William Congreve

May 20, 1772 (age 55)

Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

Congreve became a barrister and, later, the proprietor of the Royal Standard, a newspaper. About 1804 he turned his interests to improving and perfecting the rocket as a military weapon. England subsequently adopted “Congreve rockets,” which were used with great success against the French at Boulogne, Copenhagen, Leipzig, and elsewhere. They were copied by most European armies by 1830. Congreve was named an equerry to his friend the prince regent (later George IV) and elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1811. The same year he was made an honorary lieutenant colonel in the Hanoverian Artillery and subsequently rose to the rank of major general. At the death of his father in 1814, he succeeded as the second baronet (Congreve of Walton) and as comptroller of the royal arsenal. From 1826 he was compelled to settle permanently on the Continent because of failing health and in order to avoid the scandal of his involvement in a case of fraud. In convalescence, he devised his own wheelchair after losing the use of his legs, and also designed a “wave-wheel”-propelled vessel and a human-muscle-powered aircraft. Eighteen patents were issued to Congreve in his lifetime. These included new methods of mounting naval ordnance, gunpowder manufacture, printing unforgeable currency, gaslighting, “hydropneumatic” canal locks, several kinds of clocks, a perpetual motion machine, a built-in sprinkler system, and a steam engine.

William Congreve Edit Profile

inventor scientist

Background

Congreve was born on May 20, 1772, in Middlesex, England, the eldest son of Lieutenant-General Sir William Congreve, colonel commandant of the royal artillery and comptroller of the royal arsenal at Woolwich.

Education

Congreve was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, receiving Bachelor of Arts in 1793, and Master of Arts in 1795.

Career

Congreve became a barrister and, later, the proprietor of the Royal Standard, a newspaper. About 1804 he turned his interests to improving and perfecting the rocket as a military weapon. England subsequently adopted “Congreve rockets,” which were used with great success against the French at Boulogne, Copenhagen, Leipzig, and elsewhere. They were copied by most European armies by 1830.

Congreve was named an equerry to his friend the prince regent (later George IV) and elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1811. The same year he was made an honorary lieutenant colonel in the Hanoverian Artillery and subsequently rose to the rank of major general. At the death of his father in 1814, he succeeded as the second baronet (Congreve of Walton) and as comptroller of the royal arsenal.

From 1826 he was compelled to settle permanently on the Continent because of failing health and in order to avoid the scandal of his involvement in a case of fraud. In convalescence, he devised his own wheelchair after losing the use of his legs, and also designed a “wave-wheel”-propelled vessel and a human-muscle-powered aircraft.

Eighteen patents were issued to Congreve in his lifetime. These included new methods of mounting naval ordnance, gunpowder manufacture, printing unforgeable currency, gaslighting, “hydropneumatic” canal locks, several kinds of clocks, a perpetual motion machine, a built-in sprinkler system, and a steam engine.

Achievements

Congreve is best known for his military rocket, which was a significant advance on earlier black-powder rockets. It provided the impetus for an early wave of enthusiastic utilization of rockets for military purposes in Europe.

Works

The Details of the Rocket System The Details of the Rocket System

book
- The Details of the Rocket System 1814
- An Elementary Treatise on the Mounting of Naval Ordnance 1812

Connections

Congreve married the widow Isabella M’Envoy in 1824 at Wesel, Prussia, and had two sons and a daughter.

Father:: William Congreve
Spouse:: Isabella M’Envoy

References

The First Golden Age Of Rocketry
1990
Dictionary of Scientific Biography Volume 3
1971

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