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[[File:James Brindley by Francis Parsons.jpg|thumb|James Brindley with Barton Aqueduct in the background by [[Francis Parsons (painter)|Francis Parsons]] (1770)]]
'''James Brindley''' (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in [[Tunstead, Derbyshire]], and lived much of his life in [[Leek, Staffordshire]], becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th
Born into
▲Born into a well-to-do family of [[yeoman]] farmers and craftsmen in the [[Peak District]], which in those days was extremely isolated, Brindley received little formal education, but was educated at home by his mother.<ref name=Malet>{{cite book |title=Coal Cotton and Canals |last=Malet |first=Hugh |year=1990 |publisher=Neil Richardson |location=Radcliffe, Manchester |isbn=0-907511-08-2 |page=14 }}</ref> At age 17, encouraged by his mother, he was apprenticed to a [[millwright]] in [[Sutton, Macclesfield]], and soon showed exceptional skill and ability.<ref name=Malet/> Having completed his apprenticeship he set up business for himself as a wheelwright in [[Leek, Staffordshire|Leek]], Staffordshire. In 1750 he expanded his business by renting a [[millwright]]'s shop in [[Burslem]] from the [[Josiah Wedgwood|Wedgwood]]s who became his lifelong friends.<ref name=Malet/> He soon established a reputation for ingenuity and skill at repairing many different kinds of machinery. In 1752 he designed and built an engine for draining a coal mine, the [[Wet Earth Colliery]] at [[Clifton, Lancashire|Clifton]] in Lancashire. Three years later he built a machine for a silk mill at [[Congleton]].
==Early canal engineering==
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==Master canal engineer==
Brindley's reputation spread rapidly and he was soon [[Contract|commissioned]] to construct more canals. He extended the Bridgewater to [[Runcorn]], connecting it to his next major work, the [[Trent and Mersey Canal]]. At this time Brindley had never built a lock and he first built an experimental lock in the grounds of [[Turnhurst]], a house he had bought near the summit, and this determined the design of the narrow canal lock which characterised most of the canals in the Midlands, with a single upper gate and double mitre lower gates.<ref name=Rolt/> These were for an elongated version of the boats designed for the underground system at Worsley, the so-called 'starvationers', which were subsequently known as [[narrowboat]]s and this decision was to cast a long shadow on the English canal system.
[[File:Brindleyplace 3 with tower.jpg|240px|right|thumb|[[Brindleyplace]], Birmingham]]
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==Last years and epitaph==
{{Quote|text=... so occupied was his mind with his business, that he was incapable of relaxing in any of the common amusements of life. As he had not the ideas of other men to assist him, whenever a point of difficulty in contrivance occurred, it was his custom to retire to his bed, where in perfect solitude he would lie for one, two, or three days, pondering the matter in his mind, till the requisite expedient had presented itself.|title=A Description of the Country from Thirty to Forty Miles round Manchester|author=[[John Aikin]]|source=}}
Brindley married Anne Henshall on 8 December 1765 when he was 49 and she was 19. Anne's brother, [[Hugh Henshall]], was involved in canal construction himself, on the [[Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal]]. The couple had two daughters, Anne and Susannah.
In 1771, work had begun on the [[Chesterfield Canal]], but while surveying a new branch of the Trent and Mersey between [[Froghall]] and [[Leek, Staffordshire|Leek]], Brindley was drenched in a severe rainstorm. It had happened many times before, but he was unable to dry out properly at the inn at which he was staying, and caught a chill. He became seriously ill and returned to his home at [[Turnhurst]], Staffordshire, where [[Erasmus Darwin]] attended him and discovered that he was suffering from [[diabetes]].
[[File:James Brindley Marker, in Newchapel, 2020.jpg|thumb|right|240px|James Brindley Marker, in Newchapel, 2020]]
James Brindley died at Turnhurst
Brindley's widow remarried in 1775 (Robert Williamson, one of Brindley's assistants) and lived until 1799.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bode |first=Harold |title=James Brindley |year=1980 |publisher=Shire Publications |page=45 |isbn=0-85263-485-4}}</ref>
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Brindley's death was noted in the ''Chester Courant'' of 1 December 1772 in the form of an epitaph:
[[File:
<blockquote>
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He made Canals, Bridges, and Locks,<br />
To convey Water; he made Tunnels<br />
He erected several Banks,<br />
Mills, Pumps, Machines, with Wheels and Cranks;<br />
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</blockquote>
He is remembered in [[Birmingham]] by Brindley Drive (on the site of former canal yards), the [[Brindleyplace]] mixed-use development and a pub, ''The James Brindley'' (both being canal-side features), and the James Brindley
The well in the village of [[Wormhill]] is dedicated to Brindley.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hargate-hall.co.uk/brindley.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325134805/http://www.hargate-hall.co.uk/brindley.php |archive-date=25 March 2016 |url-status=dead |title=Wormhill Well – The Brindley Memorial |access-date=20 October 2009}}</ref> Wormhill is in the same Parish as Tunstead where he was born.
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* {{cite book | last = Boucher |first = George T. | title = James Brindley Engineer | year = 1968|publisher = Goose and Son |place = Norwich}} With very clear line-drawings by the author.
* {{cite book | last = Lead | first = Peter | title = Agents of Revolution: John and Thomas Gilbert – Entrepreneurs | publisher = Churnet Valley Books | year = 1990 | isbn = 978-0951371312}} Examines Brindley's working relationship with the Gilbert brothers.
* {{cite book | last = Noszlopy |first = George T. | title = Public Sculpture of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull | year = 2003 |publisher = Liverpool University Press | isbn = 0-85323-847-2}}
* {{cite book | last = Richardson | first = Christine | title = James Brindley: Canal Pioneer | year = 2004 | publisher = Waterways World | isbn = 1-870002-95-4}}
* {{cite book | last = Corble | first = Nick | title = James Brindley: The First Canal Builder | year = 2005 | publisher = Tempus | isbn = 0-7524-3259-1}}
* {{cite book | last = Emery | first = Gordon | title = The Old Chester Canal | year = 2005 | publisher = Gordon Emery | isbn = 1-872265-88-X}}
* {{cite book | last = Noszlopy | first = George T. and Waterhouse, Fiona | title = Public Sculpture of Staffordshire and the Black Country | year = 2005 | publisher = Liverpool University Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RbfVkHMTC0cC| isbn = 0-85323-989-4 }}
==External links==
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{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brindley, James}}
[[Category:1716 births]]
[[Category:1772 deaths]]
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[[Category:People from Leek, Staffordshire]]
[[Category:Millwrights]]
[[Category:18th-century
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