Information on Thomas Martin?

[Toolemera]

Coming out of lurking mode, I am in need of some assistance in research. Living in the US, it's a bit far for me to walk over to find this out on my own.

I'm at the tail end of prepping Thomas Martin's Circle Of The Mechanical Arts, 1813, for publication. The introduction is the last step and should include a reasonable biography. Which is a problem because almost nothing is known about the author. There are myths and misconceptions galore but little in the way of hard facts.

I've exercised my retired librarian research skills and have turned up the following:

A Thomas Martin seems to have been a member of The Society Of Civil Engineers as listed in 1781, 1789 and 1791 according to the book The Smeatonians, by Garth Watson. This Martin was also listed in the Society records as living in St. Michaels Parish, Cornhill, London.

I did send emails to St. Michaels and to the Society of Civil Engineers to no avail. No answers were forthcoming.

There are myths that John Farey wrote as Thomas Martin. I doubt this was true for a variety of reasons not the least of which is timing, ages and specialities. There is also a myth that Thomas Martin was actually George Martin, a book binder. Again, far fetched and not supported by research.

If anyone has any bits of information concerning Thomas Martin I would be grateful if you would contact me at [email protected].

Thanks and have a good New Year

 

[Harbo]

I have not heard of the Society of Civil Engineers but know of the Institution of Civil Engineers which I am a Member.
They are based at 1 Great George Street, London SW1P 3AA.
It was founded in1818 though.

Rod

 

[henton49er]

I have not heard of the Society of Civil Engineers but know of the Institution of Civil Engineers which I am a Member.
They are based at 1 Great George Street, London SW1P 3AA.
It was founded in1818 though.

Rod

Until I retired I too was in the ICE. I agree it was founded in 1818, but .....

In a London coffee house on a summer day in 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers was founded by a small group of idealistic young men. Today, ICE has nearly 80,000 members across the world. But, despite the tremendous advances in technology and the growth of the engineering profession, ICE has the same purpose as it did when it was founded nearly two centuries ago...

Prior to the eighteenth century engineers in Europe had been almost exclusively military men. Although civil engineering work had been carried out before that time, there was no identifiable profession. In the UK, John Smeaton and some of his colleagues formed the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers [in] 1771, a group of leaders of the profession who met informally over dinner. Although there was some early evidence of more technical meetings and a library of sorts was built up, the rather restricted membership and informal nature of the Society meant it was incapable of meeting all the needs of a fast growing profession.

[extracted from the University of Salford website]

Looking up the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers, gives the following Wikipedia references:-

Roberts, Gwilym (1995). From Kendal's Coffee House to Great George Street. Thomas Telford. pp. p. 1. ISBN 0-7277-2022-8.
Watson, Garth (1989). The Smeatonians: The Society of Civil Engineers. Thomas Telford. ISBN 0-7277-1526-7.

A google search on "Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers" shows some possibly useful links for research on early members.

 

[Harbo]

The parish records are available on a CD?

http://www.parishchest.com/st._michael_ ... 754__P8338

Rod

 

[Toolemera]

Mike

I have a copy of Watson which give a handful of dates and a copy of the attendance record for Martin leading to St. Michael. During some early morning research, I found this reference at the Skempton Archives:

http://www.cv.ic.ac.uk/SkemArchive/HDMS ... EMS038.htm

and emailed the Archivist there to see if there are any relevant documents.

Yes, it seems that, prior to ICE, the Smeatonians did not see fit to keep much in the way of precise records. Tsk Tsk on the engineers.

Rod

If only the Parish records listed dates later than 1754!

And if only the ICE Archivist would answer emails...

Thanks one and all. The search continues. Before publishing, Mr. Martin should really have more than a one sentence biography.

Gary