Jonathan Hornblower was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 pioneer of steam power, the son of Jonathan Hornblower

Jonathan Hornblower (1717)

Jonathan Hornblower was an English pioneer of steam power, the son of Joseph Hornblower and brother of Josiah Hornblower, two fellow steam pioneers....

 and brother of Jabez Carter Hornblower

Jabez Carter Hornblower

Jabez Carter Hornblower was an English pioneer of steam power, the son of Jonathan Hornblower.Jabez Carter Hornblower was born in Broseley, Staffordshire, England on 21 May 1744, the eldest child of steam engineer Jonathan and Ann Carter Hornblower. He gained his engineering skills working for his...

, two fellow pioneers.

He developed a compound engine in 1781 but was prevented from pursuing his invention by litigation with James Watt

James Watt

James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...

 (Boulton & Watt) over intellectual property

Intellectual property

Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

. His compound steam engine principle was not revived until 1804 by Arthur Woolf

Arthur Woolf

Arthur Woolf was a Cornish engineer, most famous for inventing a high-pressure compound steam engine. As such he made an outstanding contribution to the development and perfection of the Cornish engine.Woolf left Cornwall in 1785 to work for Joseph Bramah's engineering works in London...

. Following the expiration of Boulton and Watt's patent, Hornblower's compound steam engine principle contributed significantly to the increases in steam engine efficiency

Engine efficiency

Engine efficiency of thermal engines is the relationship between the total energy contained in the fuel, and the amount of energy used to perform useful work...

.

He invented the double-beat steam valve

Double beat valve

The double-beat valve, drop valve or equilibrium valve is a type of poppet valve arranged to allow it to be opened against a high pressure with a minimum of force....

 in around 1800.

In other developments in steam technology, however, he was more successful and he died a rich man at Penryn

Penryn, Cornwall

Penryn is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Penryn River about one mile northwest of Falmouth...

 in 1815. He is buried in St Gluvias

St Gluvias

St Gluvias is a civil parish and settlement in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is now a suburb on the northern edge of Penryn which is situated two miles northwest of Falmouth.-Church history:...

 churchyard.

He had married twice, firstly to Rosamund Phillips in 1775 and afterwards to Elizabeth Jordan with whom he had two surviving daughters, Rosamund (1789) and Elizabeth (1790).

External links

• The compound engine
• The Case Against Intellectual Monopoly by Boldrin & Levine