View source for Biography:Benjamin Hick

{{Infobox person
| name        = Benjamin Hick 
| image       = Benjamin Hick (colour).jpg
| alt         = 
| caption     = c.1840<ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq." /> by George Patten ARA (1801–1865)
| birth_name  = 
| birth_date  = 1 August 1790
| birth_place = Huddersfield, Yorkshire, {{wipe|England}}
| death_date  = {{d-da|9 September 1842|1 August 1790}}
| death_place = Bolton, Lancashire, England
| nationality = British
| other_names = 
| known_for   = Steam engines<br>Locomotives<br>Architecture<br>Art Collector
| notable works =3-cylinder locomotive<ref name='steam-carriage'>{{cite journal|last1=Hick|first1=Benjamin|editor1-last=Newton|editor1-first=William|title=for improvements in locomotive steam-carriages|journal=Newton's London Journal of Arts and Sciences|date=1836|volume=VII|pages=265–271|url=https://archive.org/stream/newtonslondonjo41unkngoog#page/n274/mode/2up/search/hick |accessdate=12 October 2016|series=Conjoined|publisher=Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper|location=University of Michigan|language=English}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Townend|first1=Peter|title=The first three cylinder locomotive.|journal=Steamindex|date=March 2016|volume=5|issue=50|publisher=Railway Archive (Lightmoor Press).}}</ref><br>Aerodynamic disc wheel<ref name='steam-carriage'/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Speller|first1=John|title=Ajax & Mars|url=http://spellerweb.net/rhindex/UKRH/GreatWestern/Broadgauge/BGLocos/Ajax.html|website=John Speller's Web Pages - GWR Broad Gauge: Locomotives|accessdate=11 October 2016}}</ref><br/>Hydraulic press<br>Radial Drilling machine<ref>{{cite book|title=Appleton's dictionary of machines, mechanics, engine-work, and engineering|date=1861|publisher=New York : D. Appleton|pages=773–775|url=https://archive.org/stream/appletonsdiction02appl#page/774/mode/2up/search/hick|accessdate=7 December 2015}}</ref><ref name='Portraits'>{{cite journal|last1=South Kensington Museum|title=Catalogue of the Third and Concluding Exhibition of National Portraits Commencing with the Fortieth Year of the Reign of George the Third and Ending with the Year MDCCCLXVII: On Loan to the South Kensington Museum, April 13, 1868|date=1868|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X0HKTKFPKWUC&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=john+hick+ill-%20health&source=bl&ots=D9wmHu9pc0&sig=0yp_xV0WS36OMrLnSN_SXQWZQdE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjmouvJ_8LJAhWGKx4KHeo_CO4Q6AEIPDAH#v=onepage&q=john%20hick%20ill-health&f=false|accessdate=4 December 2015|publisher=Strangeways and Walden|location=University of Michigan}}</ref><br/>2-cylinder beam engine
| occupation  = Civil and Mechanical engineer <br> Architectural designer <br> Company director
}}

'''Benjamin Hick''' (1 August 1790&nbsp;– 9 September 1842) was a successful English civil and mechanical engineer, art collector and patron;<ref name='fine arts'/> his improvements to the [[Physics:Steam engine|steam engine]] and invention of scientific tools were held in high esteem by the engineering profession,<ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq." /> some of Hick's improvements became public property without claiming the [[Social:Patent|patent]] rights he was entitled to.<ref name="Unknown"/>

He was born at Huddersfield, and [[Religion:Infant baptism|christened]] in the [[Religion:Independent|Independent]], dissenter's chapel at Highfield, his parents moving shortly afterwards to Leeds where he was educated. Henry Venn was vicar of Huddersfield parish until 1771.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Highfield Chapel, Huddersfield|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BeM6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA458|journal=The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle|date=1843|volume=21|page=458|accessdate=18 March 2015|publisher=Thomas Ward and Co., Paternoster Row|location=University of Chicago}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Independent Chapel, Huddersfield|url=https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/Highfield_Independent_Chapel,_Huddersfield|website=Huddersfield Exposed|publisher=Huddersfield Exposed|accessdate=11 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq." /><ref>{{cite web|last1=Redfern|first1=Diane|title=Benjamin Hick|url=http://www.dianeredfern.ca/pafg03.htm#72|website=Diane Redfern ANCESTRY & FAMILY HISTORY|publisher=dianeredfern.ca|accessdate=19 March 2015|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007031003/http://www.dianeredfern.ca/pafg03.htm#72|archivedate=7 October 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Hick's aptitude for mechanics and passion for drawing led to an apprentiship in 1804 (age 14) as a draughtsman with Fenton, Murray and Wood<ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq." /> at the Round Foundry in Holbeck. The company made steam engines, textile and other machinery; here he was entrusted with the installation of several large steam engines<ref name="Unknown"/> and offered a partnership when his apprenticeship expired.<ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq." /> The offer was declined and Hick moved instead to Bolton in 1810<ref name="Unknown">{{cite web|last=Unknown|title=OBITUARY. BENJAMIN HICK, BORN 1790|url=http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/pdf/10.1680/imotp.1843.24570|work=Minutes of the Proceedings |volume=2 |issue=1843|date=1 January 1843 |issn=1753-7843 |publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers|accessdate=14 December 2012}}</ref> to work for Smalley, Thwaites and Company<ref>{{cite web|title=Benjamin Hick|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Benjamin_Hick|work=Graces Guide|accessdate=14 December 2012}}</ref> as manager<ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq." /> of Rothwell's Union Foundry on Blackhorse Street.<ref>{{cite web|title=1814–15 Wardle and Bentham's Guide: Bolton|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1814Wardle-Bolt-Iron.jpg|work=Graces Guide|accessdate=14 December 2012}}</ref>

His brother John Hick also trained as an engineer, in 1808 John left Fenton, Murray & Wood to take up the position of "book-keeper and traveller" for John Sturges and Co. at the [[History:Bowling Iron Works|Bowling Iron Works]] near Bradford.<ref name="Chrimes">Chrimes</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fenton, Murray and Wood|url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Fenton,_Murray_and_Wood|website=Grace's Guide|publisher=Grace's Guide Ltd.|accessdate=2 January 2018}}</ref>

