Inventors & Industrialists History c. 1750-1830 Quiz

Answer: The seed drill

Jethro Tull (1674-1742) invented the seed drill. This led to greater efficiency in planting and it improved food production. Due to enhanced productivity it became possible to feed more people than before, using the same acreage.

Not to be confused with the British rock group which adopted his name!

Answer: 16,000

Robert Peel made his fortune as an industrialist. He employed 16,000 people, many of whom would have been children. It was sometimes the case that entire families worked for the same employer. Very young children were also routinely employed.
(The total of 16,000 made the firm one of the largest employers in the country after the government).

Due to the profits resulting from his endeavours his son, the more famous Sir Robert Peel, was able to get an excellent education, gain the first ever Double First at Oxford (Literae Humaniores [Classical Literature] and Mathematics) and pursue a political career.

Answer: Turnip

'Turnip' Townshend was initially ridiculed for his desire to improve his estates. He also replaced the three-field system by the four-field system in agriculture by adding root crops to the standard cycle. This meant that less land had to lie fallow at any given time. Without the agricultural revolution, which 'freed up' labour in agriculture (or drove many off the land, depending on your point of view), the industrial revolution would have been checked in its progress.

Answer: Josiah Wedgwood

Josiah Wedgwood started his apprenticeship early. He founded his own pottery and, using classical themes reminiscent of the Grand Tour of the aristocracy in his works, he familiarised more people with those classical themes.

Answer: Ironbridge

Abraham Darby was smelting iron ore at Ironbridge in Shropshire. Early industrial operations were sited close to water for the following reasons, ease of transportation and a source of power. (Efficient steam power only came later in the 18th century).

Some of the earliest industrial enterprises in Britain were located in areas that later came to be regarded as overwhelmingly rural, such as Shropshire and the Derwent Valley in Derbyshire.

Answer: James Brindley

Bridgewater had substantial coal deposits on his land. As transport by road was extremely costly he sought to reduce those costs. Before the building of the railways, transport by water was the speediest and least expensive method. The early stages of the industrial revolution saw the construction of several canals, built by very cheap labour. After the 1830s many were superseded by the development of the railways. Brindley (1716-72) is particularly famous for the construction of the Barton Aqueduct, which carries the Bridgewater Canal over the River Irwell at Barton-upon-Irwell, near Manchester. At the time it was the first navigable aqueduct in Britain.

Within a year of the completion of the Bridgewater Canal, the price of coal fell in Manchester by about half!

Answer: George Stephenson

George Stephenson (1781-1848) was a powerhouse. His 'Rocket' when tested, proved that 'intercity' transport by rail was feasible. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (opened in 1829) was the first to link two major cities. It was also the first railway to provide a regular, timetabled service for the general public. (The Stockton and Darlington Railway had transported people since 1825 but only on demand: in other words it originally had no timetable in the usual sense).

The growth of the rail network proved beneficial in transporting people and goods swiftly and cheaply.

Answer: Manchester

Friedrich Engels wrote about the condition of the labouring classes. His observations appeared in 1845 in 'The Condition of the Working Class in England [in 1844]' - a Marxist classic. He also co-authored 'The Communist Manifesto' with Karl Marx and economically supported Marx.

Answer: Mrs Gaskell

Mrs Gaskell was married to a Unitarian minister. Often 'chapels' (that is, non-conformist denominations) appealed to those lower down the social scale. Concern may have been activated by proximity. Her output includes 'North and South', 'Mary Barton' and depicts the stresses, strains and tensions of a society in flux from workmen's and employers' viewpoints .

Answer: Mining

The 1842 Commission on Mining led to the total exclusion of women and girls from working in coal mines. Boys under 10 years were also prohibited. Prior to this it was common for whole families to engage in the same occupation, with children as young as 3 being left to open and close entrances within the mines. An exchange between a Commissioner and Boy went thus:- Age: 7 sir. Length of time working in mine? Since I was 3 sir. Do you get scared? Yes sir. What do you do then? I smoke my pipe sir!