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Mr. Fairbairn now describes his successful start
in business as a manufacturing engineer:—
My retirement from the service of Mr. Hewes took
place in November 1817, at a time when business was slack, and when I could
ill afford to be idle even for a single day. Having, however, made up my
mind to make an attempt at something better than a weekly wage, I went over
to Messrs. Otho Hulme and Sons, at Clayton, near Manchester, for whom I had
erected some printing machinery whilst I was with Mr. Parkinson, to consult
Mr. J. Hulme, the active partner, what was best to be done. At that time
there appeared no chance of obtaining orders for millwork, but he made me
the offer to construct an iron conservatory which he proposed erecting in
the garden, I gladly accepted the offer, and having prepared the drawings,
which were approved, I looked round for some clever, active person as a
partner to join me in the undertaking. This partner I found in an old
shopmate, Mr. James Lillie, to whom I communicated my intentions, and asked
him to join me. After some hesitation. he consented; and we commenced a few
days afterwards as coadjutors for the construction of the hothouse; and thus
arose a connection which lasted for fifteen years.
In a few weeks the patterns were made, and we
had just commenced casting, when the whole of our operations were stopped by
a letter from Birmingham giving notice of the infringement of a patent which
the writer said belonged to himself, This interdict and the threats which
were held out closed our connection with Mr. Hulme, and I was again thrown
upon the world without resources and without money. Mr. Lillie, who was no
better off in this respect than I myself, after some fruitless attempts to
get work, expressed a wish to retire, and advised me to abandon what he
conceived could not be accomplished. I however had made up my mind to
persevere, and notwithstanding a fortnight's suffering from insufficient
food, I urged him to be firm, as I had made up my mind never again to work
as a journeyman. This determination, and an offer to allow him to withdraw
if he did not like the connection, decided the question, and he renewed his
promise either to succeed, or remain with me to the last. This determination
increased our energy and gave us fresh vigour. We redoubled our exertions,
issued printed cards announcing our intentions, and made a complete tour
amongst the manufacturers of Manchester and the neighbourhood. Amongst
others, I called on Messrs. Adam and George Murray, the extensive
cotton-spinners, and taking with me the designs of the bridge, I showed them
to Mr. Murray, and requested to know if we could be of service to him in the
erection of any millwork he might require. Mr. Murray received me kindly,
and after looking at the drawings, desired I would call on the following
day, and bring my partner with me.
In the interval since the stoppage of our work
at Mr. Hulme's, we had, however, got small orders for the erection of a
callender in Cannon Street, and a calico-polishing machine in Shakespeare
Street. These were small jobs, but sufficient to enable us to make a lathe;
and having hired a miserable shed for about twelve shillings a week, we
erected the lathe, and with the assistance of James Murphy, a muscular
Irishman, we contrived to turn and finish the whole of our work in a very
creditable manner. At that time, 1817, even Manchester did not boast of many
lathes or tools, except small ones in the machine shops; ours was of
considerable dimensions, and capable of turning shafts of from 3 to 6 inches
diameter. For two years afterwards this lathe did the whole of our turning
work.
According to appointment, we waited on Mr.
Murray, and having stated to him the objects we had in view, he took us
through the mill, and asked if we could renew, with horizontal cross-shafts,
the whole of his millwork that turned the mule spinning. We gladly agreed;
but before any contract was made, he stipulated that the work must be well
done, and said that he would visit our shop on the following day, and judge
for himself as to the means we had at command for the attainment of that
object.
This proposition was anything but encouraging,
as both of us were aware of the 'poverty of the land,' and the risk we
should incur by such an exhibition. There was, however, no alternative; come
he would, and immediately on our return we set to work to put the 'house in
order' for his reception. On the following day he came punctually to the
time, and after looking round he observed that there was no approach but
through an entry about four feet wide, and that having only one tool we
should never be able to execute a work of such magnitude. We earnestly
assured him to the contrary; and having made an agreement with him, we
commenced, with glad hearts and willing minds, what we considered our first
and best order as men of business. One of the conditions was to execute the
alterations without stopping the machinery, or only such portion as we might
require for the time being. This we accomplished satisfactorily, and having
worked from five in the morning till nine at night, we completed the order
within the specified time, and in such a manner as to satisfy Mr. Murray and
his friends.