In July 1820 Hick joined other leading industrialists Isaac Dobson, Thomas Hardcastle and Peter Rothwell together with engineer Joshua Routledge to form the Bolton Gaslight and [[Chemistry:Coke (fuel)|Coke]] Company,<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last=Unknown|title=THE INVENTOR OF THE SLIDE RULE. STRAY NOTES FROM THE JOURNAL AND DIARY OF JOSHUA ROUTLEDGE, BOLTON|journal=Bolton Journal|date=January 1888}}</ref> providing [[Chemistry:Coal gas|gas]] for public buildings, [[Physics:Gas lighting|street lamps]] and industrial lighting. With the inevitable fire risk of naked flame, the Great Bolton Trustees and a number of mill owners bought horse-drawn fire engines; Hick became a [[Social:Trustee|Trustee]] of Great Bolton during the early 1820s, he was an Anglican and prominent member of Bolton's Pitt Club, formed 1809 as a "[[Organization:Political organisation|political organisation]] composed of the admirers of William Pitt", that helped Hick move amongst the middle class social elite of the time.<ref>{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Peter|title=A Divided Middle Class: Bolton 1790–1850|pages=9–10, 12}}</ref><ref name='Pilling3'>{{cite book|title=P. W. Pilling, ''Hick Hargreaves and Co., The History of an Engineering Firm c. 1833 – 1939, a Study with Special Reference to Technological Change and Markets'' (Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of Liverpool, 1985)|pages=8, 12}}</ref>

The Dobsons (Isaac and Benjamin), Hick, Rothwell, John Kennedy and others were members of a "prosecution" club (formed 1801), meeting at the Black Horse pub in Bolton, that in 1824 secured an annuity for the inventor and fellow member Samuel Crompton, who also frequented the Inn.<ref name='Pilling3'/><ref name='black'>{{cite web|last1=Collingwood|title=Black Horse Hotel, Blackhorse Street|url=http://lostpubsofbolton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/black-horse-hotel-blackhorse-street.html|website=Lost Pubs of Bolton|publisher=Blogger|accessdate=10 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|authors =Daniels and Unwin George|title=THE EARLY ENGLISH COTTON INDUSTRY WITH SOME UNPUBLISHED  LETTERS OF SAMUEL CROMPTON|date=1920|publisher=Manchester, The University press; London, New York [etc.] Longmans, Green & co.|location=Cornell University Library|page=159|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924032476800#page/n199/mode/2up|accessdate=30 March 2015|chapter=VI}}</ref> Hick joined the Institution of Civil Engineers in the same year,<ref name="Unknown"/> proposed by Joshua Field, Joseph Farey and James Jones.<ref>{{cite book|title=Membership records|location=Institution of Civil Engineers}}</ref> Also with Rothwell and the Dobsons, Hick was a prominent member of the Black Horse Club, that met "to discuss not only business matters but the most interesting topics affecting that period".<ref name='Pilling3'/><ref name='black'/>

Together with many other leading figures from the Bolton area, including those from the Black Horse Club, Hick was a promoter and with Peter Rothwell<ref name='Pilling3'/><ref>{{cite web|title=Railways of Bolton|url=http://www.bolton.org.uk/railways.html|website=bolton.org.uk|publisher=Nic Clews|accessdate=8 December 2015|date=2003}}</ref> an original shareholder of the Bolton and Leigh Railway that opened 1 August 1828 with the naming of the locomotive ''Lancashire Witch'' by Mrs Hulton, wife of the vilified William Hulton JP, High Sheriff of Lancashire and collier.<ref>{{cite web|last=Simkin|first=John|title=William Hulton|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRhulton.htm|work=Spartacus Schoolnet|accessdate=14 December 2012|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904004722/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRhulton.htm|archivedate=4 September 2011|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Robert Stephenson was driver of the engine he designed and built<ref>{{cite web|last=Simkin|first=John|title=Lancashire Witch|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RAlancashire.htm|work=Spartacus Schoolnet|accessdate=14 December 2012|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203174238/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RAlancashire.htm|archivedate=3 December 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> with chief engineer George Stephenson,<ref>{{cite web|last=Simkin|first=John|title=Bolton and Leigh|url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RAbolton.htm|work=Spartacus Schoolnet|accessdate=14 December 2012|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507205023/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RAbolton.htm|archivedate=7 May 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref> who was a passenger with the other guests.<ref>{{cite web|title=1824 The Bolton and Leigh Railway|url=http://daubhill.webeden.co.uk/#/1824-the-railway/4565790886|work=Daubhill|accessdate=14 December 2012}}</ref> Following the occasion that gathered crowds of 40-50 thousand people, in October 1828, Hick and Rothwell received Robert Peel, then home secretary, as a guest at their foundry.<ref>{{cite book|last1=CLEGG|first1=JAMES|title=ANNALS OF BOLTON, HISTORY, CHRONOLOGY, POLITICS, PARLIAMENTARY AND MUNICIPAL POLLS|date=1888|publisher=BOLTON: THE CHRONICLE OFFICE, KNOWLSEY STREET.|location=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center|page=81|url=https://archive.org/stream/annalsofboltonhi00cleg#page/151/mode/2up/search/HICK|accessdate=2 May 2015}}</ref>

