On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
family . His son William received his education successively at the schools of Mr . Gregory , of Findern ; Mr . Lowe , of Norton ; and Mr . Wilkinson , of Nottingham ; but he left school when he was about fourteen years old , and from
that early age , till a late period of his life , he was actively and successfully engaged in business . It has often been remarked , in the biography of distinguished or ingenious men , that they were indebted for the most important part of their education to their own unassisted
exertions ; and this remark is peculiarly applicable in the present instance . For , notwithstanding the most assiduous devotion to business , he contrived by great diligence , and especially by early rising , to find time for the cultivation of his mind ; and it was under these apparently
disadvantageous circumstances , that he succeeded in laying the basis of those scientific attainments , which in after-life proved so valuable to himself , and so useful to the public , and which obtained for him the respect aud friendship of some of the most distinguished scientific men of his age .
Amongst these , it is impossible not to mention that eminent physician and ingenious philosopher , Dr . Darwin , with whom he lived on terms of intimate friendship , and in almost daily intercourse , from his first arrival in Derby , in the year 1781 , down to the time of his death in 1802 . It was in conjunction with Dr . Darwin , and a few other
scientific friends , that he assisted in the formation of the Derby Philosophical Society , in 1784 , and on the death of the Doctor , he was appointed to succeed him as President , which office he continued to hold for the rest of his life . It may also be added in this place , that in 1817 he received the honour of being proposed and elected , without his knowledge , a Fellow of the Royal Society .
In his cultivation of the sciences , Mr . Sfrutt was peculiarly distinguished by the ingenuity and the industry which he evinced in applying their principles to some useful practical purpose . His active and inventive mind was almost constantly at work , devising new contrivances which might be serviceable in domestic economy , in public institutions , or in manufactures or the arts : or which
might conduce to the comfort of his own family or friends , to the welfare of the town in which he Jived , or to the general advantage of the public . But before we attempt any explanation of the nature of these inventions , it will be convenient to give a brief sketch of
Untitled Article
the general objects of his public services , which were of so much importance to this town and neighbourhood , and which occupied so large a portion of his life . It would be no easy task to give a full account of the public works in which he
took a part , as it would be little less than to describe the various improvements which have taken place in the town of Derby for the last fifty years . The beautiful bridge over the Derwent , called St . Mary ' s Bridge , was the first great work to the success of which he mainly contributed , and in which he lent no mean assistance to the eminent
architect , Mr . Harrison , of Chester . All the other bridges in the town , he either personally planned or contributed in a great degree to erect . But the most important public work , in which he engaged in the earlier part of his life , was the obtaining and carrying into effect the Act of 1792 , for paving and lighting the town , and for laying out the district called Nun ' s Green . There
are , at this time , comparatively few of the inhabitants who can recollect the state of the town previously to this useful measure , and who can therefore form a just estimate of the benefits which it was the means of conferring on the public ; and there are still fewer who are aware of the protracted difficulties with which its supporters had to contend . When it is recollected , that a powerful aud violent opposition was
raised against the bill , partly perhaps in consequeuce of mistaken views , and partly from political feelings , and when it is considered that every attempt was made to defeat it , by objections against the measure , in principle and in detail , and by every species of obstacle that could be devised ; it must be acknowledged , that few individuals could be found who would consent to place themselves at the head of such an
undertaking , and would voluntarily submit to so much labour , anxiety , aud obloquy , with no other motive than the public advantage . Mr . Strutt had the satisfaction to see the act not only productive of all the advantage which he had anticipated , but its utility so generally recognized , that when , thirty-three years after , it was
proposed to apply for a new act , greatly to extend the benefits of the former one , the measure wai received with universal approbation , and he for the second time presided as the Chairman of the Committee . Our limits will scarcely allow us even lo notice many of the less striking , but not unimportant improvements ,
Untitled Article
Obituary . —IV iltmm Strutt , Esq ., F . If . S . 139
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1831, page 139, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2594/page/67/
-