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World Patent Information 34 (2012) 159e162

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World Patent Information

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Bennet Woodcroft e Patent information pioneer

Brian Spear36 Starling Close, Buckhurst Hill, Essex, IG9 5TN, UK

Keywords:WoodcoftPatent librarianPatent information pioneerVictorian polymathHistorical review

E-mail address: brian_spear31@hotmail.com.

0172-2190/$ e see front matter � 2012 Elsevier Ltd.doi:10.1016/j.wpi.2012.01.005

a b s t r a c t

Bennet Woodcroft was the first technical expert in the 19th century GB Patent Office and was also anengineer, patentee, patent agent, university professor, librarian, museum collector and historian oftechnology. 150 years ago in 1862 he secured 2 early steam engines, the Rocket and Puffing Billy, for whatis now the Science Museum in London, UK. The same year were published the patent abridgementvolumes that bear his name, a first in the use of patents as a source of technical information. On thisanniversary it seems appropriate to reconsider the life of this remarkable man.

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1. Bennet Woodcroft (1803e1879) e A Victorian polymath

He was the 3rd child of John and Mary Woodcroft who had 8children christened in Sheffield England between 1801 and 1818.Bennet was presumably a family name-there was a Bennet Grangeat Upper Hallam which he eventually inherited. They hada penchant for unusual names as he had brothers called Japeth,Zenas, and Rufus, one sister called Shizza and another called CooperMary Hannah Boocock! John became a successful silk/muslinmanufacturer, dyer and velvet finisher in Manchester, the centre ofthe cotton textile industry, one of the most lucrative outcomes ofGB’s Industrial Revolution and a hothouse of technical innovation.Bennet trained as aweaver but had some education including studyunder the famous chemist John Dalton. He became a partner in hisfather’s business around 1828 but later set up himself as a “patenttappet and jacquardmanufacturer”. Most technical innovation thencame frommenwith little formal education but a great enthusiasmfor self improvement as exemplified by Samuel Smiles’ book SelfHelp. Woodcroft joined the Manchester Literary and PhilosophicalSociety in 1841 and among the engineers he knew through thiswere Sir JosephWhitworth, James Nasmyth, Richard Roberts, EatonHodgkinson and Sir William Fairbairn.

2. Inventor

Before 1852 getting a GB patent was a complex and expensiveprocedure but there was no technical search and examination.Between 1826 and 1851 he had 8 GB patents (Annex 1) 4 concernedwith textiles of which the tappet for looms was most successful.More surprisingly, he had four concerned with ship propulsion

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despite having no obvious connection with the shipbuildingindustry, one also filed in the USA. Early steam driven ships usedpaddle wheels but these were eventually replaced by the modernscrew propeller. In 1846 he gained an extension of his 1832 patentand his varying pitch screw propeller was used in IsambardKingdom Brunel’s famous ship SS Great Britain. The screw waswidely adopted by the Royal Navy in the 1850’s and they distrib-uted £20,000 among the numerous patent pioneers, includingWoodcroft. He was clearly an excellent engineer but apparentlymade little other money from these inventions, though others did.

3. Patent agent

In 1843 he set up as Patent Agent and Consulting Engineer inManchester, moving to London in 1846 where he practiced inFurnival’s Inn, Holborn. As few patents were filed only a handful ofAgents were employed full time but a number of practicing engi-neers with patents experience dabbled in the field. He was thenvery involved with his screw propulsion activities and theirpatents. He also joined the Society of Arts in London in 1845 which,despite its name, was concerned with technology. His mania forcollecting books, artifacts, pictures etc. concerned with inventorswas well developed by this stage.

4. Academic

The GB Industrial Revolution started around 1750e70 but hadlittle input from England’s two main Universities - Oxford andCambridge. University College London had been founded in 1826and, in 1841, appointed a Professor of Civil Engineering - the firstengineering chair in England. This was followed by Eaton Hodg-kinson as Professor of the Mechanical Principles of Engineering in1846 and Woodcroft as Professor of Descriptive Machinery in April

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1847. He held the post till July 1851 though it is reported “withoutconspicuous success”.1 He spent so much time on other intereststhat his academic duties were neglected and he had little aptitudefor lecturing. He was active in the Society of Arts and therebyinvolved with the extremely successful Great Exhibition of 1851and knew its leading backer, Prince Albert, the husband of QueenVictoria. When he published a book in 1851 (Annex 2) he dedicatedit to him. He was also one of the numerous parties who gaveevidence to a Committee of Patent Law Reform set up in 1851 tomodernize the expensive and antiquated system and, in particular:

”submitted a chronological index of patents prepared by himselfand suggested that all specifications should be printed, togetherwith the full indexes, by which the subjects of invention could betraced. He was opposed to the appointment of persons chargedwith the duty of deciding whether patents should be granted or not,alleging that the more knowledgeable such persons were, the lesscompetent they would be to decide such matters”2!