In 1837 Hick was, among other local figures including Thomas Ridgway (1778–1839),<ref>{{cite web|last1=Barker|first1=John|title=Thomas Ridgway|url=http://clanbarker.com/getperson.php?personID=I7744&tree=Br|website=ClanBarker|accessdate=6 May 2015}}</ref> Edward Bolling, John Hargreaves elder (1780–1860) and Jr, a member of the Provisional [[Organization:Committee|Committee]] of the Bolton and Preston Railway. By 1841 Hick was Deputy chairman and a [[Finance:Director (business)|Director]] with chairman John Hargreaves; the two families (Hick and Hargreaves) were linked by marriage in 1836.<ref name='Mary'>{{cite web|last1=Redfern|first1=Diane|title=Mary Hick|url=http://www.dianeredfern.ca/pafg04.htm#89|website=Diane Redfern ANCESTRY & FAMILY HISTORY|publisher=dianeredfern.ca|accessdate=28 November 2015|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127084538/http://www.dianeredfern.ca/pafg04.htm#89|archivedate=27 November 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Chief engineer was John Urpeth Rastrick and resident engineer Alexander James Adie, son of Alexander Adie inventor of the [[Engineering:Sympiesometer|sympiesometer]]. The line opened 22 June 1843 after Hick's death, following some problems in its construction,<ref>{{cite web|last=Bedwell |first=Carolyn (2009) |title=Preston and Bolton Railway |url=http://www.kylenano.demon.co.uk/rastrick/jur-works/bolton-preston.html |work=John Urpeth Rastrick |accessdate=18 January 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231000652/http://www.kylenano.demon.co.uk/rastrick/jur-works/bolton-preston.html |archivedate=31 December 2013 }}</ref> and merged with the North Union Railway Company 10 May 1844. Hick's [[Social:Executorial trustee|executorial trustee]], [[Social:Solicitor|solicitor]] and banker Thomas Lever Rushton (1810–1883), by then a director of the railway, was part of the negotiating committee for the merger.<ref>{{cite web|title=Thomas Lever Rushton|url=http://www.boltonsmayors.org.uk/rushton-t-l.html|work=Links in a Chain - the Mayors of Bolton|publisher=Bolton Council|accessdate=27 January 2014}}</ref><ref name='Pilling2'>{{cite book|title=P. W. Pilling, ''Hick Hargreaves and Co., The History of an Engineering Firm c. 1833 – 1939, a Study with Special Reference to Technological Change and Markets'' (Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of Liverpool, 1985)|pages=87–90, 95}}</ref>

According to the records of Charles Beyer and an appraisal by John Farey, Hick was apparently responsible for pioneering the use of [[Physics:Steam engine#High-pressure engines|high-pressure]] and [[Engineering:Compound steam engine|compound steam engine]]s in textile mills, following the designs of Arthur Woolf.<ref name='Hills'>{{cite book|last1=Hills|first1=Richard L.
|title=Power from Steam: A History of the Stationary Steam Engine|date=1993|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521458344|pages=118–119|edition=illustrated, reprint|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6TLOQBhd0YC&pg=PA118&lpg=PA118&dq=benjamin+hick+compound&source=bl&ots=Bjz5tqsDJr&sig=zjubePTFcTQ-ukW0_Au3ogMZa5s&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjZ2rrboOHNAhXLAsAKHSs0B-UQ6AEINzAE#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20hick%20compound&f=false|chapter=6:Such unbounded power}}</ref> Hick's engines should probably be considered best practice for the time c.1841.<ref>{{cite book|authors=Castaldi and Nuvolari Carolina and Alessandro|title=Technological Revolutions and Economic Growth: The "Age of Steam" Reconsidered|date=November 2003|publisher=Eindhoven University of Technology|pages=18–19|url=http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/spru/events/KP_Conf_03/documents/Nuvolari.pdf|accessdate=7 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|authors=NUVOLARI and VERSPAGEN ALESSANDRO and BART|title=Technical choice, innovation, and British steam engineering, 1800–50|journal=Economic History Review|date=2009|volume=62|issue=3|page=703|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/files/153/6527082.pdf|accessdate=7 July 2016|publisher=Blackwell Publishing}}</ref>

Locomotives built by Hick were of the best quality, Edward Bury considered them "extremely well made" and they were used by the London and Birmingham Railway for the very first scheme of [[Interchangeable parts|standardisation of parts]].<ref>{{cite web|title=EDWARD BURY, 1794 – 1858|url=http://www.geocities.ws/kentmuseum/BURY.htm|website=Cork Retirement & Bereavement Fund  Museum|accessdate=1 August 2016}}</ref>

==Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell==
[[File:Rothwell Hick & Co Steam-Engine Manufactory and Iron-Works, Bolton.jpg|thumb|left|260px|''"Steam-Engine Manufactory and Iron-Works, Bolton. To Messrs. Rothwell, Hick & Co. This plate is respectfully inscribed by the publishers. Fisher, Son and Co. of London 1832."'' Engraving by William Watkins after a drawing by John Harwood. Originally published in William Henry Pyne's partwork ''Lancashire Illustrated, from Original Drawings'' (1828-1831).<ref>{{cite web|title=ANTIQUE PRINTS OF BOLTON|url=http://www.ashrare.com/bolton_prints.html|website=ASH RARE BOOKS|publisher=Ash Rare Books|accessdate=2 October 2014}}</ref>]]

By 1821 Hick was managing partner of the Union Foundry, that later became Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell.<ref name="Unknown"/><ref name='Devided'>{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Peter|title=A Divided Middle Class: Bolton 1790–1850|page=10}}</ref> After Peter Rothwell's death on 2 August 1824, the company continued with Peter Rothwell Jr (1792–1849) as Rothwell, Hick & Co.<ref name="Marshall">Marshall</ref> They made [[Engineering:Stationary steam engine|stationary steam engine]]s, (a number of which were featured by John Farey in the second volume of his ''Treatise on the Steam Engine'', 1827) as well as general engineering products including [[Chemistry:Cast iron|cast iron]] dockyard [[Engineering:Crane (machine)|crane]]s.<ref name="Chrimes"/> Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell were listed in Baines' directory as supplying steam engines, hydraulic presses, weighing machines, [[Physics:Gas lighting|gas light apparatus]], mill machinery, sugar mills and constructors of fire proof buildings.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Baines, Parson|first1=Edward, William|title=History, directory and gazetteer of the county palatine of Lancaster. The directory department by W. Parson. [With] Illustrations|date=1824|publisher=WM. WALES & Co. ADVERTISER-OFFICE, 68 CASTLE STREET|location=Oxford University|page=551|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvYNAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA551&lpg=PA551&dq=baines+rothwell+hick+and+rothwell&source=bl&ots=zqR5NQvr2V&sig=knYfFVYLoquUXF1MTAbsIdyOf7A&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2qUtVMGyH6Ou7AaU0oHgCg&ved=0CEwQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=baines%20rothwell%20hick%20and%20rothwell&f=false|accessdate=2 October 2014}}</ref>

