Person    | Male  Born 1731  Died 19/12/1813

David Hartley

Politician and inventor of fireproofing systems. Born in Bath, he moved to London where he met and became close friends with Benjamin Franklin. As an MP, he represented Kingston-upon-Hull and became an opponent of the war with America, and the African slave trade. He devised a system of fire-proofing buildings by inserting metal plates between the floors. At one of his demonstrations, King George III and Queen Charlotte are said to have taken breakfast on the upper floor of his house while a fierce fire raged below! Died at his home in Belvedere, Lansdown, Bath.

The picture web site gives "David Hartley the Younger ... son of the philosopher David Hartley (1705-1757). The scene shows Hartley with the scroll (left) for the Treaty of Paris ... that ended the American Revolutionary War. Hartley was Minister Plenipotentiary, appointed by King George III to treat with the rebel colonies in North America that had declared independence in 1776 as the United States of America."

We've found some interesting stuff about Hartley at Boston 1775. For instance, he was thought a very dull speaker "... in Parliament, the intolerable length, when increased by the dullness of his Speeches, rendered him an absolute nuisance, even to his own friends. His rising always operated like a dinner bell. One day, that he had thus wearied out the patience of his audience; having nearly cleared a very full House, which was reduced from three hundred, to about eighty persons, half asleep....".

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
David Hartley

Commemorated ati

David Hartley obelisk

The language on the panels becomes increasingly convoluted and some of the ab...

Read More

Diplomatic Gates

The spelling is probably a good indication of which country funded this memor...

Read More

Other Subjects

Norman E. Harrison, A.M.I.Mech.E.

Norman E. Harrison, A.M.I.Mech.E.

Junior 2rd Engineer on the RMS Titanic. A full résumé of his life can be found on the Encyclopedia Titanica website.  He is also commemorated on the Engineers Memorial, Andrews East Park, Above Ba...

Person, Engineering, Tragedy

1 memorial
New River Head windmill

New River Head windmill

Used c.1709 - 1720 to pump water supplied via the New River from the round pond to the upper pond (now Claremont Square reservoir).

Building, Engineering, Food & Drink

1 memorial
Edward Willis

Edward Willis

From Historic England: Engineer and architect to the Chiswick Urban District Council in 1921. Also designed the Memorial Fund's Chiswick War Memorial Rest Homes, Burlington Lane. Housing disabled s...

Person, Architecture, Engineering

2 memorials
Jonathan Shepherd

Jonathan Shepherd

Junior Assistant 2nd Engineer on the RMS Titanic. A full résumé of his life can be found on the Encyclopedia Titanica website. He is also commemorated on the Engineers Memorial, Andrews East Park,...

Person, Engineering, Tragedy

1 memorial
Herbert Gifford Harvey

Herbert Gifford Harvey

Junior Assistant 2nd Engineer on the RMS Titanic. A full résumé of his life can be found on the Encyclopedia Titanica website.  He is also commemorated on the Engineers Memorial, Andrews East Park...

Person, Armed Forces, Engineering, Tragedy, Ireland

1 memorial