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THE PERKINS FAMILY |
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A short history about FOUR GENERATIONS
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Researched,
written and prepared
by
F J Ferris for the Heritage Group of the
CIBSE October 2002
with acknowledgements to,
Wiltshire Record Office
Baker Perkins Historical Society
Birmingham Library Patents Office,
British Library
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers
for their assisstance and information.
| The following Webpages about the
Perkins Family is an ongoing HG project and
more webpages will be added as new information is
discovered. |
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THE PERKINS FAMILY |
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FOUR GENERATIONS OF ENGINEERS
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This is a short article about the Perkins family. Four generations of the family, all engineers, inventors, patentees and authors which spanned over 170 years. Each family member was directly involved with heating and ventilating of buildings. They also all carried out pioneering research into the production of artificial cold. |
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 Portrait of Hannah Perkins with her grandaughter Maria Louisa Bacon painted by the artist Chester Harding |
 Portrait of Jacob aged about 58 painted by the artist Chester Harding c.1824 |
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The list of his Patents is impressive in their engineering diversity. Number 4400
11th
October 1819 Machinery
and implements applicable to ornamental
turning and engraving. Number 4470
3rd
June 1820
Construction of fixed and portable pumps Number 3732 10th
December
1822 Steam engines Number 4792
17th
May 1823
Heating, boiling or evaporating by the steam of
fluids in pans, boilers or other vessels Number 4800
5th
June 1823
Steam engines Number 4870 20th
November 1823 Construction
of the furnace of steam boilers Number 4952
15th May
1824
Throwing shells and other
projectiles Number 4998 9th August 1824 Propelling vessels Number 5237 11th
August 1825
Construction
of bedsteads, sofas and other similar
articles Number 5477 22nd
March 1827
Construction
of steam engines Number 5806 2nd
July 1829
Machinery for propelling steam
engines Number 6128 2nd July 1831 Generating steam Number 6154 27th
August 1831
Generating
steam; applicable
to evaporating and boiling fluids for certain purposes Number 6275 9th
June 1832
Blowing
and exhausting air; applicable to various
purposes Number 6336 20th
November 1832 Preserving
copper in certain cases from the oxidation
caused by heat Number 6662 14th
August 1834
Apparatus
and means for producing ice, cooling fluids Number 7059 12th
April 1836
Steam
engines; generating steam; evaporating
and boiling fluids for certain purposes Number 7114 13th
June 1836
Apparatus for cooking Number
7242 3rd
December 1836 Steam
engines; furnaces; and boilers, partly applicable to
other
purposes |
For more information about Jacob Perkins
his ancestors and descendants visit internet website
www.bphs.net
ngier
March Perkins (1799 - 1881) engineer,
inventor, author and
patentee, was named after his uncle Angier March and the second
surviving son of
Jacob and Hannah Greenleaf. Born in
Newburyport, Massachusetts USA on the 21st
August 1799. He sailed for England and arrived in December 1821,
and thereafter for
some time was associated with his father in perfecting his method of
engraving
bank-notes, and also of using steam under very high pressure. Following
the
subject of high pressure steam he developed and patented a method of
warming
buildings by
means of circulating hot water through small diameter pipes in a sealed
system.
The first building to be heated by this type of system was in the
horticultural hot-houses at the house of John Horsley Palmer (the then
governor of the Bank of England) in Fulham London in 1832. This method
of heating came into extensive use and was the foundation
of a
large business carried out first in Harpur Street, which then moved
into Francis
Street and finally into Seaford Street, Grays End Road. He
inherited
much of his father’s talents for
inventions and like his father before him he took out many patents
between the
years 1831 and 1864. BP 6146, 8311 and 8804 all relate to the high
pressure hot
water method of heating and subsequent improvements. His patent in 1843 for the manufacture of
and
melting of
iron by
the use of superheated steam was remarkable insomuch as it evidently
contained
in it the ideas of the subsequent discoveries relating to
the
conversion of
iron into steel, and the elimination of phosphorus and sulphur from the
iron. His attention to detail combined with his inventive powers rendered a great service to the mechanical world. Few of his inventions were the subject of patents, but the left and right hand thread screwed joint which was patented by him, has to be admitted to have been essential in its use for hydraulic work. As a method of joining two pipes together and forming a sealed joint capable of bearing the same pressure as the pipe itself shows it to be both simple and effective. In later years the system of circulating water in a sealed system, heated up to 2000 psi pressure was applied to the heating of baker’s ovens. This method was extensively adopted, as it possessed the advantage of being easily regulated. It was patented in 1851 BP 13509 and was later much improved. He was elected the 587th member as an
Associate of the Institution of Civil
Engineers on the 5th May 1840. He married Julia Georgiana
Brown in 1831 and they had four children, Angier Greenleaf, Loftus, an
unknown daughter and Louisa Jane.