In 1824 when the prodigious and forward looking Swiss engineer Johann Georg Bodmer ([[Social:Anglicisation|anglicised]] to John George Bodmer) developed his patterns and textile machinery near Bolton he made use of the Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell workshops.<ref name="Chrimes"/> Here in the late 1820s with the co-operation of an Italian merchant, Philip Novelli and H. & E. Ashworth, (Henry (1794–1880) and Edmund (1800–1881) Ashworth), they began a project of advanced concept at Egerton Mill<ref>{{cite book|last=Ashmore|first=Owen|title=The Industrial Archaeology of North-West England|year=1982|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-0820-7 |page=144|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pXa7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA144&lpg=PA144&dq=egerton+waterwheel+110#v=onepage&q=egerton%20waterwheel%20110&f=false}}</ref> to include a spectacular waterwheel<ref>{{cite web|title=The Parish of Christ Church, Walmsley|url=http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Bolton-le-Moors/Walmsley/christchurch/index.html|work=Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project|publisher=Bolton & District Family History Society, 1984. FHL film #1656927, part of Item 13|accessdate=29 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Egerton Conservation Area|publisher=Bolton Metropolitan Council Environment Department|page=5|url=http://www.bolton.gov.uk/sites/DocumentCentre/Documents/EgertonCA.pdf}}</ref>  of 62 feet [[Diameter|diameter]] by 12 feet wide<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Lewis |editor-first=Samuel|title=A Topographical Dictionary of England|year=1848|publisher=Institute of Historical Research|location=Tunstead – Tuxford (Turton)|pages=401–404|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51357}}</ref> and 110–140 [[Horsepower|horsepower]], completed by Fairbairn and Lillie<ref>{{cite book|last=Musson |last2=Robinson|first=Albert Edward |first2=Eric|title=Science and Technology in the Industrial Revolution|year=1969|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-0370-7 |pages=481–482 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0c-8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA482&lpg=PA482&dq=egerton+waterwheel&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=egerton%20waterwheel&f=false}}</ref> when Bodmer returned to Europe as a result of ill-health. To aid in the construction it is claimed that Bodmer devised the [[Engineering:Gantry crane|''travelling crane'']]; the Egerton wheel became a tourist destination during the 1830s and 1840s, it was one of the largest in the United Kingdom attracting visits from industrialists and politicians.<ref>{{cite web|title=A history of the Ashworth family|url=http://egertonvillage.medianewsonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7|work=Egerton Village Online – Bolton Lancashire|accessdate=29 December 2012}}</ref> Benjamin Disraeli was a visitor to the Ashworth mills in 1843.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grindon|first1=Leo Hartley|title=LANCASHIRE, HISTORICAL & PICTORIAL NOTES|date=1892|publisher=SEELY & CO., LIMITED|url=http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/gutenberg.org/4/0/5/8/40584/40584-h/40584-h.htm#FNanchor_22_22|chapter=Footnotes [22]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Roberts|first1=F. David|title=The Social Conscience of the Early Victorians|date=2002|publisher=Stanford University Press, Stanford, California|isbn=0-8047-4532-3|page=68|url=http://graduateinstitute.ch/files/live/sites/iheid/files/sites/mia/shared/mia/cours/IA023/Week%204/Roberts_The_Social_Conscience_of_the_Early_Victorians.pdf|accessdate=11 November 2015}}</ref> By the 1830s Hick had become a highly valued friend of Bodmer, on one occasion [[Social:Arbitration|arbitrating]] a patent dispute.<ref name="icevirtuallibrary.com">{{cite web|last=Unknown|title=OBITUARY. JOHN GEORGE BODMER, 1786–1864 |url=http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/article/10.1680/imotp.1869.23105 |work=Minutes of the Proceedings|volume=28 |date=1 January 1869 |pages=573–608 |issn=1753-7843|accessdate=16 December 2012}}</ref>

[[File:Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell low pressure steam engine.jpg|thumb|right|260px|[[Engineering:Technical drawing|Technical drawing]] of a balance and low pressure steam engine by Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell with architectural details in the Doric order. ''Traité Théorique et pratique des moteurs a vapeur'', Jacques-Eugène Armengaud 1862.]]
Hick also formed a close friendship with engineer and artist [[Biography:James Nasmyth|James Nasmyth]], in his autobiography Nasmyth refers to Hick as a "most admirable man... whose judgment in all matters connected with engineering and mechanical construction was held in the very highest regard... ingenious", he "contrived and constructed... one of the most powerful [[Engineering:Hydraulic press|hydraulic press]]es" in existence. Hick was the inventor of the self tightening collar, used universally in hydraulic pressess.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hick|first1=John|title=EXPERIMENTS ON THE FRICTION COLLARS IN HYDRAULIC PRESSES|journal=Reprinted from ("THE ENGINEER")|date=1884|issue=Second Edition|url=https://archive.org/stream/experimentsonfr00hickgoog#page/n4/mode/2up|accessdate=18 March 2017|publisher=E & F. N. SPON CHARING CROSS.|location=University of Michigan}}</ref>

According to Nasmyth, Hick and William Fairbairn were among the most "intelligent and cultivated persons in Lancashire".<ref>{{cite book|last=Nasmyth|first=James|title=James Nasmyth engineer: an autobiography, Edited by Samuel Smiles|year=1883|publisher=John Murray of Albemarle Street, London|pages=184, 207, 244, 434|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/James_Nasmyth_by_James_Nasmyth}}</ref> Hick was an accomplished draughtsman and it is stated that he introduced almost a new era of elegance and design for the exterior forms of steam engines and larger works.<ref name="books.google.co.uk">{{cite journal|title=OBITUARY. BENJAMIN HICK, ESQ,. OF BOLTON.|journal=The Art-Union|date=1 January 1843|volume=5|page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGZRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=Benjamin+hick+we+have+to+record+with+deep+regret+the+art+union#v=onepage&q=Benjamin%20hick%20we%20have%20to%20record%20with%20deep%20regret%20the%20art%20union&f=false |accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref>

