George William Manby

Infobox Person
name = George William Manby


caption =
birth_date = 28 November, 1765
birth_place = Denver, Norfolk, England
death_date = death date and age|1854|11|18|1765|11|28|df=y
death_place = Great Yarmouth
other_names =
known_for = Inventor of Manby Mortar and fire extinguisher
occupation =
nationality = EnglishCaptain George William Manby (born November 28, 1765 in Denver, Norfolk; died November 18, 1854 in Great Yarmouth), was an English inventor of an apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks and the first modern form of fire extinguisher.

Life

Manby went to school at Downham Market. Although he claimed to have been a friend there of Horatio Nelson, this is unlikely to be true as Nelson would have left the school (if he ever attended) before Manby started. He volunteered to fight in the American War of Independence, aged 17, but was rejected because of his youth and his small size. [http://norfolkcoast.co.uk/pasttimes/pt_georgewilliammanby.htm Norfolk History and Past Times - Yesterdays - George William Manby of Norfolk and his Manby Mortar ] ] Instead, he entered the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, and then joined the Cambridgeshire Militia where he gained the rank of captain.

He married in 1793 and inherited his wife's family's estates, but left her in 1801 after being shot by her lover [http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/Features/DerekJames/StreetNames/extra/040727Manby.aspx Norwich Evening News article] ] and moved to Clifton, Bristol. There, he published several books, including "The History and Antiquities of St David's" (1801), "Sketches of the History and Natural Beauties of Clifton" (1802), and "A Guide from Clifton to the Counties of Monmouth, Glamorgan, etc." (1802). In 1803, his pamphlet "An Englishman's Reflexions on the Author of the Present Disturbances", on Napoleon's plans to invade England, came to the attention of the Secretary of War, Charles Yorke, who was impressed and recommended Manby to be appointed as Barrack-Master at Great Yarmouth. [http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/polar/manby.htm G. W. Manby at Norfolk Museums] ]

On 18 February 1807, as a helpless onlooker, he witnessed a Naval ship, the "Snipe" run aground 60 yards off Great Yarmouth during a storm, with (according to some accounts) a total of 214 people drowned, including French prisoners of war, women and children. Following this tragedy, Manby experimented with mortars, and so invented the "Manby Mortar", later developed into the breeches buoy, that fired a thin rope from shore into the rigging of a ship in distress. A strong rope, attached to the thin one, could be pulled aboard the ship. His successful invention followed an experiment as a youth in 1783, when he shot a mortar carrying a line over Downham church. His invention was officially adopted in 1814, and a series of mortar stations were established around the coast.cite journal|year=1855|month=Januray|pages=208|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EO-R3EsTRYYC&pg=PA208&lpg=PA208&dq=%22george+william+manby%22&source=web&ots=HZUUxXQae4&sig=_449viPr6UsZ2WjChOnkLOMoAsI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result#PPA208,M1| title=Obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine|journal=The Gentleman's Magazine|date=1855|authour=|publisher=F. Jefferies]

Manby also built an "unsinkable" ship. The first test indeed proved it to be floating when mostly filled with water; however, the seamen (who disliked Manby) rocked the boat back and forth, so that it eventually turned over. The boatmen depended on the cargo left over from shipwrecks, and may have thought Manby's mortar a threat to their livelihood.

In 1813 Manby invented the "Extincteur", the first portable pressurised fire extinguisher. This consisted of a copper vessel of 3 gallons of pearl ash (potassium carbonate) solution contained within compressed air. He also invented a device intended to save people who had fallen through ice.

In 1821 he sailed to Greenland with William Scoresby, for the purpose of testing a new type of harpoon for whaling, based on the same principles as his mortar. However, his device was sabotaged by the whalers. He published his account as "Journal of a Voyage to Greenland", containing observations on the flora and fauna of the Arctic regions as well as the practise of whale hunting. [cite book| title=Journal of a Voyage to Greenland|author=George William Manby|date=1823|publisher=G. and W. B. Whittaker|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&id=3uEBAAAAYAAJ]

He was the first to advocate a national fire brigade, and is considered by some to be a true founder of the RNLI. [ [http://www.ilab.org/db/book768_C118B231.html "Walthew, Kenneth."; From Rock And Tempest. The Life Of Captain George William Manby ] ] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1831 in recognition of his many accomplishments.

In later life Manby became obsessed with Nelson, turning his house into a Nelson museum filled with memorabilia and living in the basement.

Manby also became one of the godfathers of Augustus Onslow Manby Gibbes (1828-1897), the youngest son of the Collector of Customs for Great Yarmouth from 1827 to 1833, Major (later Colonel) John George Nathaniel Gibbes. This is attested to in Gibbes family papers.or|date=September 2008

Further reading

"From Rock and Tempest - The Life of George William Manby", Kenneth Walthew, 1971, SBN: 713802871

References

External links

* [http://norfolkcoast.co.uk/pasttimes/pt_georgewilliammanby.htm Norfolk History and Past Times: "George William Manby and the Manby Mortar"]
* [http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/polar/manby.htm Norfolk Museum: "George William Manby"]
* [http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/prints/viewPrint.cfm?ID=PAD3603 Capt. G W Manby FRS, prints, National Maritime Museum]