WHITWORTH, hvat'werth, Ste Joseph, English mechanical engineer: h. Stockport, 21 Dec. 1803; d. Monte Carlo, Jan. le87.
M He worked as a mechanic in Manchester and London, discovered the method of making a truly plane surface, and in 1833 established himself as a tool-maker at Manchester. Be tween 1840 and 1850 he developed his measur ing-machine, by means of which he elaborated his standard system of uniform measures and gauges which was found by engineers to be of great usefulness. One of his devices which proved to be of much immediate service was that of a uniform system of screw-threads He made many experiments in connection with rifles, and in 1857 perfected a hexagonal-bar reled rifle of great range, accuracy and pene trative power, highly excelling the Enfield, then largely in use. It was not accepted at the time by the War Department, as being of a calibre too small (4.5) for a military weapon; though it: 1869 the War Office declared that a weapon of such calibre would appear to be the most suitable. He was equally successful in thebuild
ing of cannon, but his rifled gun with a 250 pound shell and a six-mile range, was rejected by the ordnance board in 1865, greatly to the detriment of British ordnance. His invention of compressed cast steel for ordnance was an important one, and came into general use. His works at Manchester were converted into a limited liability company in 1874, and in 1897 united with the Elswick works, established by Sir William Armstrong (q.v.). His fortune was devoted to the endowment of 30 scholar ships in mechanics and to the furthering of char itable and educational work. He was made a baronet in 1869. Among his writings were 'The Industry of the United States in Machinery, Manufactures and Useful and Ornamental Arts' (1854) and 'Miscellaneous Papers on Mechani cal Subjects' (1858). Consult the memoir in the 'Proceedings' of the Institution of Ovil Engineers, Vol. XCI (1887-88).