Smeaton, John

Smeaton, John (1724-94), engineer, b. Austhorpe Lodge, near Leeds, England.

John Smeaton's father was a rich lawyer and John first studied law. But he gave up his studies and became in turn an instrument maker and an engineer.

He designed water-wheels and windmills and won a medal from the Royal Society for his work.

In 1755, the Royal Society was asked to suggest someone to build a new lighthouse on Eddystone Rocks, 14 miles (23 km) outside Plymouth. They suggested Smeaton. Two previous lighthouses had met with disaster. The first was carried off in a storm and the second was burned down.

The lighthouse Smeaton built on Eddystone made him famous, and the design was copied by engineers in many parts of the world. It was completed in 1759 and it stood for 118 years before it became unsafe.

Today it can still be seen for it has been rebuilt on Plymouth Hoe.

See An Experimental Enquiry Concerning The Natural Powers Of Water And Wind To Turn Mills, And Other Machines, Depending On A Circular Motion (1760) ~ John Smeaton

and

Smeaton and Lighthouses ~ John Smeaton