In the
census
of 1881 he is recorded as living in Hampstead London
with his son Loftus and his wife
Emily, and their two children Loftus Patton jnr. and Ludlow Patton.
Angier died on the 22nd April 1881 in Hampstead London at the age of 81 and is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery London. |
The
list of his Patents
Number 6146 30th
July
1831
Apparatus for
heating air in
buildings Number 8311 16th
December 1839 Apparatus for
transmitting heat by
circulating water Number 8804 21st
January 1841
Apparatus
for heating
by the circulation of hot water; construction of pipes for such and
other
purposes Number 9664 16th March 1843 Manufacture and melting of iron; applicable for evaporating fluids, and heating metals Number 10778 21st
July
1845
Apparatus for heating
air in buildings Number 13492 5th
February 1851
Railway
axles and
boxes Number 13509 11th
February 1851
Constructing and
heating ovens. Number 2755 6th December 1855 Apparatus for Generating Steam Number
2757 6th December 1855
Warming buildings and
apartments
by hot water Number
954 29th April
1858 High
Pressure Steam Engines Number
2124 21st September 1858 Surface
Condensors Number
2017 21st August
1860 Apparatus for distilling sea &
other water Number
342 9th February 1862 Warming
Rooms and Buildings Number
2253 15th September 1864 Constructing ovens and
applying
wrought iron tubular apparatus
for circulating hot water to heat the same |
oftus
Perkins
(1834 - 1891) engineer,
author, inventor and patentee was born on
the 8th May 1834 in Great
Corham Street, Russell Square, London.
At a very early age he entered his fathers manufactory and during 1853
– 1854
he practised on his own account as an engineer in New York. Returning to England he remained with his
father for 8 years until 1862 working on the steam gun and other
inventions.
From 1862 until 1866 he was in business on his own in Hamburg and
Berlin
designing and installing many systems for warming buildings in various
parts of
the continent. Returning to England in 1866 he entered into partnership
with
his father and worked on the design and construction of steam engines,
boilers
and especially in developing the use of high pressure steam as applied
to steam
engines. The partnership continued until his father’s death in 1881. He inherited much of the inventive capacity of his father and grandfather, and from 1859 onwards took out a very large number of patents. The main subjects to which he directed his activities were the use of high pressure steam as a motive power, and the production of artificial cold.
"He was a man with brown eyes, well proportioned in build and a great chemist and engineer. He had a large moustache and Dundreary whiskers, who always wore a double-breasted blue suit, and in the Works, a peaked cap with silk oak leaves around. In the winter he used to wear a Canadian fur cap. He came into the Works one Sunday morning dressed in white flannels with a white peaked yachting cap. He smoked 13 ounces of tobacco a week - he always carried a pouch with 4 ounces of tobacco in it. His type of tobacco was "Branksome's Light Virginia". In conjunction
with his friend Dr
Williamson he took out three patents in 1859 and 1860 for surface
condensers,
steam engines and boilers. In one of which he says “Our chief object is
to
employ steam of very high pressure; as for example of 500 psi. or more
or less
and to expand this steam several times, and then condense it so as to
obtain a
great amount of power from a small quantity of steam”. He devoted many
years of
his life to this subject. His labours in this subject are shown in two
papers
read before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1861 and 1877
and
published in the “Proceedings” for those years. Among
his many inventions is his patent in 1867 for water meters,
and one in 1868 for wrought iron metal wheels, the spokes of which
consisted of
hollow bars or tubes screwed into the nave or tyre. A large number of
gun
carriage wheels were constructed using this principle for the
Government, and
though they stood the most severest of tests nothing more was heard of
this
invention.