Hick and Rothwell built their first locomotive ''Union'' in 1830 for the Bolton and Leigh Railway, they also built ''Pioneer'' for the Petersburg Railroad in America<ref name="Skeat and Marshall 1974">{{cite book|last=Skeat |last2=Marshall|first=W. O. |first2=John|title=Catalogue: Hick hargreaves Exhibition of early locomotive drawings|year=1974|publisher=Rockliff Bros. Ltd., Long Lane, Liverpool L9 7BE}}</ref> and a 2-2-0, ''the Pontchartrain'' for the Pontchartrain Railroad, New Orleans in 1832.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hennick |last2=Charlton|first1=Louis C. |first2=Elbridge Harper|title=The Streetcars of New Orleans, Volume 2 of Louisiana, its street and interurban railways|date=1965|publisher=Pelican Publishing|isbn=1455612596|page=5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X2Zu8CSRFZAC&pg=PA5&lpg=PA5&dq=pontchartrain+railroad+hick&source=bl&ots=SGQSYoSVlt&sig=EazA6JsPXMlPuFMXrUJKycJhU5A&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4GzyU-q1NomI7AbP_oD4BQ&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=pontchartrain%20railroad%20hick&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Guilbeau|first1=James|title=St. Charles Streetcar, The: Or, the New Orleans & Carrollton Railroad Louisiana Landmarks|date=2011|publisher=Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.|isbn=1879714027|page=18|edition=illustrated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAgxzQPeAjwC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=pontchartrain+railroad+hick&source=bl&ots=a76RANrcqe&sig=jnyzCVvqbxjRf_OWzpXzzuDAb9Q&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4GzyU-q1NomI7AbP_oD4BQ&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=pontchartrain%20railroad%20hick&f=false}}</ref>

==Architecture and public works==
Hick's talent and reputation as a draughtsman lead to requests for his design of public buildings in Bolton:<ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq." /> the Dispensary (1825), Nelson Square (demolished); Cloth Hall, Market Street (demolished); Gas Works (demolished), Water Works<ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq.">{{cite book|last1=Hick|first1=John|title=CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq.|date=1893|publisher=Ede, Dearberg & Co 40 QUEEN STREET CITY}}</ref> and possibly the old Town Hall (1826) in Little Bolton.<ref name='Portraits'/><ref>{{cite book|last1=CLEGG|first1=JAMES|title=ANNALS OF BOLTON, HISTORY, CHRONOLOGY, POLITICS, PARLIAMENTARY AND MUNICIPAL POLLS|date=1888|publisher=BOLTON: THE CHRONICLE OFFICE, KNOWLSEY STREET.|location=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center|page=79|url=https://archive.org/stream/annalsofboltonhi00cleg#page/147/mode/2up|accessdate=2 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Hartwell |last2=Hyde |last3=Pevsner |first1=Clare |first2=Matthew |first3=Nikolaus|title=Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East Buildings of England Pevsner architectural guides The Buildings of England, Ireland, Scotl|date=2004|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0300105835|page=149|edition=illustrated, revised|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fLJSTdnCgqUC&pg=PA149&lpg=PA149&dq=benjamin+hick+old+town+hall&source=bl&ots=pkuSNutJtQ&sig=WszwkZIl80pGqMtJM4-lzpcWFy8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=waEeVPbSMO6d7gamn4CADA&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20hick%20old%20town%20hall&f=false|accessdate=21 September 2014}}</ref> The old Town Hall on All Saints Street,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Linford|first1=Simon|title=The Project|url=http://www.littleboltontownhall.com/page/the-project|website=Little Bolton Town Hall|publisher= Linford: Developing Heritage|accessdate=21 September 2014}}</ref> and Waterworks cottage (1824), Belmont<ref>{{cite web|title=Waterworks Cottage, North Turton|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-440679-waterworks-cottage-north-turton-|website=British Listed Buildings|publisher=BritishListedBuildings.co.uk|accessdate=15 October 2014}}</ref> remain today. The Dispensary is referred to in Pevsner's ''South Lancashire: The Industrial and Commercial South''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pevsner|first1=Nicholas|title=South Lancashire: The Industrial and Commercial South Buildings of England Volume 1 of Lancashire, Nikolaus Pevsner Pevsner Architectural Guides Pevsner architectural guides: The buildings of England The Buildings of England, Ireland, and Scotland Seriesand Commercial South|date=1969|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0300096151|page=82|edition=illustrated, reprint, revised|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fEiDNbsxEXsC&pg=PA82&lpg=PA82&dq=benjamin+hick+dispensary&source=bl&ots=bEgRbiS4WZ&sig=KT7ZleutOARk9LLkcRSHXl3X3oY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fKAeVJizN4Hg7QbxtoHwCw&ved=0CD0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20hick%20dispensary&f=false|accessdate=21 September 2014}}</ref> Thomas Allen's, ''Lancashire Illustrated, from Original Drawings.'' considers, "The gas and waterworks also are eminently deserving of notice. Bolton will long retain memorials of its numerous obligations to the superior genius, public exertions and enterprising spirit of Mr. Benjamin Hick".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Allen|first1=Thomas|title=Lancashire Illustrated, from Original Drawings|date=1832|publisher=H. Fisher, R. Fisher and P. Jackson|location=Oxford University|page=76|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rmYGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA76&lpg=PA76&dq=Thomas+Allen%27s,+Lancashire+Illustrated,+from+Original+Drawings.+benjamin+hick&source=bl&ots=01_ljqr27G&sig=J9iJtIiZwP6P8nDyaZOjljf62iU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zJItVJXJN6af7gatvYHQDA&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Thomas%20Allen%27s%2C%20Lancashire%20Illustrated%2C%20from%20Original%20Drawings.%20benjamin%20hick&f=false|accessdate=2 October 2014}}</ref> Hick designed a Gas [[Earth:Column|Pillar]] and presented it for the opening of Bolton's New Market Place (1826), claimed to be the finest uncovered market in the country; about November 1859 his son [[Biography:John Hick (politician)|John Hick]] gifted a circular "cattle fountain" round the base,<ref>{{cite news|title=Water, water, everywhere - and quite a lot to drink, too!|url=http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/5946519.Water__water__everywhere___and_quite_a_lot_to_drink__too_/?ref=arc|accessdate=7 September 2017|publisher=The Bolton News|date=17 September 2002}}</ref> both gaslight and trough remained a feature of the square until 1925,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Macdonald|first1=Steve|title=The New Market Square (1826-1871)|url=http://www.ss-osands.org.uk/ssosands/beep/markets/new_market_square.htm|website=A History of Bolton's Markets|publisher=Bolton Environment Education Project|accessdate=2 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Around the Town Hall, Victoria Square|url=http://bolton.webeden.co.uk/|website=BOLTON Pictures from a bygone age|accessdate=7 September 2017|quote=The ornate gas lamp and the circular trough surrounding its base were removed in 1925 because their presence would have detracted from the effectiveness of the War Memorial’s setting and they were considered a menace to traffic.}}</ref> the pillar described in 1825 as "a piece of elegant and classical workmanship" and "justly the admiration of persons of taste".<ref>{{cite book|last1=CLEGG|first1=JAMES|title=ANNALS OF BOLTON, HISTORY, CHRONOLOGY, POLITICS, PARLIAMENTARY AND MUNICIPAL POLLS|date=1888|publisher=BOLTON: THE CHRONICLE OFFICE, KNOWLSEY STREET.|location=Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center|page=78|url=https://archive.org/stream/annalsofboltonhi00cleg#page/145/mode/2up/search/HICK|accessdate=2 May 2015}}</ref> Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell contributed elaborate iron work screens with anthemion patterns to Preston [[Biology:Corn exchange|Corn Exchange]] (1822–24).<ref>{{NHLE|desc=|num=1292350|accessdate=2 October 2014}}</ref>

