Hidden Henley

There’s currently a fine knitted topper with a St Valentine’s Day theme to the Royal Mail post box at the entrance to the Gainsborough estate here in Henley.

This housing area was named after the brother of the more famous artist Thomas Gainsborough. Yes, it’s named after our own Humphrey Gainsborough who was an inventor, engineer and non-conformist minister and surely deserves more recognition?

Some historians would say that the development of the steam engine and its effect on our industrial revolution was one of the most important advancements in our country. Humphrey Gainsborough had built in 1775 a working model of a commercially viable and efficient machine and applied for a patent, yet this was declined. James Watt, with whom we often associate the invention, had taken it over and patented it as if it was his own within just three weeks of Gainsborough’s death. The information board outside the housing estate explains that this mystery could partly be down to Gainsborough’s philosophy of sharing his knowledge for the betterment of all, although it could have been worth a fortune to him and his descendants.

Around the mid 18^th century, this talented but modest man practised as an engineer and was also behind several local innovations like the design of Conways Bridge on the Wargrave Road constructed in stone from Reading Abbey, and the ingenious reduction in the incline of White Hill which had previously been hazardous for stagecoaches and wagons. Significantly, he developed pound locks which revolutionised river and canal travel and transport.

So my subject this week certainly combines the light-hearted and the serious.