Thomas Newcomen (February 1664 – 5 August 1729) was an English inventor.[1] He made the first practical steam engine for pumping water, theNewcomen steam engine.
Newcomen was anironmonger and aBaptistlay preacher. He was born inDartmouth, Devon, England, to amerchant family andbaptised at St. Saviour's Church on 24 February 1664.
Flooding incoal andtin mines was a large problem. Newcomen was trying to improve ways to pump out the water from the mines. His ironmonger's business specialised in tools for the mining industry.
His first engine was not very efficient, and used a lot ofcoal. TheWatt steam engine, was much more fuel efficient.Watt and his partnerMatthew Boulton got substantialroyalties because their machines saved so much on fuel bills.
There are examples of Newcomen engines in theScience Museum (London) and theFord Museum,Dearborn, Michigan.[2]
Perhaps the last Newcomen-style engine to be used commercially – and the last still on its original site – is at theElsecar Heritage Centre, nearBarnsley inSouth Yorkshire. Newcomen engines that can be seen working are the Newcomen Memorial Engine atDartmouth and the replica engine at theBlack Country Museum inDudley,West Midlands.