Hick designed a heating system for Richard Lane's ''The Oaks'' (demolished), an imposing Ionic villa conceived in 1838, and home of Quaker, Henry Ashworth.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kingsley|first1=Nicholas|title=Ashworth of Birtenshaw, The Oaks and Horsley Hall|url=http://landedfamilies.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/212-ashworth-of-birtenshaw-oaks-and.html|website=Landed families of Britain and Ireland|publisher=Nicholas Kingsley|accessdate=11 May 2016|date=2 April 2016}}</ref> Hick's grandson, also Benjamin Hick (1845–1882)<ref>{{cite web|last1=Redfern|first1=Diane|title=Benjamin Hick|url=http://www.dianeredfern.ca/pafg05.htm#90|website=Diane Redfern ANCESTRY & FAMILY HISTORY|publisher=dianeredfern.ca|accessdate=26 November 2015|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044001/http://www.dianeredfern.ca/pafg05.htm#90|archivedate=4 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> was architect of changes made to Lane's Exchange and Library (1825–29), New Market Place (renamed Victoria Square in 1897)<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cropper |first1=Peter |title=Oh Bolton, Bolton... |url=https://www.petercropper.co.uk/writing/Bolton.pdf |publisher=Peter Cropper |accessdate=5 May 2015 |page=1 |format=pdf |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902063654/http://petercropper.co.uk/writing/Bolton.pdf |archivedate=2 September 2016 |df=dmy }}</ref> about 1871,<ref>{{NHLE|desc=|num=1388292|accessdate=4 November 2014}}</ref> his grandfather was among the 80 shareholders of all political and religious persuasions.<ref name='Devided'/>

==B. Hick and Sons==
{{main|Company:B. Hick and Sons}}
In 1814 Benjamin Hick married Elizabeth Routledge (1783–1826) sister of his companion, Joshua Routledge (1773–1829), an  engineer and ironmonger living in Bolton, and former manager for Fenton, Murray and Wood.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Knott|first=John V.|title=Joshua Routledge 1775–1829|journal=Journal of the Oughtred Society|date=October 1995|volume=4|issue=2|page=25}}</ref> Hick's father-in-law, William Routledge, was a [[Engineering:Blacksmith|blacksmith]] and Wesleyan lay minister<ref>{{cite journal |title=Register of the Members in the Wesleyan Society from 1787 to the Year 1791 (Borthwick Institute for Historical Research, University of York, Yorkshire, MRC 1/1-5)}}</ref> at Elvington, a village about 8 miles southeast of York in Yorkshire. Joshua Routledge's sons were also engineers; William (1812–1882), a driver of the locomotive ''Phoenix'' at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway 1828, in 1852 master engineer at New Bridge [[Chemistry:Brass|Brass]] Foundry and partner in Routledge & Ommanney, Salford.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Redfern|first1=Diane|title=William Routledge citations|url=http://www.dianeredfern.ca/pafc03.htm#52C1|website=Diane Redfern ANCESTRY & FAMILY HISTORY|publisher= dianeredfern.ca|accessdate=2 October 2014}}</ref> 
Henry (1817–1884), manager of Bolton brass founders J. and W. Kirkham in 1882.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Barton|first=B. T.|title=Historical Gleanings of Bolton and District. THE ROUTLEDGE FAMILY|journal=Daily Chronicle|year=1883|pages=124–125}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Barton|first=B. T.|title=Historical Gleanings of Bolton and District. FURTHER PARTICULARS OF THE ROUTLEDGE FAMILY|journal=Daily Chronicle|year=1883|pages=137–138}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Redfern|first1=Diane|title=Henry Routledge citations|url=http://www.dianeredfern.ca/pafc02.htm#46C1|website=Diane Redfern ANCESTRY & FAMILY HISTORY|publisher= dianeredfern.ca|accessdate=2 October 2014}}</ref>

Benjamin Hick had five children, two sons John (1815–1894) and Benjamin (1818–1845)<ref>{{cite web|last1=Redfern|first1=Diane|title=Benjamin Hick|url=http://www.dianeredfern.ca/pafg05.htm#90|website=Diane Redfern ANCESTRY & FAMILY HISTORY|publisher=dianeredfern.ca|accessdate=20 October 2015|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044001/http://www.dianeredfern.ca/pafg05.htm#90|archivedate=4 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref> who he trained as engineers; on 10 April 1833<ref name="Skeat and Marshall 1974"/> they set up their own manufactory, [[Company:B. Hick and Sons|B. Hick and Sons]], at the Soho [[Engineering:Foundry|Foundry]], Crook Street, Bolton. The firm built the locomotive ''Soho'' bought by [[Common carrier|carrier]] John Hargreaves with six first class carriages for the Bolton and Leigh Railway,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lewis|first1=David|editor1-last=Nevell|editor1-first=Dr. Michael|title=Hick, Hargreaves & Co, Engineers,  Soho Foundry, Bolton, 1833 - 2002|journal=Industrial Archaeology Northwest|date=2003|volume=1.3|issue=3|page=18|url=|publisher=CBA North West Industrial Archaeology Panel|issn=1479-5345}}</ref> and soon became well known as suppliers to British and foreign railway companies.<ref name="Marshall"/> Three years later Hick's first child and eldest daughter Mary (1813–1878) married John Hargreaves Jr (1800–1874),<ref name='Mary'/> manufacturer and operator of the Bolton & Leigh and Leigh & Kenyon Junction railways.<ref name="Marshall"/>

