Thomas Newcomen ( / ˈ nj uː k ʌ m ə n / ; February 1664 – August 5, 1729) was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine in 1712. He was also a Baptist preacher and worked as a metalworker.

He was born in Dartmouth, Devon, England, to a family of merchants. He was baptized at St. Saviour's Church on February 28, 1664. During his time, flooding in coal and tin mines was a serious challenge. Newcomen worked to find better ways to remove water from these mines. His job as a metalworker involved creating, making, and selling tools used in the mining industry.

Religious life

Thomas Newcomen was a teacher and leader in the local Baptist church. After 1710, he became the pastor of a local Baptist congregation. His father was part of a group that brought the well-known Puritan minister John Flavel to Dartmouth. Later, one of Newcomen's business associates in London, Edward Wallin, was also a Baptist minister who was connected to the well-known Doctor John Gill of Horsleydown, Southwark. Newcomen's relationship with the Baptist church in Bromsgrove helped promote his steam engine, as the engineers Jonathan Hornblower Sr. and his son were members of the same church.

Developing the atmospheric engine

Newcomen's major accomplishment was creating a steam engine around 1712. He combined ideas from Thomas Savery and Denis Papin to build a machine designed to remove water from a tin mine. Newcomen was likely already familiar with Savery, whose family members were merchants in south Devon. Savery also worked with the Commissioners for Sick and Hurt Seamen, a job that took him to Dartmouth. Savery had created a "fire engine," a type of thermic syphon. This device used steam to fill an empty container, which was then condensed to create a vacuum. The vacuum pulled water from the bottom of the mine. However, the "fire engine" was not very effective and could only lift water from depths up to about thirty feet.

Newcomen improved the design by replacing the container where steam was condensed with a cylinder containing a piston based on Papin's design. Instead of using the vacuum to pull water, the vacuum caused the piston to move downward. This movement powered a beam engine, which used a large wooden beam that pivoted on a central support. On the opposite side of the beam, a chain connected to a pump at the mine's base was attached. When the steam cylinder was refilled with steam, preparing it for the next stroke, water was drawn into the pump cylinder. The weight of the machinery then pushed the water up through a pipe to the surface. Newcomen and his partner, John Calley, built the first successful engine of this type at the Conygree Coalworks in Tipton, West Midlands. A working model of this engine is displayed at the Black Country Living Museum nearby.

Later life and death

Little is known about Thomas Newcomen's life after 1715. At that time, the business of building and operating steam engines was managed by a company called the "Proprietors of the Invention for Raising Water by Fire." John Meres, who worked as a clerk for the Society of Apothecaries in London, served as the company's secretary and treasurer. The Society of Apothecaries had a special agreement to supply medicines to the British Navy, which connected them to Savery, whose will John Meres helped to record. Edward Wallin, a Baptist minister from Sweden who led a church in Southwark, was also part of the Proprietors' Committee. Thomas Newcomen died at Wallin's home in 1729 and was buried at Bunhill Fields, a cemetery near London. The exact location of his grave is not known.

By 1733, about 125 Newcomen steam engines had been built and used in many important mining areas in Britain and Europe. These engines operated under a patent granted to Savery, which was extended by law and remained valid until 1733. They were used to remove water from coal mines in the Black Country, Warwickshire, and near Newcastle upon Tyne; from tin and copper mines in Cornwall; and from lead mines in Flintshire and Derbyshire, among other places.

After Newcomen

The Newcomen engine remained mostly the same for about 75 years. It was used in more places across the UK and mainland Europe over time. At first, brass cylinders were used, but these were costly and limited in size. New iron casting methods developed by the Coalbrookdale Company in the 1720s allowed larger cylinders to be made. By the 1760s, cylinders up to about 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter were used. Experience helped improve the design and layout slightly. John Smeaton made major improvements to the engine's mechanical parts. He built many large engines of this type in the early 1770s, and his changes were quickly used by others. By 1775, about 600 Newcomen engines had been built, though many had worn out and were abandoned or replaced before then.

The Newcomen engine was not very efficient, but it was likely as advanced as engineering and materials could support in the early 18th century. Much heat was lost when steam was cooled in the cylinder. This was not a big problem in coal mines where unusable small coal (slack) was available, but it raised costs in places like Cornwall where coal was hard to get. After 1775, Newcomen engines were gradually replaced in areas where coal was expensive, especially in Cornwall, by a better design invented by James Watt. Watt's engine used a separate condenser to cool the steam, making it much more fuel-efficient. This allowed Watt and his partner, Matthew Boulton, to earn large royalties from the fuel saved.

Watt later improved his design further, including the double-acting engine, where both the up and down movements provided power. These engines were especially useful for driving textile mills, and many were used in these industries. Early attempts to use Newcomen engines for machinery had mixed results because the single power stroke caused jerky motion. However, the use of flywheels and better engineering helped solve this problem. By 1800, hundreds of non-Watt rotary engines had been built, especially in collieries and ironworks where irregular motion was not a problem, and also in textile mills.

Despite Watt's improvements, Common Engines (as they were then known) remained in use for a long time. Even during Watt's patent period (up to 1800), more Newcomen engines than Watt engines were built because they were cheaper and simpler. Of over 2,200 engines built in the 18th century, only about 450 were Watt engines. Parts of Watt's design, especially the separate condenser, were used in many "pirate" engines. Even after 1800, Newcomen-type engines continued to be built, and condensers were added to them regularly. They were also commonly added to existing Newcomen engines, known as "pickle-pot" condensers.

Surviving Newcomen engines

There are examples of Newcomen engines in the Science Museum in London, England, and the Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, US, as well as other locations.

In 1964, the Newcomen Society of London moved a Newcomen engine from Hawkesbury Junction, Warwickshire, to Dartmouth, where it is now displayed working with a hydraulic system instead of a steam boiler. Dr. Cyril Boucher of the Newcomen Society says this engine, called the Newcomen Memorial Engine, was built around 1725. Later, new parts, including valve gear, were added.

One example of a Newcomen-style engine that was used commercially and still remains on its original site is at the Elsecar Heritage Centre near Barnsley in South Yorkshire. This engine was fixed so it works again between 2012 and 2015. It was shown to the public in May 2016 by Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. Another working Newcomen engine is a modern replica at the Black Country Museum in Dudley, West Midlands. The Newcomen Memorial Engine at Dartmouth, Devon, can also be seen moving, but it uses hydraulics instead of steam.

Recognition

On February 23, 2012, the Royal Mail introduced a stamp showing Newcomen's atmospheric steam engine as part of its "Britons of Distinction" series.