Gravatt
ACHIEVEMENT(S): Assisted on major railway projects in England and helped Babbage with his Difference Engine.
NICKNAME/ALIAS: None
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: July 14, 1806.
DATE/PLACE OF DEATH/AGE AT DEATH: May 30, 1866, London, England. Aged 59
DISCIPLINE: Civil Engineer
FIELD: Engineering
LANGUAGE: English
PARENTS: Lieut.-Col. William Gravatt; Mother's name unknown
SIBLINGS: Unknown
SPOUSE: Unknown
CHILDREN: Unknown
EDUCATION: Unknown
MAJOR WORK: Invented the Gravatt level
LIFE AND TIMES:
At 16, Gravatt was apprenticed to civil engineer Donkin*. At age 15, his father negotiated an apprenticeship to mechanical engineer Bryan Donkin. During this period he met and became friends with John Smeaton, Edward Troughton and Dr. George Wollaston.[4] In 1826 he was chosen as one of three assistants to Isambard Kingdom Brunel*, who was in charge of the construction of the Thames Tunnel.
Before he finished his apprenticeship, Gravatt successfully interviewed with Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, and was given a job as a supervisor on the Thames Tunnel.[1]
On 27 June 1827, after the tunnel flooded, Isambard Kingdom Brunel forbade anyone from entering the workings. However, company directors Robert Marten and Richard Harris insisted Gravatt take them in to inspect the damage, accompanied by two miners as crew for a dinghy. Whilst in the workings, Marten attempted to move forward in the dinghy, and after striking his head on the tunnel, tipped the boat over in 12 feet (3.7 m) of water.
Only Gravatt and miner Dowling could swim, and after rescuing Marten and Harris, Gravatt was joined by Brunel in the search underwater for the second miner Richardson. Joined by officials from the Humane Society, they eventually recovered the body with a drag-line. On 5 March 1828, silver medals were voted by the Royal Humane Society to Brunel and Gravatt "for having hazarded their own lives to preserve those of their fellow-creatures."[1]
During the 1830s, Gravatt was employed by the London and Dover railway to do surveying work . In 1835, he was hired again by Brunel to help plan the Great Western Railway. He also worked on the Bristol & Exeter line, which passed through Bridgewater and Taunton.
Gravatt invented a number of instruments, including a level which he called "the Dumpy", but which usually bears his name. He was appointed an associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1826, and a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1828.
In 1832, he was made a fellow of the Royal Society and also of the Royal Astronomical Society.
When Per Georg Scheutz brought his Difference engine to London in 1854, Gravatt engaged its inventor in conversation. His knowledge allowed Gravatt to commission a copy from Donkin, which was sent to Somerset House. From 1855 he gave lectures on the machine to professional audiences, including the Royal Society attended by Prince Albert, and followed this with lectures at the International Exposition in Paris. Gravatt then worked with the Registrar-General to establish public faith in the machine, by quickly calculating specimens of logarithmic and other tables.[1] For his services rendered to science, he was elected Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.[1]
While ill in bed at his home in Westminster, on 30 May 1866, Gravatt was accidentally poisoned by an overdose of morphine, given inadvertently by his longtime nurse. A later coroner's inquest cleared her of any cause in Gravatt's death, recording a cause of accidental death.
ASSESSMENT: Helped in major civil engineering projects in early 19th century England
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: He worked with Babbage*
ONELINER: William Gravatt, Victorian engineer
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Boase, Frederick, Modern English Biography. Frank Cass & Co.; London, 1965.