Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution

Date of Issue – 10 March 2009

Hi ! In today's Post some new stamps by Royal Mail depicting great inventions which brought industrial revolution in the world. The comfortable life, we are leading today is the result of great effort done by scientists and Inventors in the past. We owe a lot to them who made our life easier, comfortable and a bit luxurious.The Industrial Revolution changed lives, working practices and our landscape in countless ways. This special issue pays tribute to the people who had the vision, knowledge and drive to make it happen.The Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution shown in this stamp issue did more than just invent machines. They also built the infrastructure of roads, railways and canals that moved raw materials to the factories; took finished goods to market and laid the foundation for today’s mass transportation system.This issue also marks the 250th anniversary of one of the pioneers of the Industrial Revolution, Josiah Wedgwood, setting up his own pottery works in Burslem, Staffordshire, Matthew Boulton’s bicentenary and the 250th anniversary of James Brindley commencing the historic Bridgewater Canal from Worsley to Manchester. Here are the nice stamps by Royal Mail commemorating the Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution . This is all for today !......Have a Nice weekend !

Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution

1st Class – Matthew Boulton – Manufacturing

(1728-1809) A Birmingham factory owner and engineer whose Soho works and capital facilitated the manufacture of James Watt’s steam engines. Boulton and Watt’s engines had all manner of applications, from powering manufacturing machinery to keeping mines drained.

1st Class – James Watt – Steam Engineering

(1736-1819) Probably the strongest contender for the title of father of the steam age because of his years of hard work in improving the Newcomen design by getting the steam to condense in a separate chamber to the piston.

50p – Richard Arkwright – Textiles

(1732-1792) Generally credited with having invented the ‘water frame and sometimes known as the ‘father of the industrial revolution’. The water frame was capable of producing long lengths of cotton thread strong enough for the warp in cloth, and Arkwright opened the world’s first water-powered cotton mill in Derbyshire.

50p – Josiah Wedgwood – Ceramics

(1730-1795) Wedgwood not only pioneered the industrial production of ceramics, he was an archetypical industrialist of the age: religious dissenter, anti-slavery campaigner and member of the Lunar Society.

56p – George Stephenson – Railways

(1781-1848) Stephenson invented or developed several aspects of rail transport which are still with us to this day, including flanged wheels, and the standard gauge. Aside from building the Rocket, he worked very hard to improve the quality of the cast iron for the rails to ensure they did not snap.

56p – Henry Maudslay – Machine Making

(1771-1831). Maudslay saw that the new age of machines would require metal to be worked with precision. He pioneered the making of the machines – lathes, drills, planning machines, etc. which were used to make the other machines of the revolution.

72p – James Brindley – Canal Engineering

(1716-1772) One of the most important engineers of the eighteenth century and a maker of canals, most notably the Bridgewater, started in 1759, which set the template for later canals. Brindley also pioneered many of the techniques that were later used in railway building.

72p – John McAdam – Road Building

(1756-1836). While Thomas Telford is usually the major celebrity of Industrial Revolution transport infrastructure, it was McAdam’s designs and building techniques that created Britain’s first decent all-weather roads.

Courtesy - Royal Mail