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As a boy he had acquired great skill in the construction of model boats and took special interest in their means of propulsion. This fascination with boats remained with him and in 1834 on a reservoir near his farm, he perfected the propulsion of a model boat by means of a wooden screw driven by a
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which was in use at the time. The following year he built a superior model with which he performed a number of experiments at Hendon and in 1836 took out a patent for propelling vessels by means of a screw revolving beneath the water at the stern.
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After securing the financial backing of several parties, he helped organize the
Propeller Steamship Company which in 1839 built the world's first successful screw-propelled steamship,
270:). The house still stands today. In the grounds Smith had planted a considerable shrubbery and had use of woodlands down to College Road. A later resident added a
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fountain and small grotto to the rear of the residence and renamed the house
Dilkoosh. It was later renamed to its present title – Fountain House.
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In 1860 the government appointed him to the post of curator of the Patent Museum at South
Kensington. In 1871 a knighthood was conferred upon him.
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spring. He became utterly convinced that this form of propulsion was greatly superior to the
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Smith died at 15 Thurloe Place, South
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Between 1864 and 1870 he resided in an elegant
Victorian house at 17 Sydenham Hill
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104:(9 February 1808 – 12 February 1874) was an English inventor and, along with
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where he built his house named Centra House in 1864. The house was designed by
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run by the Rev. Alexander Power, before working as a grazing Farmer on
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348:"SMITH, Sir Francis Pettit (1808-1874) | English Heritage"
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Smith married twice and had children by each marriage.
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from paddle to screw propulsion, by lending Brunel the
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in
Middlesex where he continued to farm for 37 years.
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302:(online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004.
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336:SS Great Britain : Brunel's ss Great Britain
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387:. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
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254:Smith negotiated with the Governors of
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236:St Leonards Cemetery, Hythe, Kent
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108:, one of the inventors of the
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378:"Smith, Francis Pettit"
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323:UK public library membership
186:to change the design of the
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201:to adopt screw propulsion.
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357:11 January
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212:Later life
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