James Brindley

James Brindley, who lived from 1716 to 1772, was an English engineer born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and became one of the most notable engineers of the eighteenth century. Born in the isolated Peak District, he was educated at home by his mother and was apprenticed to a millwright at seventeen. He later set up as a wheelwright in Leek, built a mine drainage engine at the Wet Earth Colliery in 1752 and a silk mill machine at Congleton. This entry records him as a canal builder so that his waterways can be linked to him.