Joseph Bramah was born on April 13, 1748, and died on December 9, 1814. He was an English inventor and locksmith. He is best known for improving the flush toilet and inventing the hydraulic press. He worked with William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, and together they are considered two of the main people responsible for the development of hydraulic engineering.

Early life

Joseph Bramah was the second child of Joseph Bramah (note the different spelling of the surname), a farmer, and his wife, Mary Denton. He attended school in Silkstone, South Yorkshire, and after finishing school, he became an apprentice to a local carpenter. After completing his apprenticeship, he moved to London, where he worked as a cabinet-maker. In 1783, he married Mary Lawton of Mapplewell, near Barnsley, and the couple moved to London to start their home. They had one daughter and four sons. The family first lived at 124 Piccadilly, but later moved to Eaton Street, Pimlico.

Improved water closet

In London, Bramah worked for Mr. Allen, installing water closets (toilets) based on a patent created by Alexander Cumming in 1775. He noticed that the toilets being used in London homes often froze during cold weather. Although Allen made a design change by replacing the slide valve with a hinged flap that closed the bottom of the bowl, Bramah received the patent for this improvement in 1778. He then began producing toilets at a workshop located on Denmark Street, St Giles.

Bramah Locks company

After attending lectures about how locks work, Bramah created his own lock design and received a patent for it in 1784. That same year, he founded the Bramah Locks company at 124 Piccadilly. Today, the company operates in Fitzrovia, London, and Romford, Essex.

The locks made by Bramah’s company were well-known for being very hard to open using lock-picking tools or unauthorized methods. The company displayed a special "Challenge Lock" in its London shop window starting in 1790. The lock was mounted on a board with the following message:

"The artist who can create a tool to open this lock will receive 200 guineas immediately when it is successfully opened."

This challenge remained unmet for over 67 years until 1851, when Alfred Charles Hobbs, an American locksmith, opened the lock at the Great Exhibition. After some discussion about how he opened it, Hobbs was given the prize. His effort took 51 hours over 16 days.

The Challenge Lock is now on display at the Science Museum in London. A close look at the lock shows that it has been rebuilt since Hobbs opened it. Originally, it had 18 iron slides and 1 central spring; it now has 13 steel slides, each with its own spring.

Bramah received a second patent for a new lock design in 1798.

Machine tools

Because his locks required very exact measurements, Bramah spent a lot of time creating special tools to help with making them. He used the skills of Henry Maudslay, whom he hired to work in his workshop when Maudslay was 18 years old. Together, they made several new machines that helped produce Bramah's locks more quickly and were also useful in other areas of manufacturing.

Before Bramah passed away, his workshop also hired Joseph Clement, who helped improve the design of lathes, which are machines used to shape materials.

Hydraulic press

Bramah's most important invention was the hydraulic press. The hydraulic press uses Pascal's principle, which states that pressure changes in a closed system remain the same throughout. The press had two cylinders with pistons of different sizes. When a force was applied to the smaller piston, it created a greater force on the larger piston. The difference in these forces was related to the difference in the sizes of the pistons. In this way, the cylinders functioned like a lever, which can increase the amount of force applied. Bramah received a patent for his hydraulic press in 1795.

Bramah's hydraulic press had many industrial uses and continues to be used today. When Bramah developed his invention, hydraulic engineering was a science that was not well understood. Bramah and William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, were the first people to lead the field of hydraulic engineering.

The hydraulic press is still called the Bramah Press, named after its inventor.

Other inventions

Bramah was an inventor who created many things, though his most famous invention was the hydraulic press. Other inventions he made include: a beer engine (1797), a planing machine (1802), a paper-making machine (1805), a machine for printing bank notes with numbers in order (1806), and a machine for making quill pen tips (1809). He also developed the first method to shape lead pipes and created machinery for making gun parts (Patent No. 2652).

His most important contribution to engineering was his focus on quality. He believed that for engines to work well, they needed to be built to a higher standard than was common. He taught the Cornish engineer Arthur Woolf how to build engines with very precise measurements. This allowed Cornish engines to use high-pressure steam, which greatly increased their power. Woolf became the top Cornish steam engineer, and his designs were used by other engineers of the time. By 1835, engines that once had 15 horsepower (HP) were replaced with engines that had 450 HP. Bramah is considered one of the first people to promote quality control in industry.

Death and legacy

One of Joseph Bramah's final inventions was a hydrostatic press strong enough to remove trees from the ground. This machine was used at Holt Forest in Hampshire. While overseeing the work there, Bramah caught a cold that worsened into pneumonia. He passed away at Holt Forest on 9 December 1814 and was buried in the churchyard of St Mary on Paddington Green Church.

The historian Ian Mortimer describes Bramah as follows:

“Joseph Bramah—this remarkable person who invented the modern flushing toilet—is also the creator of the beer pump. Very few people in history have contributed as much to improving people’s comfort, both in helping them eat and in helping them use the bathroom.”

The Brazilian Brahma beer brand is named after him. In 2006, a pub in the center of Barnsley was opened and named the Joseph Bramah to honor his memory.