John Gilbert (agent) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

John Gilbert was land agent

Land agent

Land agent may be used in at least three different contexts.Traditionally, a land agent was a managerial employee who conducted the business affairs of a large landed estate for a member of the landed gentry of the United Kingdom, supervising the farming of the property by farm labourers and/or...

and engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

to the third Duke of Bridgewater

Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater

Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater , known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman, the younger son of the 1st Duke...

and is credited with the idea which led to the building of the Bridgewater Canal

Bridgewater Canal

The Bridgewater Canal connects Runcorn, Manchester and Leigh, in North West England. It was commissioned by Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to transport coal from his mines in Worsley to Manchester...

.

John Gilbert was born in Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

. When he was aged 12–13 he was apprenticed to Matthew Boulton, a manufacture of small metal objects and the father of Matthew Boulton

Matthew Boulton

Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...

, the engineer. When Gilbert was aged 19 his father died and he left his apprenticeship to superintend the family lime

Lime (mineral)

Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...

works. John's brother, Thomas, was working as agent to Lord Gower

Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford

Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford PC , known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British politician.-Background:...

, brother-in-law of the Duke of Bridgewater. Thomas invited John to inspect the Duke's coal mines at Worsley

Worsley

Worsley is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies along the course of Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. The M60 motorway bisects the area....

, and here John suggested the idea of a canal, both to drain the mines and to convey the coal. Around 1758 John was appointed as the Duke's agent and moved to live in Worsley. Here he started on the levelling and surveying work necessary for this project. Later James Brindley

James Brindley

James Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...

was appointed as engineer to the canal and the Duke, Gilbert and Brindley worked on the plans for the canal and supervised its building from Worsley Old Hall

Worsley Old Hall

Worsley Old Hall is a former house, now a public house and restaurant, off Walkden Road , Worsley, Greater Manchester, England. Historically situated within Lancashire, it has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building...

.

For the Duke, Gilbert also ran the demesne

Demesne

In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...

farm and set up a lead pencil

Pencil

A pencil is a writing implement or art medium usually constructed of a narrow, solid pigment core inside a protective casing. The case prevents the core from breaking, and also from marking the user’s hand during use....

factory at Worsley using plumbago

Graphite

The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Ancient Greek γράφω , "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead . Unlike diamond , graphite is an electrical conductor, a semimetal...

from the Duke's mines in Keswick

Keswick, Cumbria

Keswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...

. When lime was found on the Duke's estate, Gilbert's previous experience helped to develop lime burning as an additional source of revenue. As separate undertakings, Gilbert worked on the drainage of Martin Mere

Martin Mere

Martin Mere is a mere near Burscough, Lancashire, England on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain. The mere is a vast marsh, around that, until it was drained, was the largest body of fresh water in England.-History:...

and in the reclamation of the northern portion of Chat Moss

Chat Moss

Chat Moss is a large area of peat bog that makes up 30 percent of the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It is north of the River Irwell, to the west of Manchester, and occupies an area of about...

. In the 1770s Gilbert worked as agent for the Duke of Devonshire

William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire

William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, KG was a British aristocrat and politician. He was the eldest son of the William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire by his wife the heiress Lady Charlotte Boyle, suo jure Baroness Clifford of Lanesborough, who brought in considerable money and estates to...

working on a project to build an underground canal for his Ecton Hill

Ecton, Staffordshire

For the village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, see EctonEcton is a hamlet in the Staffordshire Peak District . It is on the Manifold Way, an 8 mile walk- and cycle-path which follows the line of the former Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway....

mines. This canal now leads to Speedwell Cavern

Speedwell Cavern

The Speedwell Cavern is one of the four show caves in Castleton, Derbyshire, England.It consists of a horizontal lead miners' adit leading to the cavern itself, a limestone cave...

. In the 1780s Gilbert developed the first deep salt mine at Marston Mine near the Lion Salt Works

Lion Salt Works

The Lion Salt Works is the last remaining open pan saltworks in Cheshire, England. It closed as a works in 1986 and is now preserved as a museum...

in Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

. At the time of his death work was proceeding to his design of an inclined plane within the Worsley mining system

Worsley Navigable Levels

The Worsley Navigable Levels are an extensive series of coal mines in Worsley in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. They were worked largely by the use of underground canals and boats called starvationers....

See also

Further reading