Sir Samuel Bentham – Civil Architect and the First Engineer of the Royal Navy John Wills and Kenneth Flemming Machinery set in motion by inanimate force was the significant contribution of Sir Samuel Bentham (1757–1831), a brigadier-general who in 1813 wrote officially to the Admiralty to propose his innovation to mechanise the making of blocks for ships’ rigging. England led the world in the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s. In naval shipbuilding and support, Bentham is an icon of that revolution, with much the same effect as George Stephenson (1781–1848) with the introduction of steam railways for land-based transportation. Bentham’s early life Born in London, the youngest of the seven children of Jeremiah Bentham (1712–1792), an attorney, and his wife, Alicia Woodward Whitehorne Grove (d1759), Samuel and his more famous brother Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), philosopher, jurist and reformer, were the only two children in the family to survive infancy. The two brothers were exceptionally close, and their lives were frequently intertwined. Jeremy’s education is worth noting as he tutored Samuel at an early stage. For the first sixteen years of his life, Jeremy was described as exceedingly small, puny and feeble. He acquired a knowledge of musical notes at five. He learned to write and play the violin and was subsequently initiated into Latin grammar. He gained distinction at Westminster School, London, for writing Latin and Greek verses. At twelve, he was entered as a commoner at Queen’s College, Oxford. Samuel also attended Westminster from age six, leaving there in 1771 at fourteen to become a naval apprentice to William Grey, the best master shipwright in the Royal dockyard at Woolwich. His parents paid Grey the substantial sum of £50 per year for Samuel’s boarding, besides paying a large apprentice fee. It was doubtless primarily due to Jeremy’s persuasions that their father agreed to let Samuel pursue his enthusiasm for naval architecture rather than go to Oxford.1 Jeremiah Bentham was an intelligent businessman who had added considerably to his legacy by land speculations and leases, allowing both surviving sons to continue their education and placements. Samuel continued 10
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