The alterations effected in Mr. Murray's factory
opened a new field for our exertions. Up to that time neither Mr. Lillie nor
I were much acquainted with cotton-mills; our previous employment had been
chiefly confined to corn-mills, printing-works, and bleaching-works; and the
operations of spinning being nearly new, we had everything to learn in that
extensive department of our national industry. The alterations in Mr.
Murray's mill gave us a great deal of insight into the business; and as my
department lay in the designs and erection of the work as sent out by Mr.
Lillie from the shop, I had an opportunity of examining with care and
attention the whole of the main-gearing, and the machinery of transmission
to the remotest parts of the factory.
In my examination of Mr. Murray's mill, and
others to which I had access, I thought I discovered great defects in the
principle as well as in the construction of the millwork. All the cotton
mills that I had seen were driven with large square shafts and wooden drums,
some of them 4 feet in diameter. The main shafts seldom exceeded 40
revolutions per minute; and although the machinery varied in velocity from
100 up to 3,000 revolutions, the speeds were mostly got up by a series of
straps and counter drums, which not only crowded the rooms, but seriously
obstructed the light where most required, in the more delicate and refined
operations of the different machines. This defect I mentioned to Mr. Lillie,
and proposed that we should change the system by the introduction of lighter
shafts at double or treble the velocity, and by using smaller drums to drive
the machinery at the same speed. I instanced an argument which I had had
with a spinner, who contended that the straps would slip on small drums; but
I showed that the front wheels of a carriage, though much smaller than those
behind, went over the same ground, and that the quick shafts and smaller
drums would not only by their increased velocity do the same, but would do
it with a great saving of power. Thoroughly convinced of this, we set to
work; and from that time we may date the revolution which followed, and our
own prosperity as the leading millwrights of the district.
Another defect observed was in the construction
of the shafts, and in the mode of fixing the couplings, which were
constantly giving way, so that a week seldom passed without a break-down.
For the first six years we could never calculate on the Sunday as a day of
rest; we were almost constantly employed in repairs; and when trade was good
the loss of a single hour was an object when compared to the difference of
cost in a Sunday's repair. Working on Sundays, and on the previous and
following nights, had a most injurious effect on the morals and condition of
that class to which I belonged. It debarred them from that association with
their families, and that improvement in the domestic circle to which this
day of all others is most appropriate, particularly for the working man. The
introduction of a new system of quick speeds and light shafts, accompanied
with a greater degree of accuracy in the workmanship, led to a change which
gradually abolished work on Sundays.
The completion of Mr. Murray's order gave a new
impetus to our business. Our exertions had not been lost upon him, for he
immediately recommended us to the attention of Mr. John Kennedy, partner in
the firm of Messrs. M'Connel and Kennedy, then the largest spinners in the
kingdom. They were on the point of adding a new mill, and owing to .Mr.
Murray's recommendation we found no difficulty in making arrangements with
Mr. Kennedy.
I waited upon that gentleman, and followed his
instructions with the utmost attention. I laid down all his plans for the
new mill to a scale, calculated the proportions and strength of the parts,
fixed the position and arrangement of the different machines, and
introduced, under that gentleman's direction, a new system of double speeds,
which, I believe, was an original invention of his own, for giving an
increased quantity of twist to the finer description of mule yarn. The mule,
as is well known, was the invention of Crompton; and it owes a great deal to
Mr. Kennedy's improvements, particularly in those constructions exclusively
adapted to the finer numbers. I shall have occasionally to speak of this
gentleman in the course of the following narrative, and I feel greatly
indebted to him for his early and continued friendship during his long and
useful life.
The erection of M'Connel and Kennedy's new mill
was a great step in advance; we had now become engineers and millwrights of
some consequence, and the complete and satisfactory execution of the
millwork established our characters as young men who were likely not only to
do well, but also to introduce improvements in the construction of
machinery, millwork, and the general mechanism of other branches of
industry. Mr. Kennedy was fully aware of the advantages of these
improvements, and he not only gave them full encouragement, but recommended
us to all his friends. The results of these recommendations were a press of
orders which poured in upon us from all sides, and an amount of work much
greater than we could execute. Our means were but small; and although we had
removed from the shed into an old building in Mather Street, immediately
after the completion of Mr. Murray's work, we were nevertheless without a
steam-engine, or any other power, except Murphy and three more assistants
who turned the lathes, having added to the number since our removal from
High Street. With the two first lathes, and a new and a larger one which we
erected temporarily at Mr. Kennedy's mill for turning the large shafts, we
completed the whole of the millwork in a satisfactory manner, both as
regarded solidity and appearance.