Another of his
inventions described in 1891 in Fletcher's book "Steam Engines on
Common Roads" says, His yacht Anthracite, constructed in 1880 was fitted with engines working with steam at a pressure of 500 psi. and it is probably the smallest ship of that time ever to have crossed the Atlantic steaming the entire distance. The Perkins engine company published a number of reports upon her performance, drawn up respectively by Sir Frederick Bramwell, by a committee of officers of the U.S. Navy and by Sir Frederick Bramwell and Mr William Rich conjointly. He continued with the experiments which had occupied the attentions of his father and grandfather which was the production of artificial cold which resulted in the “Arktos” a cold chamber suitable for preserving meat and other items of food. It was based on the separation of ammonia gas from the water in which it is dissolved, the liquefaction of the gas, and the subsequent revapourisation of the ammonia, with the reabsorption of the gas by the water. This was his last great work, and his unremitting attention to it inevitably caused a breakdown in his health. He became a
Member of the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1861 followed by Membership of
the
Institution of Civil Engineers in 1881. Loftus died on 27th April 1891 at his home in 148 Abbey Road Kilburn London at the relatively young age of 57. Compared with both his father (82) and grandfather (83), maybe, just maybe, his addiction to tobacco and his heavy pipe smoking compounded by the stress of his great work load contributed to his early death. His Will was proved on the 28th May 1891 in the sum of £1829. A very modest sum when considered against the inventions, patents and other business interests he achieved during his working lifetime. He was survived by his wife Emily and their two sons Loftus Patton and Ludlow Patton. Both of his
sons worked in their fathers business
which by then had been made a limited company.
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A
description of Loftus written by his assistant Charles J Hayward who
worked with him on many of his experiments says,|
He was a prolific inventor and made
30 Patent applications between the years 1859 and 1879 |
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The List of his Patents Number 1940 25th August 1859 Mills Number 2208 29th September 1859 Steam Boilers Number 2686 28th November 1859 Machinery for Propelling Vessels Number 2285 20th September 1860 Surface Condensors Number 2392 3rd October 1860 Steam engines Number 636 7th March 1865 Apparatus for heating and cooling atmospheric air other aeriform bodies and for heating ovens and for heating buildings Number 3050 29th October 1866 Improvements for actuating the valves of water meters and other meters, and of engines for obtaining motive power Number 1379 27th April 1868 Manufacture of wrought metal wheels Number 1381 27th April 1868 Tubular Steam boilers Number 2436 8th September 1870 Locking gear of the fore carriage of Wheeled vehicles Number 1508 24th May 1870 Connections for fire engine hoses and other pipes Number 1379 23rd May 1871 Wheels for traction engines Number 1822 12th July 1871 Steam Engines Number 2818 21st October 1871 Locomotive and traction engines Number 2819 21st October 1871 Marine and stationary engines Number 3845 18th December 1872 Locomotive engines Number 2616 3rd September 1872 Packing rings for pistons Number 224 20th January 1874 Steam-engines etc. Number 507 6th February 1877 Steam-engines and valves Number 2301 8th June 1878 Propellors for ships Number 5243 23rd December 1879 Wearing surfaces of steam and other engines |
oftus Patton Perkins (1868
- 1940) the eldest son
of Loftus was born in Kilburn London in 1868 and
followed the
engineering path of his father working in his business. In the 1901
census Loftus then
aged 33 years is recorded living with his wife Henrietta in
Willesden London, and giving his
occupation as Mechanical Engineer. He died in 1940 in London, aged 72
years.
Loftus possessed other talents
and was an accomplished artist as the watercolours shown below
beautifully illustrate. The watercolours titled London Bridge painted
by him in 1933, and Thames Barges painted in 1926, opens up a new line
of research for the Group to
determine whether he was well known as an artist in that time period,
and to establish also if there are other paintings by him, that still
exist.
Copy of the watercolour painting kindly provided by James Buttram.  Copy of the watercolour painting kindly provided by Mike Alderson.
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udlow Patton Perkins (1873 - 1928) the second and youngest son of Loftus was born in Kilburn London in 1873 and followed the engineering path of his father working in his business, which by the time of the death of his father had become a limited company. He moved to Lancaster in the year 1902 having previously lived in Manchester where he was for a number of years associated with Hy Wallmark and Co Ltd and also with Joseph Adamson and Son, of Hyde in Cheshire with whom he was interested in the high pressure stopped-end tube boiler. His speciality was steam at very high pressures and on this subject he was very authoritative. He was a director of the Lune Valley Engineering Company Ltd of Lancaster and later practised as a consulting engineer, devoting his time and energies to the development of refrigerating apparatus. In conjunction with William Edward Buck, Engineers of
Carisbrooke, Battershall, Worcestershire
they applied for and were
granted British Patent No. 22272 dated 1892 titled "Improvements in
devices for the diffusion of transference
of heat” This patent gave
improvements to the basic Perkins tube which had previously been the
subject of
earlier patents taken out by his grandfather Angier M Perkins and
great-grandfather Jacob Perkins dealing with hermetic single phase and
two
phase heating tubes.
