Kingsmill Eyre
Encyclopedia
Kingsmill Eyre was Secretary of Chelsea Hospital, a garden designer, and the patent
ee of a process for making iron.
, Wiltshire
. His elder brother was Robert Eyre
, Solicitor-General
in 1708-10 and then Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
in 1725-35.
, the philosopher. He had served 8 years (including time in Holland) as an apprentice to a Mr Chitty, a merchant, supplying stores to the Navy Board
. The outcome of this has not been discovered.
Somehow, Eyre entered the circle of Robert Walpole
. The point of contact may have been his brother Robert. This led to Eyre's appointment as Agent to the Four Companies of Invalids of Chelsea Hospital in 1716, a post in the gift of Robert Walpole as its treasurer. This was followed in 1718 by his appointment as Secretary to the Commissioners of Chelsea College.
In this period, Eyre (according to a recent suggestion) was responsible for laying out the garden at Walpole's Norfolk
mansion at Houghton. He may also have designed other gardens during the 1720s.
During the 1720s, Eyre became involved in the ironmaking project of William Wood
, whose son had obtained a patent for a method of making iron in an air furnace
using mineral coal
in 1727. This was followed by another to Wood himself in 1728 for something similar, but the enterprise collapsed because Wood was unable to perform what he promised. How deeply Eyre was involved is not clear, but in 1736, he took out a similar patent in his own name.
In May, 1726 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
ee of a process for making iron.
Family
Kingsmill was the youngest of five children of Samuel and Martha Eyre of New House, WhiteparishWhiteparish
Whiteparish is a village and civil parish about southeast of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. The village is about from the county boundary with Hampshire. The United Kingdom Census 2010/2011 census recorded a parish population of 2918....
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. His elder brother was Robert Eyre
Robert Eyre
Sir Robert Eyre was an English lawyer, who served as Solicitor-General and then as a judge, ultimately as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.-Family:...
, Solicitor-General
Solicitor General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, often known as the Solicitor General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, and the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to advise the Crown and Cabinet on the law...
in 1708-10 and then Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas
The Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench or Common Place, was the second highest common law court in the English legal system until 1880, when it was dissolved. As such, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas was one of the highest judicial officials in England, behind only the Lord...
in 1725-35.
Career
His mother was looking for a place of employment for him in 1702, and sought the help of John LockeJohn Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, the philosopher. He had served 8 years (including time in Holland) as an apprentice to a Mr Chitty, a merchant, supplying stores to the Navy Board
Navy Board
The Navy Board is today the body responsible for the day-to-day running of the British Royal Navy. Its composition is identical to that of the Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom, except that it does not include any of Her Majesty's Ministers.From 1546 to 1831, the Navy...
. The outcome of this has not been discovered.
Somehow, Eyre entered the circle of Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
. The point of contact may have been his brother Robert. This led to Eyre's appointment as Agent to the Four Companies of Invalids of Chelsea Hospital in 1716, a post in the gift of Robert Walpole as its treasurer. This was followed in 1718 by his appointment as Secretary to the Commissioners of Chelsea College.
In this period, Eyre (according to a recent suggestion) was responsible for laying out the garden at Walpole's Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
mansion at Houghton. He may also have designed other gardens during the 1720s.
During the 1720s, Eyre became involved in the ironmaking project of William Wood
William Wood (Mintmaster)
William Wood was a hardware manufacturer and mintmaster, noted for receiving a contract to strike an issue of Irish coinage from 1722 to 1724. He also struck the 'Rosa Americana' coins of British America during the same period....
, whose son had obtained a patent for a method of making iron in an air furnace
Reverberatory furnace
A reverberatory furnace is a metallurgical or process furnace that isolates the material being processed from contact with the fuel, but not from contact with combustion gases...
using mineral coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
in 1727. This was followed by another to Wood himself in 1728 for something similar, but the enterprise collapsed because Wood was unable to perform what he promised. How deeply Eyre was involved is not clear, but in 1736, he took out a similar patent in his own name.
In May, 1726 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.