Fig. 1. Stone sculpture of Woodcroft’s head on the former Patent Office building inSouthampton Buildings, near Chancery Lane, London, UK.

5. Civil service-The GB patent office3

AnewPatent Law started in 1852, the Patent Officewas reformedand Woodcroft appointed Superintendent of the Specifications on15 November 1852 at £1000 a year, a very large salary when skilledworkers seldom got more than £100. He was the first technicalexpert to be employed there. The Civil Service thenwas a collectionof functions that had grown up under the Crown or the governmentover the centuries. Therewas no uniform systemof recruitment, payor promotion. Some posts were highly paid sinecures where workcould be given to a deputy. Others were extremely underpaid butpost holders were tacitly allowed to reimburse themselves. Thenovelist Anthony Trollope worked in the Post Office and the systemis wonderfully described in his novel The Three Clerks. Despite this,many competent and hardworking men were employed and thesystemworked after a fashion. The PatentOffice head after 1852wasLeonard Edmunds who was appointed in 1833. He made the jobworthwhile for himself and earned at least as much as Woodcroftwhile leaving most work to Ruscoe his deputy. Political influencemayhave hadmuch todowithWoodcroft’s appointment but hewasclearly eminently qualified for the post.

6. Patents as a source of technical information

The GB 1852 Patent Act greatly reduced the cost and complexityof filing patents so there was an increase in their number fromabout 500 to 2000 a year, it did require granted patents to bepublished, but there was still no requirement to technically searchor examine them. The patenting staff, previously scattered roundLondon, were concentrated in Chancery Lane. Unfortunately thedark corridor which led to the Patents Fee Office led subsequentlyto the Bankruptcy Office and finally to the Lunacy Office, a coinci-dence which was the subject of numerous grim jokes! Edmundshardly ever attended, Ruscoe handled the administration, soWoodcroft was left to his own devices in publishing for the first 7years. It was said that:

Woodcroft was no ordinary Government Official, and, beingunfettered by any tradition of routine, he set himself, immediately

1 See ‘Dictionary of National Biography’ and page 15 of ‘The Indefatigable MrWoodcroft’ (Both Annex 3).

2 See page 8 of ‘Patent Office Centenary’ (Annex 3).3 It went under various titles but is referred to here as the Patent Office.

upon his appointment, to carry out the Act not in the spirit of doingas little as he must, but as much as he could.4

With a small staff he set towork, not only on printing the currentgranted patents, but also locating all the granted patents from 1617to 1852 (over 14,000 scattered round various archives) and printingthem. These were made available very cheaply and also distributedto numerous libraries etc. in GB and abroad. He also arranged for thepatents to be abridged and arranged in volumes by subject matterfrom the late1850’s onwards and thesewerewidely distributed too -in fact they are still popularly known as the “Bennet Woodcroft”abridgement volumes. The copy I consulted was published in 1862by which time the task was apparently complete. This was anoutstanding achievement in the field of patents as a source oftechnical information. Other publications included a twice weeklyJournal giving details of current patent applications and evena geographical distribution of inventors by towns and years.Woodcroft clearly felt that the wide dissemination of technicalknowledge in patents was an essential part of the systemwhich tiedinwellwith theVictorian enthusiasm for self education through freelibraries. His enthusiasm for the value of this information is neatlysummarized in his ‘Introduction to the Appendix to the Specifica-tions of English Patents for ReapingMachines’ (Annex 2), and pickedout on page 40 of Hewish’s Rooms near Chancery Lane (Annex 3) asa ‘canonical statement of his belief that the historical study ofinventions is the way to improvements’. He was elected a Fellow ofthe Royal Society in 1859, but played little part in its affairs.

A bibliography of publications with significant informationabout Bennet Woodcroft and the early days of the Patent Office isprovided in Annex 3. His image is included in a sculpture on theformer Patent Office building (Fig. 1)

7. Patent office library

Shortly after being appointed Woodcroft was summoned tomeet Prince Albert who urged the setting up of a museum and

4 See page 59 of ‘Encouraging Innovation in the Eighteenth and NineteenthCenturies The Society of Arts and Patents, 1754e1904’ (Annex 3).

