The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-22 00:00:00

THE LATE MR. JOHN DICKINSON.

We of the present day, with our newspapers issileat
daily by the hundred thousand, can form buts tii°
idea of iti hat was the state of the raper manufee:s
ture, now so important a branch of industry in thi
country, even at so late a period as the commence;
ment of the present century. Instead of paper befb;
reeled off in webs many feet in width, and at "0
rate sometimes of upwards of a mile in the board%
length, each sheet had at that time to be 1313
separately on a mould by hand, and had then„ t 0
be subjected to various subsequent processes bel°o%
it was in a state fit for use. To obtain an'tilf°r
and continuous supply for any purpose was alln°f
a matter of impossibility, and the necessitY4,
applying machinery to this manufacture was vt,
ginning to be felt, while the success which had a,
tended its introduction into the spinning and wevev.e;
ing industries gave encouragement of success•
the whole change from a system of manufacture al.
most mediaeval in its rudeness was comprised Witt
the lifetime and was in great measure effected bf
°sew
the exertions and ingenuity of the gentleman Ivb „d
name we have placed at the head of this article, 3'.
who was buried on Monday last at Kensal-gree/1.
John Dickinson, eldest son of Capt. T. Dickias°°,;
R.N., was born on the 29th of March, 1782, °,llllO
had therefore nearly completed his 78th year at
time of his decease. His father, of a north count:
family, was himself the son of a naval caPtaii:o
and his mother came of an old French family,•
Cosses, of Brissac, though her immediate anc.ot
Eat tors had been driven by the revocation of the 1,
of Nautes to settle in this country. It is Pr,
bable that, as has been the case in many ether tto
stances, it was to this infusion of French blandthat much of the inventive faculty to which o,g
Dickinson owed his subsdquent success oia
due. The intimacy subsisting between Cap At
Dickinson's family and Andrew Strahal3/ big
that time the King's printer, influenced 01
future career as connected with the suPPIY.9O
manufacture of paper. On the expiration °', 01‘,
indentures he commenced business in iValb
fr:og•
and shortly after joined Mr. Charles )-ter.
man, brother of the late Mr. Longman, of Pa
noster-row, and for some time M.P. for maidstoPtif
and carried on business with him, and subsolnelef,
with his nephew in the premises in the Old the
It was not, however, until the year 180 tba"defi•
first patent " for manufacturing paper of an in ier,
nite length" was taken out by Henry Fourury
and this was soon followed by Mr. Dickilisnn' s fat
tent of June 30, 1807, for machitieli,oo•
cutting and planing paper thus made.
„„bich
drinier's patent for the paper machine, "
300
still bears his name, was taken out in tile °Afro
year ; and it was about this time that so'
Dickinson ceminenced his career as a parr °nest
facturer by the purchase of Apsley-mill, toe
Hemel Ilempsted, to which in the course °f two
four other mills in Hertfordshire were added' eOl
of them constructed, and the water power f°1.40,0
created under his own superintendence. It
selar
1807, before the commencement of the Penh:ridge
campaign, that be invented a new cannon Or" Iles
'
paper, made by mixing together linen and WIDIOI
rags iu certain proportions, so that after the et 'O.
Sion it was prevented from retaining sparks r° core
In 1809 he patented machinery for the mann'a„cteil
of, paper by means of an ingeniously constr:ooo,
cylinder of brass, covered with wire gauze an Dich
netted with an air-pump, a form of machine °tiler
still remains in use. This was followed by °or
patents for the manufacture of finely-faced coPa for
plate paper by a sort of veneering process, an
sac'
a machine to cut cards, both of which Were des
cessful inventions, and the former especially t,e; itY
much to increase his reputation. In 1826
vented the process of introducing coloured t'
toa"
„ty
into the body of paper at the instant of its
facture which was again improved on in 183' tied
preservative against forgery will have been n:will
by holders of Exchequer bills, and many' of till were
remember it in the stamped envelopes whie f
the
issued by Government after the adoption .°of
penny postage system, in the introetite,o r loaf
which Mr. Dickenson had taken great intermit.
1832 we find him again patenting a k°°ta two
strainer for cleaning pulp from itnnuritic3, 8,13 f
years later applying magnets for the remoirai°olP•
portions of iron that may happen to be ill the
and thus preventing ironmould in the PaPe,e'
rage'
sides these, he took out other patents for it/lActor"
ments, more or less important, in the Mal/110ii fe:
of paper, almost up to the period of his 611:,,,f on":
tiring from business in 1857. Such is a bll-000:
line of the principal inventions of Mr. Pfic vibicav
in connection with the manufacture, °,"ro,
he must be regarded as one of the folly° reeoro
of which be was for many years tb peelAt
wised chief. But his energies were not CO
h..: frien:c;
manufacturing and mechanical details • a"
tit
ship with the principal publishers of ,u°l3brotig
Edinburgh was intimate and lasting, Oa: glOed
him in contact with most of the dist:ll..o4'i
authors of his day. He was a member el '.-Afell°,o
the learned societies, and was in 1845 elected.eatecl, ito
of the Royal Society, to which he comma ter ffeo,
1851, some observations on the supply of Wi'Dood°r;
the chalk stratum in the neighbourhood 0f therffg
containing much valuable information as °tor 9e0
(1
colation of water through chalk. In his le'der
he took much interest in astronomy, bh°trh
A
an observatory at his country house, d
he toll e
of which he had been at once architect an in t gene.
As a magistrate he took an active par. --,001.- ,e 40
ral concerns of the county. He was a li'isticiehof
factor to numerous charitable institution's,
rs i
oeco
cially to hospitals, and was for many lee. J. of
vao
the registrars of the Royal Literati' Dry,
10 od
menta! and bodily activity was extraord'u„ be ',OO
1113
in the words of one of his oldest friends, ati
0 "A
thoroughly lived out his life, and bad tali p h
and means to crowd into the short i°
ee eo
,0
rY
business more kindly and generous d
would make the staple of many ordin'
ives."-7