After Elizabeth's death he married Hannah Elizabeth Goodyer (c.1791–1862) in 1827 at St Mary's church, Lambeth. Hannah was a daughter of Landon Goodyer who held a position of responsibility in a Fire Office,<ref>{{cite web|last=Stanley|first=Clifford R.|title=A Centenary Tribute to Frederick Goodyer, Leicestershire's First Chief Constable 1836–1876|url=http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/GoodyerPagesfromvolumeLI-3.pdf|work=T.L.A.H.S Vol. L1|publisher=Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society|accessdate=17 January 2013|pages=17, 18}}</ref> and sister of Frederick Goodyer who was to become a highly regarded Metropolitan Police Officer under Home Secretary, Robert Peel. The first daughter by Hick's second wife married the only son of Johann Georg Bodmer,<ref>{{cite web|last=Unknown|title=OBITUARY. GEORGE RUDOLPH BODMER, 1853–1902|url=http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/article/10.1680/imotp.1903.18201|work=Minutes of the Proceedings |volume=151 |date=1 January 1903 |pages=427–428 |issn=1753-7843 |accessdate=16 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 19 Jul 1851|url=http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=benjamin%20bodmer&county=greater%20manchester,%20england&from=1850&to=1899|website=Genes Reunited|accessdate=2 October 2014}}</ref> his youngest daughter married the fourth son of James Bodmer.<ref>{{cite web|title=Leicester Chronicle, 4 Jun 1853|url=http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/searchbna/results?memberlastsubclass=none&searchhistorykey=0&keywords=benjamin%20bodmer&page=1|website=Genes Reunited|accessdate=2 October 2014}}</ref>

Hick was also linked by his mother-in-law Hannah Goodyer, née Schwenck, to the Naval surgeon and novelist William Gilbert, father of William Schwenck Gilbert of Gilbert and Sullivan, his first daughter from his marriage to Hannah Goodyer was named in a similar fashion; Helen Schwenck Hick. Hannah Goodyer's father John Adam Schwenck was treasurer of the congregation of St Mary le Strand,<ref>{{cite web|title=Authorisation from minister and elders of Reformed Congregation in Duchy Lane [St. Mary le Strand] to John Adam Schwenck, treasurer of congregation, to receive grants from Crown.|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/rd/ebeb7d0f-61ea-4094-bfe2-8d4e8f27001c|website=The National Archives|publisher=GOV.UK|accessdate=12 March 2015|location=London Metropolitan Archives: City of London|date=27 March 1791}}</ref> formerly partner in Bourdorff and Schwenck, [[Engineering:Sugar refinery|sugar refiners]] on Millbank Street, in the parish of St. John the Evangelist, Westminster<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mawyer|first1=Brian|title=Sugar Refiners & Sugarbakers Database|url=http://www.mawer.clara.net/sugarssac.html|website=Sugar Refiners & Sugarbakers Database|publisher=Bryan Mawer|accessdate=6 November 2014|date=2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Relton|first1=Francis Boyer|title=An Account of the Fire Insurance Companies In Great Britain and Ireland During the 17|date=1893|publisher=Forgotten Books|page=217 (230)|edition=Reprint|url=http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/An_Account_of_the_Fire_Insurance_Companies_In_Great_Britain_and_Ireland_1000394369/229|accessdate=6 November 2014}}</ref> and a director of the Phoenix Fire Office.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Court and City Register|date=1801|location=Oxford University|page=272|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WwFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA272&lpg=PA272&dq=john+adam+schwenck&source=bl&ots=ifUKw6bB81&sig=DwGjDS_DIAbQkyzzell-caW9tcg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LmQBVZK5HsjOaNqkgLgP&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=john%20adam%20schwenck&f=false|accessdate=12 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Kent's Directory ...: Containing an Alphabetical List of the Names and Places of Abode of the Directors of Companies, Persons in Public Business, Merchants, and Other Eminent Traders in the Cities of London and Westminster, and Borough of Southwark ...|date=1803|publisher=H. Kent|location=University of Chicago|page=266|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=No0_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA226&lpg=PA226&dq=john+adam+schwenck&source=bl&ots=du9Ijtllh_&sig=q07ZnRfY7DbBMppH0l6QZ294IjU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=LmQBVZK5HsjOaNqkgLgP&ved=0CDQQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=john%20adam%20schwenck&f=false|accessdate=12 March 2015}}</ref>

==Patron of the arts==
Benjamin Hick was both a serious [[Social:Collecting|collector]] and patron of the arts alongside other wealthy industrialists and bankers from the North of England about mid nineteenth century, including Samuel Ashton, William Bashall of Bashall & Boardman, John Chapman, Henry Cooke, Benjamin Dobson, Sir John Gladstone, John Miller, Thomas Miller Jr of Preston, John Naylor of Leyland & Bullins and Peter Rothwell who favoured English art particularly that depicting nature and history.

A man of "acknowledged taste<ref name="Unknown"/> and judgment"; Hick's private collection built over a period of 30 years "valuable, well known and much admired", comprised works of the Italian, Flemish, Dutch and British Masters. He was regarded as "one of the most liberal of the provincial patrons of Art", generous in his support of the British school, in particular a friend of Henry Liverseege who painted several works for Hick, and "on terms of intimacy" with many artists. The collection consisted of antiques, bronzes, engravings by George Thomas Doo, John Henry Robinson and foreign engravers, marbles, paintings and watercolour drawings.

Foreign works included amongst others those of: Canaletti, Annibale Carracci, Carlo Cignani, Correggio, Aelbert Cuyp, Carlo Dolci, Gerrit Dou, Albrecht Dürer, Sassoferato, Carlo Maratti, Murillo, Parmigianino, Gaspar Poussin, Raffaelle, Paolo Veronese, Egbert van Heemskerck the Younger, Wouwermans, Paul Potter, Peter Paul Rubens, David Teniers, Brawer, Gerard Dow, Anton Raphael Mengs, Jan Miel, Ostate, Backhuysen, Platzer, Claude Joseph Vernet and Van Stry.