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library of scientific books. In 1853 Parliament authorized thepayment of £1000 to Woodcroft for his patent indexes 1617e1852and later £271 for his collection of scientific books. The PatentOffice library was formally opened in 1855 and eventually grew tobe the largest patent, scientific and technical library in the UK andnow forms part of the British Library.

8. Patent office museum

The Victorians were enthusiasts for museums and, after the1851 Great Exhibition, a committee was formed to start a Museumof Invention of which Woodcroft was a very active member. Hebrought his collection of models of inventions etc. to the Office andgained authorization to add to it. This collectionwas also publicallyavailable in 1855 but by 1857 had moved (against his wishes) toSouth Kensington in London where it formed an offshoot of thePatent Office till 1884 when it became part of the present ScienceMuseum. He was its driving force till his retirement in 1876 andthrough his energy secured many early examples of GB’s IndustrialHeritage. 1862 was a vintage year for him as he obtained PuffingBilly (1814 - the world’s oldest surviving railway steam engine) andStephenson’s Rocket 1829. He later got Bell’s Comet engine (1812 -Europe’s first commercial steamship). His enthusiasm knew fewbounds; once, on hearing there was amodel steam engine buried inthe tomb of the Marques of Raglan, he succeeded in having thetomb opened - alas with negative results!5 Finally he was an avidcollector of inventor’s portraits and they were displayed at theSociety of Arts before going to the Museum.

Fig. 2. Woodcroft’s grave headstone inscription, in Brompton Cemetery, London, UK.

9. The Edmunds scandal

Woodcroft’s vigorous and much praised handling of his dutiesfinally moved Edmunds, his nominal boss, into action and, from1859 onwards, he increasingly interfered in Woodcroft’s work. Thefriction between them intensified (both had rather abrasivepersonalities), appeals to higher authority followed and in 1864 theLord Chancellor appointed two high ranking lawyers to investigatethe situation. Normally a spat between two civil servants in a minordepartment would not have attracted such attention. However,there was much public debate as to whether a patent system wasneeded and, concurrently, reformers were determined to root outCivil Service inefficiencies and financial irregularity and replace itby an incorruptible meritocracy recruited through competitiveexamination.

Initially complaints against both sides were investigated (amongother things Woodcroft had given his invalid brother Zenas lucra-tive abstracting work) but this soon shifted into Edmunds’ handlingof public money - among other deficiencies, the Patent Office hadfiled no proper accounts for over 30 years. Edmunds eventuallyresigned leaving Woodcroft effectively exonerated and in solecharge. Subsequent attempts to remove Edmunds from his moresenior position in the House of Lords, recover money and stop hispension (against the wishes of his influential supporters) becamea much publicized scandal which reached the highest levels of thegovernment and went on for the next 15 years.6 It was a causecélèbre for Civil Service reform and eventually led to many seniorpositions being occupied by arts graduates from Oxford and Cam-bridge Universities. Ironically, under the new regime Woodcroft,despite his outstanding abilities, would probably have neverreached his high rank as he had never graduated.

5 See page 35 of ‘The Indefatigable Mr Woodcroft’ (Annex 3).6 See pages 18e21 of ‘Patent Office Centenary’ (Annex 3).

10. Private life

Embedded in a prolific family and given his multiplicity ofabsorbing interests he never started a family of his own. At the 1841census he was living with his parents and sisters Ann and Cooper inManchester. In 1851 he was visiting his by now married sisterCooper John in Manchester, his parents living nearby. In 1861 hewas living at 8 Finchley New Road Hampstead London with 2servants and his widowed sister Mrs John and her daughter. Nodoubt it was a surprise to all when in 1866, aged 63, he married 33year old Agnes Bertha Sawyer at Hampstead Parish Church thoughthey never had children. Little has been found about her family; in1861 she was living in a house in Marylebone with one servant andunder occupation put “receives allowance from friends”. She wasprobably much in need of a husband, perhaps he just wanteda housekeeper. By 1871 they were at a large house at 30 RedcliffeGardens South Kensington, London with 3 servants where theystayed till the end of their lives. With his large collection it was saidto be “as much the home of an antiquarian as a civil servant”.7

11. Retirement and death

After 1865 he was effectively Patent Office head at a time whenPatents had a high political and press profile due to attempts toabolish the system. As with many innovators he was less happy

