(1771-1833), Engineer Born in 1771 in Cornwall, Richard Trevithick was a practical engineer who developed high pressure steam engines. In 1800 he built the first of the double-acting stationary engine which was the forerunner of the famous ‘Cornish engines’. Between 1801 and 1803 he built three steam-powered road locomotives. In 1803 he built the first practical railway locomotive, a tram engine for Coalbrookdale. After that he constructed the ‘Pen-y-darren’ locomotive for Samuel Homfray, partner in the ‘Pen-y-darren Tramway’ in south Wales. Although this was not a success due to the quality of the track rather than the locomotive, it was a proof of principle. Trevithick built two more railway locomotives: one in Gateshead in 1805, possibly for the Wylam Waggon Way (which was again let down by the poor quality of the rails), and, in 1808, the ‘Catch me who Can’, for an exhibition in London. He is also important for demonstrating that a smooth wheel running on smooth iron rails was capable of hauling considerable loads. He was involved in the unsuccessful project to drive a tunnel under the Thames from Rotherhithe. In 1816 he left his family and went to South America where he was involved in mining ventures in Peru. These also were ultimately unsuccessful, in part due to the wars of independence, and Trevithick returned, penniless, to England in 1827. Despite the setbacks he experienced, Trevithick’s inventive capacity was undiminished. His last patent was granted in 1832. He went to work for J. Hall in Dartford where he died on 22nd April 1833. He was married to Jane Harvey (1772 – 1868/9), daughter of another Cornish engineer, John Harvey of Hayle Foundry and had six children, Francis and Frederick Henry, who both became engineers, and Richard, John, Ann and Elizabeth.

(1773-1847), engineer and mechanician to the Navy Board Goodrich was born on the 28th of October 1773 however little is known about his early life. In December 1796 he was appointed a draftsman to the mechanist in the office of Sir Samuel Bentham (1757–1831), inspector-general of naval works. Goodrich was chief assistant to Sir Samuel Bentham and he carried out the various schemes of improvement instigated by Bentham for the dockyards. Goodrich was also heavily involved in the introduction of steam power and the establishment at Portsmouth and other dockyards of mills for working wood and metal, the block-making machinery mills, mills for making cordage and rope, and the millwright's workshop. The engineer Joshua Field was a pupil of Goodrich from 1803-1805. In April 1814 Goodrich was appointed engineer and mechanist to the Navy Board, and after Bentham left, he managed the engineering works of the dockyards, and acted as a consultant to the Navy Board on engineering matters. This entailed residence at Portsmouth, until his retirement in 1831. Goodrich was elected a corresponding member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in December 1820, and transferred to membership in December 1837. Goodrich moved to Lisbon in 1834 and died there on 3 September 1847, his importance unrecognized by an obituary.

(1859-1953), mechanical engineer Rhys Jenkins was born on 29 September 1859 at Mountain Ash, Glamorgan. He was educated at the Alderman Davies School, Neath, and in 1874 commenced a four-year apprenticeship with Richard Nevil, engineer and ironfounder, at the Empire ironworks, Llanelli. He remained with the firm for another two years as a draughtsman. In 1880 he obtained a post in the drawing office of John Fowler & Co. at Leeds and then a similar position with Greenwood and Batley Ltd in the same city. At this time he attended evening classes at the Yorkshire College, which later became the University of Leeds. In December 1881 he moved to Richard Hornsby & Sons of Grantham and in June 1883 to Marshall, Sons & Co. of Gainsborough. In 1884, Jenkins secured an appointment on the examining staff of the Patent Office, later becoming a senior examiner. About the time of his appointment to the Patent Office, Jenkins began the systematic collection of notes, transcripts and extracts from printed and manuscript sources relating to numerous aspects of industrial history. In the same year on 28 August 1884, he married Charlotte Ann Morgan, they had two sons. Jenkins joined the Institution of Mechanical Engineers as a graduate in 1880 when he was still with his first employer and was transferred to full membership in 1886. As his career in the Patent Office progressed he was promoted to deputy examiner from 1 April 1903, examiner from 1 October 1904, and senior examiner from 1 July 1914. He retired on 31 December 1919 having reached a senior position in the Patent Office as one of sixteen senior examiners in the total examining staff of nearly three hundred. However, his major contribution to scholarship was made in his spare-time studies of the history of engineering and industry. In 1920 proposals for the formation of the Newcomen Society for the Study of the History of Engineering and Technology were taking shape. He was an enthusiastic member of the Society from its very beginning and maintained an active interest in its affairs to the end of his days. As soon as the Society was founded, Jenkins began the long list of valuable contributions which are to be found in its Transactions under his name. They all reveal the thoroughness of his researches and the breadth of his knowledge. He was elected president of the Newcomen Society in 1926. Published in 1927, Jenkins was heavy involved with James Watt's centenary commemoration memorial book titled 'James Watt and the Steam Engine', by Jenkins and H. W. Dickinson. Shortly after his retirement from the Patent Office, Rhys Jenkins moved to Hermitage, near Newbury, Berkshire, and in 1936, after the death of his wife, to Hastings, Sussex, to live with his younger son. Although he rarely attended meetings of the Newcomen Society in his later years he continued to contribute papers and his wide knowledge was available to help others. He died at 53 West Hill, Hastings, on 27 January 1953, at the age of 94.