In the 1901
census Ludlow then
aged 28 years is recorded as living at 21 Herbert Street, Moss Side,
Manchester, giving his occupation as Mechanical Engineer.
Coincidentally, residing at the same address is George F Buck. who was
probably
related
to the William Edward Buck with whom Ludlow made the patent application. He died on 18th
October 1928 at Lansdowne House, Regent Street, Lancaster at the early
age of 56 years. |
FEBRUARY 2004
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The Perkins HPHW Heating System |
In the early 1800’s in pre-Victorian Britain central heating systems were slowly coming into fashion with steam or warm air always being used as the heating medium. The use of hot water as an alternative form of heating medium had not yet been considered.
In 1827 an American family named Perkins arrived in this country from Massachusetts USA. Jacob Perkins (1766 – 1849) and his son Angier March Perkins (1799 – 1881) both with their families. Jacob and Angier were Engineers and inventors who had already experimented with using hot water in sealed pipework systems to create heating systems capable of operating at high temperatures and pressures.
Angier Perkins continued this research with his experiments in England and by 1831 was ready to apply for a patent for his invention. His first British Patent 6146 dated 30th July 1831 was listed as “Apparatus for heating air in Buildings” which was to be the first of many. This new method of central heating was to circulate hot water through small diameter pipes at high temperatures and pressures. The Perkins Patent for their heating system was considered an ingenious and useful invention by the Privy Council who on the 10th March 1845 granted a five year extension of the Patent, from the termination of the present Patent.
This new development in the heating of buildings quickly found favour with businesses and the aristocracy. During the 1830’s many of these systems, which had then become known as “The Perkins System”, had been installed in buildings throughout the country. The Lists of Contracts ranged from Public Buildings, Private Mansions, Churches, and Manufactories to Hothouses, Greenhouses and Conservatories, in towns and cities as far apart as the Isle of Wight to Edinburgh and Ireland.
The system is simple in its design and is formed as an endless loop of pipe, part of which is coiled around inside a brickwork furnace. The pipework is hydraulic quality tubing with the system closed and sealed. Sealing the system allowed it to operate at working pressures of up to 300 pounds per square inch and temperatures as high as 300°F.
Isometric layout of 2- circuit pipework distribution systemThe system used gravity as the means of circulating the hot water around the pipework. The length of each circuit was therefore limited by the small diameter pipe size and needed to be kept to a maximum of 500 feet. Up to 15 per cent of this circuit was coiled inside the brickwork furnace. Should this length of pipework not be sufficient for the heating of the building then the endless loop was made longer in multiples of 500 feet with each circuit length returning to the brickwork furnace.
Each sealed circuit needed to be fitted with an expansion tube which had to be fitted at the top (the highest point) of the system. These closed expansion vessels allowed the heated water to expand into the vessel from the bottom and compress the air inside the vessel, thus exerting an artificial pressure on the water. Most systems were initially filled from the bottom of the pipework circuit until the top-up fill point was reached.
The tubing used is of small size approx. 1" outside diameter with the lengths of tubing joined together with right and left hand threaded pipe sockets. The sockets were of unusual design in that no jointing material was needed. The sockets used a metal to metal joint with one end of the threaded tube being chamfered. This was then pulled tight up to the flat faced end of the other length of tube.
THE TIMES NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
The Perkins high pressure high temperature (HPHW) hot water heating system did however have some problems early in its life. These are quite forcibly described in a letter written to the editor of THE TIMES newspaper which appeared on Saturday 20th November 1841. The letterwriter supplies a list of buildings which details a number of them that had experienced fires supposedly caused by direct contact with the very high surface temperatures of the pipes.
Wilson.Casey and Phillips, Spitalfields - Warehouse set on fire by pipes becoming red hot
Sir Hussey Vivian. Glynn House -ditto-
Mr Barbour Manchester -ditto-
Craft and Steel, Manchester Manufactory destroyed by fire in consequence of bursting of the apparatus and the fire being scattered; the damage estimated at £20,000
Museum of Natural History Manchester. Set on fire in several places by the pipes becoming overheated.
