Historical Cornwall
Discoveries, Inventions and Achievements either in Cornwall
or by the Cornish.
8 BC
Diodorus Siculus named Cornwall BELERION - The Shining Land,
the first place named in the British Isles.
6th Century
St Piran's Oratory built, the earliest Christian church in the British Isles.
12th Century
The game of rugby originated in the Cornish town of Penzance,
evolved from the sport of hurling.
13th Century
circa. 1250 - Michael Blaunpayn was the first known satirist.
14th Century
1387 - John Trevisa was the first to describe England in
English; later, the first book to be printed by Caxton on English paper.
16th Century
1578 - Peter Carder of Veryan was the first person to travel
the length of South America.
1588 - The Spanish Armada was first sighted on
the 19th. June by watchers on Halzephron Cliff in Cornwall.
1596 - John
Harrington (Queen Elizabeth's godson) installed one of the earliest water
closets (WC) at Arwenack Manor Falmouth.
1599 - Francis Carew originated a
system of producing out of season fruit.
17th Century
1646 - Fox's Shipping Agency founded, the oldest in Britian,
possible the world.
1665 - Richard Lower was the first to recognise the
value of the transfusion of blood and transferred blood direct from the artery
of one dog into another.
1665 - John Mayow discovered the double
articulation of the ribs with the spine and worked on the heart, lungs and
circulation.
1689 - Falmouth Packets. The first ocean going mail packet
service was established between Falmouth and Corunna in Spain. In 1702 the
service crossed the Atlantic to the West Indies.
1699 - Joel Gascoyne. The
first 1 inch to 1 mile County map ever produced in Britain was of the County of
Cornwall.
18th Century
1702 - Ralph Allen devised a system of cross country post he
became known as the "Man of Bath" and greatly influenced the
rebuilding of that city.
1746 - William Cookworthy - discovered china clay
at Tregonning Hill, Helston. Soon afterwards he found better deposits at St
Stephen in Brannel which led to the china clay industry in the county.
1765 - Malachy Hitchins verified the calculations for the nautical almanac whilst
comparer at the Greenwich observatory and established the almanac's reputation.
1773 - William Bligh discovered bread fruit at Otaheite. Appointed to the Bounty in
1787 he is best remembered for the mutiny on the bounty led by Fletcher
Christian in 1789. HMS Pandora was sent in pursuit of the mutineers. Bligh is
reported to have planted the first apple tree in Tasmania.
1776 - John
Edyvean invented the inclined plane system for use in canals - avoiding the
necessity for locks.
1781 - Jonathan Hornblower invented the double cylinder
engine described in a patent as "A MACHINE ENGINE FOR RAISING WATER AND
OTHER LIQUIDS BY MEANS OF FIRE AND STEAM".
1784 - William Murdoch -
considered the inventor of the marine engine, his oscillating engine was not
developed however until it was taken up in a patent by Joseph Maudsley. Brunels
steamship the Great Eastern of 1858 directly benefited from this work. In 1792
Murdoch commenced experiments at his house in Redruth on the illuminating
properties of gases produced by distilling coal, wood and peat creating the
first usable amounts of gas.
1790 - William Gregor discovered the substance
manaccanite at Manaccan in 1790. Later it was called Gregortite. Now known as
titanium it is essential for space flight because of its very high strength to
weight ratio and remarkable resistance to corrosion.
1792 - James Ruse was
transported from Launceston to Austrailia in the first convict ship. His work in
farming was acknowledged by the naming of an agricultural collage after him.
1795
- Charles Abbot. M.P. for Helston was infuriated by the absence of official
records for Parliamentary proceedings and took steps to make parliament
decisions more accessible, he was responsible for the first Census Act in1800.
1798
- John Macadam used Cornish stone for his experimental road making and built the
new turnpike road from Truro workhouse to Kiggion, now part of the A39.
19th Century
1801 - Richard Trevithick constructed the first passenger
carrying steam engine known locally as the puffing devil at Penydaren, his
engine was the first to run on rails and carry passengers, it carried ten tones
of iron, seventy men and five wagons a distance of nine and a half miles at
5mph. His circular railway ran on the site of the future Euston station during
1808 where rides were offered for one shilling a head during July and August.
The high pressure principle indicated in the patent of 1802 dates to the era of
the locomotive. His marine interests included work in 1808 on a ships propeller
and iron tanks for ships; in 1809 iron docks, ships masts and spars, buoys,
other inventions included a surface condenser and the first central heating
system for rooms.
1805 - John Richard Lapenotiere - The death of Nelson at
the battle of Trafalgar was announced from the balcony of the Union Hotel,
Penzance. Travelling on from Falmouth in a post - chaise he arrived in London 38
hours later, a journey which normally took a stage coach one week.
1807 -
Humphry Davy - His innovative work in 1807 led to the discovery of chlorine as a
bleaching agent and the isolation of potassium and sodium. During the autumn of
1815 he worked on the miners safety lamp which was rapidly adopted by coal
miners. He was co - founder of the Athenaeum and London Zoological Society.
1808
- Henry Trengrouse invented an apparatus to save lives from shipwrecks. It was
adopted by Trinity House in the 1820's and Alexander1 of Russia was so impressed
by the invention that he invited him to Russia.
1812 - Andrew Pears from
Mevagissey, founder of the Pears Soap Company, perfected the process of refining
soap.
1812 - Harvey's of Hayle built the worlds first steam powered rock
boring machine. The firm played a key role in the birth of the industrial
revolution.
1813 - The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall was established
and rapidly became one of the leading societies of the day.
1818 - The Royal
Institution of Cornwall was founded. It's work in the arts and sciences was
recognised by a visit in 1994 by H.M. Queen Elizabeth ll.
1822 - Robert Were
Fox ll. Discovered that heat increased with depth relating to the internal
temperature of the earth. In 1833 fox constructed a dipping needle highly valued
by those who voyaged the Arctic seas, to assist in the study of magnetic
phenomena.
1827 - Wage structures, a contract system of wages standard in
Cornwall became the basis of wage structures in metal mining throughout the
world.
1829 - Goldsworthy Gurney made the first and longest journey in the
world by a steam vehicle at a sustained speed, when his steam engine travelled
from Bath to London. He also invented a method of illuminating light houses
known as the Bude Light.
1830 - Richard Lander discovered the scource of the
river Niger and was the first recipent of the Royal Geographical Society's
medal.
1830 - William Bickford invented the gun powder safety fuse which
improved safety in mines.
1834 - Augustus Smith lessee of the Scilly Isles
introduced compulsory education, 30 years before it was introduced on the
mainland.
1842 - Michael Loam invented the man engine, work began in 1834
and he erected his engine at Tresavean mine eight years later.