It was during the progress of this work (in
1818) that I became acquainted with Mr. Murdoch, of Soho, a gentleman well
known to science and to the public as the inventor of the D valve, the
improver of the Cornish pumping-engine, and the author of illumination by
carburetted hydrogen gas. Mr. Murdoch was at this time upwards of seventy
years of age, tall and well-proportioned, with a most benevolent and
intelligent expression of countenance. He was the oldest mechanical engineer
of his day, and, exclusive of his discoveries in practical engineering, he
contrived a variety of curious machines for compressing peat moss, when
finely ground and pulverised, into the most beautiful medals, armlets,
bracelets, and necklaces, which, under immense pressure, being stamped and
brilliantly polished, had all the character and appearance of the finest
marble. Mr. Murdoch was the right arm of the illustrious Watt, and greatly
assisted him in his improvements of the steam-engine by ingenious
contrivances for casting, boring, turning, and fitting the various parts.
The steam-engine is, therefore, in no small degree indebted to the ingenuity
and persevering exertions of Murdoch; as also to another eminent
contemporary mechanical engineer, the late Matthew Murray, of Leeds, who was
the first to set an example to Boulton and Watt themselves in that superior
finish of the steam-engine which has now become general.
Mr. Murdoch, on the occasion referred to, came
down to Manchester to start Mr. Kennedy's 54-horse-power engine, and during
his week's residence there I had frequent opportunities of noticing the
great intelligence which he evinced on almost every subject connected with
his professional avocations. He was, like his friend Mr. Kennedy, full of
anecdotes, and could relate all the old Scotch saws and sayings which used
to be the delight and amusement of the people of those days. It was then the
fashion to tell a good tale, and none could do it better than Mr. Murdoch
and Mr. Kennedy.
The services which we had rendered, and the
improvements which were introduced, caused us to be much talked of as good
millwrights and ingenious young men. Our business increased, and a large
cellar under a factory was added to the shop. I was designer, draughtsman,
and book-keeper; and in order to meet all the requirements of the concern,
and keep Mr. Lallies department in the shop constantly going, I had to rise
with the sun in the summer, and some hours before it in the winter, in order
to make the entries and post the books before breakfast. For the remainder
of the day I had either to draw out the work, or to ride fifteen or sixteen
miles on a hired hack to consult with proprietors, take dimensions, and
arrange the principle and plan on which the work was to be constructed. For
many years I continued these exertions; and, like every other act of
persevering industry, the result was a great economy, by saving the expense
of clerks, draughtsmen, and all those supernumeraries which can only exist
and can only be maintained in a large concern.
Four or five years passed in this manner; and,
though we were always short of money, and had to work from hand to mouth, we
were nevertheless in a prosperous way of business. Our tools were increasing
in number; new patterns were made; and at the end of five years we found
ourselves worth (in material, stock, and tools), a sum of 5,000/. It is true
there was no ready money, but, having occasional assistance from Heywood's
Bank, we ventured on the purchase of a 16-horse-power secondhand Boulton and
Watt's steam engine, bought a small plot of land on chief rent, and erected
a more convenient and commodious workshop. This was a bold undertaking,
without a farthing of capital; but we had good friends and considerate
customers; and we found no difficulty in obtaining money on account for work
in hand and in progress of delivery. With this assistance, and the same
continued activity, we struggled through; and in less than two years we
found ourselves in possession of the new shop and steam-engine, without any
considerable diminution in our funds.
It will be perceived that a constant and
unremitting attention to business precluded all chance of continuing my
studies, either by reading or other pursuits. My time was too much engaged
to admit of a single hour of leisure; and the only consolation which I
derived was the reflection that I had previously stored my mind with some
useful knowledge, which I was now turning to good account. |