Birch chapel Manchester matting and cushions burnt by pipes becoming too hot
Unitarian Chapel Manchester -ditto-
Williams, Deacon & Co pipes set fire to joist of building; speedily extinguished without damage.
Lothbury Church Expansion pipe burst and scolded the charity children.
Lady Cockerill Seinscote apparatus burst twice during the night and caused great alarm and some damage.
Sir T Cullum Bury apparatus burst twice and destroyed much glass in the house.
Mr Ingliss Dulwich burst in furnace with damage.
Camberell Workhouse burst with much damage.
Timothy Smith & Co Birmingham -ditto-
Horticultural Gardens Chiswick -ditto-
Mr Hemming Dulwich -ditto-
Sir J Lubbock Mitcham Grove -ditto-
Guardian Fire Office -ditto-
Mr Debouverie Englefield -ditto-
Lord Beresford Bedgebury -ditto-
Inner Temple Hall -ditto
Duke of Wellington Strathfieldsays -ditto-
Marlborough House -ditto-
Why these systems went out of fashion is most likely to have been the increasing popularity of low pressure hot water heating systems which had greater flexibility to suit the more complex buildings of the 20th century. The discovery of the reason for the likely cause of its fall from grace still remains a matter of interest to the author. Another possible reason could be, that insurance companies were increasing their premiums for insuring this type of system due to the incidence of fires caused, or maybe they were even refusing to provide cover.
It states in the letter to The Times “It is a subject which alike concerns the fire insurance companies as well as individuals; and it is a well known fact, that since the commencement of the present year, in consequence of the fires which occurred in Manchester, as already stated, many insurance companies both in London and in the country have refused to insure at any premium whatever buildings heated by some of the plans which have been here described”
Looking at the list of buildings damaged, one of the buildings mentioned was the Guardian Fire Office, and this could not have been good news for the Perkins company. However, these problems must have been overcome as Perkins’s systems were still being installed into the 1890’s and beyond.
However, Angier March Perkins responds to the letterwriter's allegations giving a robust defence of his invention of the High Pressure heating system.
To read the letters and responding replies visit webpage The Times Newspaper
Several of these Perkins HPHW systems installed in the Victorian era survive to this day. They are all to be found in Churches and Chapels located in the south of England and South Wales. The fact that these systems installed during the 19th century are still heating their original buildings in the 21st century is a lasting tribute to the innovative design of their inventor Angier March Perkins.
Although these systems were originally designed to operate at high temperatures, with today’s lower acceptable temperature limit requirements for exposed pipework, and the introduction of pumped circulation and temperature controls, their flexibility of use has allowed them to remain in operation for over 160 years.
Truly a most remarkable achievement.
Churches that have been discovered in England which
are still heated with a Perkins HPHW System
St Michael’s & All Angels. Bampton Devon St John the Baptist. Yarcombe Devon
St John the Baptist. Newport Devon St Margaret's Northam Devon
St Mary’s. Bruton Somerset St Mary’s. East Brent Somerset
St John the Baptist Halse Somerset St Peter's Broadstairs Kent
St Stephen Winsham Somerset St Michael the Archangel. Mere WiltshireThree of the churches in Devon are made even more remarkable because the Perkins systems have remained as originally installed including the brickwork heating furnace, and still using gravity water circulation. The furnaces were initially solid fuel fired but have now been converted to oil firing.
St Michael & All Angels Guiting Power Gloucestershire
It is of defining interest to discover that the Perkins type of sealed system found in these churches were installed by so many different heating firms, all using the same HPHW design principle.
J Longbottom & Co Leeds Henry Hope & Sons Birmingham
E W Stevens Taunton Musgrave's London
Renton Gibbs & Co Liverpool John King Limited Liverpool
A selection of pictures showing various parts of the pipework and equipment
enabling identification to be made of a Perkins HPHW heating system
One additional item of pipeline
equipment has been found that seems to
be particular to the systems found in South Wales. Made from
cast brass these items are purpose made air vents. They are either
fitted with thumb turn screws as shown in the picture, or with
square headed screws for use with a special spanner. One possible
reason
for these air vents being required is that most of the chapels and
churches have balconies and the pipework circuits are routed at two
levels. This
made flush venting of the system difficult to carry out, so another
means of venting was needed to allow the air to escape. Hence the
need for air vents.
