Quizzy "4"

Haven't got my thinking head on so an easy one for you

I do what I do for Mick and Keith

   Hi the trouble maker here, just to say that to confirm the answer to my quizzy:- it was in fact " James Watt ", hope that does not confuse issues now.

        Yes , both Mathew Boulton and James Watt are on the new £50 note but I was in fact James Watt I was looking for.

      The reason he held up the Industrial Revolution is as follows, After Watt had developed the separate condenser which did make the steam power for beam engines a lot more efficient , he slapped a patent on his development. More than the patent he also had a clause which banned anyone working on or further developing the steam engine in anyway which lasted until 1800 , approximately a quarter of a century. During this time he installed many of his engines in Cornish mines which did mean the engines he installed used much less coal than the earlier engines installed. This was very important to the owners of the Cornish mines as Cornwall sits on a wealth of minerals but NO coal which did not come cheap being shipped in from South Wales. So what did Watt do? He charged royalties on every engine of his as a tax on the savings that the mine owners made and with the terms of the patent no one could develop any other form of engine  fuelling  his greed. In fact later on when Mathew Bolton fell into financial difficulty ( it was with his help that Watt could develop the steam engine in the first place ) Watt would not step in and help his so called friend and partner. Watt would also hound Richard Trevithick with writs every time he tried to do anything  with steam engines. By 1800 though ,the  terms of the patent lapsed and Trevithick started his mammoth achievements and creating engines working at high pressure and still more efficient . Trevithick's engines working at high pressure could be made much smaller which could then be put on wheels to self propel and thus both the car and locomotive were born but this could all have happened earlier if it was not for Watt and his patent. Here endeth today's lesson.

Very interesting lesson, Vince.  Funny how we think of all those big name captains of industry as being so righteous and philanthropic. 

Oh heck, I was wrong then to jump in with the next question, sorry Vince, wrists slapped, I'll try to do better next time 

We're out at friends and I'm just sneaking in here on my phone so I'll have a look at Daves puzzle tomorrow. 

Charlie Watts.  Thanks for the HINT.