William Strutt (inventor)

William Strutt (1756 – 1830) FRS, was a cotton spinner in Belper, England.

Strutt was the first son of Jedediah Strutt and, after a good education, joined his father's business at the age of fourteen. He also inherited his father's mechanical abilities and is said to have thought of the self-acting mule some years before Richard Roberts patented it in 1830, but the technology was not available to make it work.

Be that as it may, he looked after the technical side of the business, while his brothers, Joseph and George Benson dealt with commercial and management side respectively. It became known as W.G. and J. Strutt..

He became a successful architect, designing many of the bridges in Derby and the original Derby Infirmary in 1810. In 1779 he was made a freeman of Derby and Burgess of the Borough, allowing him to vote in Parliament. He was co-founder of the Derby Philosophical Society with Jeremy Bentham and Erasmus Darwin and was President for twenty-eight years.

A major problem with the nineteenth century timber framed mills was fire, particularly if they worked with inflammable materials. When Darley Abbey Mill burnt down in 1788 it was rebuilt with sheets of tin fastened to the beams as protection. Many engineers of the day were addressing the problem which was nation-wide.

Strutt had used cast-iron for bridges in Derby, and applied it to building, first a calico mill in Derby and the Warehouse at Milford (pulled down in 1964 to make a car park), and then the new West Mill, built in 1795 at Belper. Tile and gypsum plaster floors were supported on brickwork arches supported on cast iron columns. The timber beams were encased in thin sheet iron. To reduce weight, the upper floors were supported on hollow earthenware pots encased in plaster.

He went on to build a five storey flax mill at Ditherington near Shrewsbury where the beams were also of cast-iron thus building one of the first iron-framed factory. He used the same principle to rebuild Belper North Mill after it burnt down in 1803.

He built a number of other mills in Belper and Milford, the most remarkable perhaps was the Round Mill. This was probably influenced by the ideas of Jeremy Bentham for an octagonal building with a central overseer.

He married Barbara, the daughter of Thomas Evans of Darley Abbey, his first son Edward later becoming Lord Belper. He also had three daughter Elizabeth, Anne and Frances and two daughters who died in infancy.

In 1817 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

William died in 1830 and was buried in the Unitarian Chapel in Friargate, Derby.

References

* Cooper, B., (1983) "Transformation of a Valley: The Derbyshire Derwent" Heinemann, republished 1991 Cromford: Scarthin Books
* Naylor, P. "(Ed)" (2000) "An Illustrated History of Belper and its Environs" Belper: M.G.Morris