey's of Hayle reached their peak in the early- to mid-19th century and then, along with the Cornish mining industry in general, suffered a gradual and slow decline. Harvey's acquired the Cornish Copper Company in 1875. The engineering works and foundry were closed in 1903, although the company continued to trade as a general and builders merchant, eventually merging with UBM to become Harvey-UBM in 1969.

List of ships

Ship GRT Yard No For Date of launch
Henry Harvey23 May 1857[3]
Cornubia589Hayle and Bristol Steam Packet Company27 February 1858[4]
SS Riviere1241860
MinrosCharles Henry Smith of Swansea22 April 1860[5]
Penair2131862
Royal Bride286March 1863
Welsh Girl1 August 1863
Cornish Girl175Porthleven United Shipping CompanyApril 1864[6]
Eliza Bain300Hitchens, Bain and Company12 November 1864[7]
SS St Agnes175Mr. Hitchens of St Agnes24 June 1865[8]
SS Bessie2876 September 1865
SS Margaret232June 1866
SS Western Wave22925 October 1866[9]
SS Hayle353Tom Mawr Company of Neath10 June 1867[10]
Unnamed Brigantine214Captain H Thomas of St Ives21 June 1867[11]
SS Mary Johns181William Johns of St Ives21 May 1868[12]
Hannibal370Captain Hannibal Thomas1868[13]
PS DolphinSouth Devon Railway Company24 July 1869[14]
PS Guide104Dartmouth Steam Packet Company7 September 1869[15]
SS The Girl of the Period30627 May 1870[16]
SS Batara Bayon Sree118J.B. Mansfield of Teignmouth8 September 1871[17]
SS Senor Rostro398George Batters of London29 March 1873[18]
SS Frank Batters38016 May 1874[19]
SS Lady of the Isles152West Cornwall Steam Ship Company9 March 1875[20]
SS VictorW. Jewell of Falmouth10 June 1875[21]
T.S.B.289Thomas Bolitho and Sons, Penzance5 November 1877[22]
SS Penwith289February 1878
SS King’s Bridge Packet11015 April 1879[23]
SS Thornhill27525October 1880[24]
SS Emperor10629July 1880
SS Tynron30626January 1881
SS Emperor11432July 1883
SS Eagle10333August 1883
SS Dauntless12036October 1884
SS Lanisley14842Thomas Bolitho and Sons, PenzanceJune 1887[25]
SS Carnsew3403922 August 1888[26]
SS Dartmeet65543Whiteway and Ball or Torquay9 August 1888[27]
SS Lyonnesse38245West Cornwall Steamship Company2 February 1889[28]
SS Advance154461889
SS Tongshan17504724 October 1889[29]
SS Penwith197848R.B.Chellew3 July 1890[30]
SS Penpol203349R.B. Chellew12 December 1890[31]
SS Ramleh2660516 June 1891[32]
SS Landore53952Welsford and Company23 September 1891[33]
SS Mersey5365330 November 1891
SS Avon536541892
SS Volney36155Rogers and Bright of Liverpool25 July 1892[34]
SS Hayle4235620 March 1893[35]

See also

References

  1. Cornish mining engineers Archived 2008-03-21 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Gisolf, Robert J. H. "Cruquius monument". Cruquius Museum. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2009.
  3. "Launch at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 5 June 1857. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Hayle. Launch of a steamer". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 5 March 1858. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Yacht building". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. England. 28 April 1860. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Ship Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 29 April 1864. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Ship-building at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 18 November 1864. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. "Launch at Hayle". Lake’s Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser. Cornwall. 1 July 1865. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Launch at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 1 November 1866. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Launch at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 11 June 1867. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "Launch of a Brigantine at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 27 June 1867. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "Vessel Launched". Cornubian and Redruth Times. Cornwall. 22 May 1868. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "Hayle". Cornubian and Redruth Times. Cornwall. 3 July 1868. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. "Fitting-up the Steam Paddle-Boat". Cornubian and Redruth Times. Cornwall. 6 August 1869. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. "Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 11 September 1869. Retrieved 10 October 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. "Hayle. Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 21 May 1870. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. "Hayle. Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 9 September 1871. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  18. "Hayle. Ship Launch". West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser. Cornwall. 5 April 1873. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. "Hayle. Launch of a Steam Boat". West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser. Cornwall. 21 May 1874. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  20. "The Traffic with Scilly". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 20 March 1875. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  21. "Hayle. Launch of a Steamer". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 12 June 1875. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  22. "Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 9 November 1877. Retrieved 29 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  23. "A Launch". Cornishman. Cornwall. 17 April 1879. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  24. "Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 29 October 1880. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  25. "Hayle. Launch". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 1 July 1887. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  26. "Launch at Hayle". Cornishman. Cornwall. 25 August 1887. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  27. "Hayle. Launching a new steamer". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 16 August 1888. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  28. "Ship Launch at Hayle". Cornishman. Cornwall. 7 February 1889. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  29. "Steamer Launch at Hayle". Cornishman. Cornwall. 31 October 1889. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  30. "Shipbuilding at Hayle. Launch of the S.S. Penwith". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 10 July 1890. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  31. "Launch at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 18 December 1890. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  32. "The Shipbuilding Trade in Cornwall. Launch of a Steamship at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 11 June 1891. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  33. "Successful launch at Hayle". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 1 October 1891. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  34. "A visit to the works of Messrs. Harvey and Co at Hayle". Cornishman. Cornwall. 13 October 1892. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  35. "Launch of a new steamer". Royal Cornwall Gazette. Cornwall. 23 March 1893. Retrieved 25 November 2015 via British Newspaper Archive.
  • Edmund Vale The Harveys of Hayle. Truro: D. B. Barton, 1966
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