7 See the comment by John Hewish on p 36 of ‘The Indefatigable Mr Woodcroft’(Annex 3).

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with routine administration but never apparently changed his 1851views on patenting. As late as 1871e72 a House of Commons SelectCommittee found that the majority were in favour of patentretention but Woodcroft’s view was that:

“every patentee should make his own searches and prepare his ownabridgements, he was against preliminary examination andpreferred to leave the public to take care itself”.8

He retired rather unwillingly in 1876 on a generous pensionthough by this time in declining health and died in 1879. He wasreplaced by Henry Reader Lack, a member of a dynasty who hadgraced the Trade Department since the 18th century. The firsttechnical examiners were recruited during his reign, though noveltysearch had to wait until 1907. Like many early civil servants Wood-croft never distinguished clearly between his possessions and hisemployer’s so there was acrimonious correspondence over theownership of his collection up to his death. His widow fought a longbattle for compensation for his expenditure though, when she diedin 1903,most of it came back to the Library,Museumor PatentOffice.

She erected a large grave in the nearby Brompton Cemetery(Fig. 2) including the words:

In MEMORY OF BENNET WOODCROFT, F.R.S. LATE PROFESSOR OFMACHINERY AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE AND CHIEF OF HER MAJ-ESTYS PATENT OFFICE BORN 29TH DECR 1803, DIED 7THFEB 1879 HEWAS THE INVENTOR OF THE INCREASING AND VARYING PITCHSCREW PROPELLERS ALSO OF THE IMPROVED TAPPETS FOR LOOMSTHE AUTHOR OF SEVERAL WORKS AND FOUNDER OF THE PATENTOFFICE LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

12. Summary

By any standards his prolific interests and driving energyproduced a remarkable range of achievements. However, oncesuccess was achieved, he seemed disinclined to follow it up,preferring to follow some new enthusiasm. However, in the wordsof a biographer he was “ambitious, combative and often awkward inhis dealings with other people” so opinions of his personality varyaccordingly. Nevertheless the epitaph “The Indefatigable Mr Wood-croft” seems highly appropriate.9

Annex 1. Woodcroft’s patents (GB unless specified as US)

1826 No 5424 wheels and paddles for propelling boats.1827 No 5480 printing yarns e tinting yarns to form the warp

thread to give clouded or chenie silks and fabrics. This was appar-ently the basis of the partnership with his father.

8 See pages 22e23 of ‘Patent Office Centenary’ (Annex 3).9 See page 2 of ‘The Indefatigable Mr Woodcroft’ (Annex 3).

1832 No 6250 increasing pitch screw propeller.1836 No 7268 calico printing with indigo.1838 No 7529 a tappet for adjusting weft thread in fabric. It was

widely used and, despite his patent, widely pirated.1844 No 10051 variable pitch screw propeller.1846 No 11250 calico printing with indigo.1846 US patent No 4444 spiral propeller.1851 No 13476 variable pitch screw propeller.

Annex 2. Woodcroft’s other publications

Amendment of the Law and Practice of Letters Patent for Inventionsetc. Privately printed, London, 1851.

Appendix to the Specifications of English Patents for ReapingMachines, London, Commissioners of Patents, 1853.

Brief Biographies of Inventors of Machines for the Manufacture ofTextile Fabrics, London, Longman Green, 1863.

The Pneumatics of Hero of Alexandria Ed. By B. Woodcroft. Lon-don, 1851. This was translated from the Greek by J. G. Greewood;Woodcroft dedicated this to the Prince Consort.

Sketch of the Origin and Progress of Steam Navigation. London,Taylor and Walton, 1848.

Annex 3. Bibliography

The Indefatigable Mr Woodcroft, John Hewish. British Library,1980, ISBN 0-902914-53-7.

Rooms Near Chancery Lane, John Hewish. British Library, 2000,ISBN 0-7123-0853-9.

Patent Office Centenary, H. Harding. HMSO, 1952.Encouraging Innovation in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth

Centuries The Society of Arts and Patents, 1754e1904, James Har-rison. Published by High View, 2006, ISBN 0 948 802 41 3.

The Dictionary of National Biography.

Brian Spear is a Fellow of the Institution of ElectricalEngineers whose career was spent in the UK Patent Office.This included 22 years examining patents relating tocomputers, control systems and telecommunications. Hehas also spent 10 years on developing computer databases/searching, working in their commercial search armdtheSearch and Advisory Service, and on IPR lecturing toa wide range of organisations. Since retiring he hascompleted an M.Sc. in the History of Science, Medicine andTechnology at Imperial College London.