Vertical Reciprocating Steam Engine Model

Beam engine model, made by Watkins & Hill, 1818-1851. This model was exhibited by the maker, Wakins & Hill, at the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in London, 1851. It was later owned by Colonel George John Miller Ridehalgh, who added a plaque with his name and the name of his property, Fell Foot, between 1859 when he purchesed the property, and 1892 when he died. The model is sectioned to show the inner workings of a beam engine, and can be operated to show the movement of the internal components.

The 1851 Great Exhibition catalogue description for the exhibit in which this model featured states that "these models are constructed in metal for use in tropical climates". There is evidence that in 1811 Watkins & Hill did business with the East India Company, and this combined with their location in Charing Cross which was adjacent to several military establishments, suggests they may have done business with both commercial and military outfits operating in colonial territories.

Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, 1851: Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue (London: W. Clowes and Sons, 1851), 219. John Rylands Library Special Collections (R70739).

Brian Gee, Francis Watkins and the Dollond Telescope Patent Controversy (London: Routledge, 2016): 260, 269.