Bryan Donkin

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Bryan Donkin (March 22, 1768 - February 27, 1855) was a British engineer and industrialist. Born in Sandree, Northumberland, he served as an apprentice to papermaker, John Hall, in Dartford, Kent. Donkin was engaged to perfect the papermaking machine devised in 1798 by Nicholas Louis Robert. He developed a commercial application of this Fourdrinier machine and invented the composition roller used in printing.

In 1812, Donkin established Britain's first canned-food factory, in Bermondsey . The iron cans were coated with tin and were found to preserve foods such as meat.

By 1847, the Company designed its first products for the emerging gas industry. The name Donkin is a generic name for certain gas valves and Bryan Donkin RMG Gas Controls Limited remains a going concern in Europe

In 1853 Donkin built a full-scale difference engine based on the design of Per Georg Scheutz and his son Edvard. It operated on 15-digit numbers and 4th-order differences, and produced printed output just as Charles Babbage had envisaged.

[edit] See Also

  • Men of Science Living in 1807-8; engraving, 1862 by George Zobel, and William Walker; National Portrait Gallery, London.

[edit] Reference

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