,/
--...................."'"'".r1 OP ate
,t SO mtog,er
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likewise correct all irregularities of the liver,
_____,./
digestion.
_.............„../

:••••••••••=t0......,...,.....,,,........!..........'"'°''--
i, tivi #
Births. ~r,., 0,
la 'ir,
BEAUMONT —On the 19th inst., at Irrlha ~ ) •
Bourne, the wife of Henry F. Beaura°9" ei,
daughter. ge%
MoTT —On the 20th
park, the wife of Albert Mott, Esq., °f 3 ‘..ti'
, 5,
ber. co
Marriages. ~ 110 Apt, 6
BLAINE MOGER —On the 20th inst.,
taotsT%t"y:4C:V,o,
Bla na, Esq., of Kilburn, Loudon
Frances, only daughter of George Loudon,
JOl'fi"
Bath.
LITTLEJOHN Bann E —On the 20th insf, ilaet Sitlfticef
wood, Alexander Littlejohn, Esq, °foteorg°l3.
_, change, to Mary, second daughter of
ii"
Esq. Ad
.s
Deaths.
BRADSHAW —On the 19th inst., at Lowther C°tt" of"
culoway, John Bradshaw, Esq., aged 82.
nearPlSs
,11n !E—On the 14th ult., at Ifurreepore, 44,
_ea,
_,/
Major Mark Edward Currie, 8.R.-S-1 Lige Aov '".
—_ _- sf)- ti i
--- - ~ lg. A go , o
London : Printed and Pfalished by Wilii,,,,,i-Ole'ooo°'
9f No. 112, Strand, Printer, at DO ."' ate
utrand, in ma Precinct of the Sr SOY , all
Middlesex,—Friday, January 22, 180.