Hick's support for the British school extended to: Samuel Austin, Thomas Barker, William Roxby Beverly, John Boaden, William Bradley, Augustus Wall Callcott, George Cattermole, Thomas Sidney Cooper, James Wilson Carmichael, David Cox, James Francis Danby, Samuel Drummond, Charles Lock Eastlake, Copley Fielding, John Rogers Herbert, Henry Howard, John Prescott Knight, William Linton, Henry Liverseege, Frederick Richard Lee, Philip James de Loutherbourg, John Martin, George Morland, Frederick Nash, the Nasmyths, Paul Falconer Poole, Samuel Prout, Thomas Miles Richardson, David Roberts, John Rhodes, William Shayer, Clarkson Frederick Stanfield, Caleb Robert Stanley, Philip Francis Stephanoff, Thomas Stothard, John Tennant, Thomas Uwins, Alfred Vickers, Benjamin West, Richard Westall, David Wilkie, John Wilson, Richard Wilson, John Michael Wright, John Christian Zeitter and others.<ref name='fine arts'>{{cite book|last=Darcy|first=C. P.|title=The encouragement of the fine arts in Lancashire 1760–1860|year=1976|publisher=The Chetham Society, Manchester University Press ND|location=Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL|isbn=0-7190-1330-5|pages=7–20, 84, 143–151, 156|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X5zYAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=Benjamin+Hick+patron#v=onepage&q=Benjamin%20Hick%20patron&f=false}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Brian|title=The Middlemost and the Milltowns: Bourgeois Culture and Politics in Early Industrial England|year=2001|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-4174-3 |pages=360–362|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3vqbJLHsbIMC&pg=PA361&lpg=PA361&dq=Benjamin+Hick+patron#v=onepage&q=Benjamin%20Hick%20patron&f=false}}</ref><ref name="http">{{cite journal|title=SALE OF AN IMPORTANT AND GENUINE COLLECTION OF PICTURES, DRAWINGS, ENGRAVINGS, BRONZES &c|journal=The Art-Union|date=1 January 1843|volume=|page=26|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGZRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=benjamin+hick+art+journal#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20hick%20art%20journal&f=false |accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref><ref name="THE GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE">{{cite journal|editor1-last=Cave (URBAN)|editor1-first=Edward (SILVANUS)|title=SALES OF PICTURES|journal=The Gentleman's Magazine|date=1843|volume=XIX.|pages=507–508|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6CZIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA507&lpg=PA507&dq=hick+sale+of+pictures+The+gentleman%27s+magazine&source=bl&ots=cIyP8k08QQ&sig=ND4d43LJLKzC2HpOn6a0iVyYesE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=n4tbVZrfF8X9UoeigJAC&ved=0CCEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=hick%20sale%20of%20pictures%20The%20gentleman%27s%20magazine&f=false|accessdate=20 May 2015|publisher=LONDON: WILLIAM PICKERING; JOHN BOWYER NICHOLS AND SON.}}</ref><ref name="SALES OF THE MONTH"/>

Having the "greatest reverence for [[Philosophy:Work of art|Works of Art]] and Books", Hick's intention was to establish a Public Picture Gallery in Bolton, with "the conviction that such Works of Art would tend to greatly improve the taste and cultivate the better feeling of the rising generation". He obtained designs for the project, but did not live to see them through. As a boy he looked forward to becoming an Artist.<ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq." />

==Collection==
<gallery widths=220 heights=180>
File:Benjamin West - Cupid and Psyche.jpg|''Cupid and Psyche'' by Benjamin West PRA, 1808<ref name="THE GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE"/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Hopkins|first1=Andrew|title=Cupid and Psyche by Benjamin West 1808|url=http://andrewhopkinsart.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/cupid-and-psyche-by-benjamin-west-1808.html|accessdate=9 June 2015}}</ref>
File:Oberon and Titania by Henry Howard.jpg|''[[Unsolved:Oberon|Oberon]] and Titania'' by Henry Howard<ref name="THE GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE"/>
File:Little Red Riding Hood by Henry Leverseege.jpg|''Little Red Riding Hood'' by Henry Liverseege, 1830<ref name="Ancoats">{{cite journal|last1=Butterworth|first1=Walter|title=Henry Leverseege - the Ancoats artist|journal=PAPERS OF THE Manchester Literary Club|date=1920|volume=XLVI.|pages=7, 17|url=https://archive.org/stream/papersman46mancuoft#page/14/mode/2up/search/hick|accessdate=5 May 2015|publisher=SHERRATT & HUGHES Manchester: 34 Cross Street|location=Robarts - University of Toronto}}</ref>
File:Friar Tuck by Henry Leverseege.jpg|''Friar Tuck'' by Henry Liverseege, 1830<ref name="Ancoats"/>
File:Lady Ashton by Henry Liverseege.jpg|''Lucy Ashton'' by Henry Liverseege, 1830<ref name="http"/>
File:Captina Macheath (mezzotint) by Henry Leverseege.jpg|''Captain Macheath'' by Henry Liverseege,<ref name="Ancoats"/> mezzotint by William Ward, 1832.
File:Black Dwarf (engraving) by Henry Leverseege.jpg|''Black Dwarf'' by Henry Liverseege,<ref name="THE GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE"/> mezzotint by J.P. Quilley, 1833. ''The Black Dwarf'' was a satirical [[Social:Radicalism (historical)|radical]] journal published January 1817 – 1824 shortly after Walter Scott's ''The Black Dwarf'' in December 1816.
File:The Inquiry (engraving) by Henry Leverseege.jpg|''The Inquiry'' by Henry Liverseege,<ref name="Ancoats"/> mezzotint by J.P. Quilley, 1833.
File:The Orphan (mezzotint) by Henry Leverseege.jpg|''The Orphan'' by Henry Liverseege,<ref name="Ancoats"/> mezzotint and engraving by Samuel Cousins, 1834 depicting Lady Anne Moon (d. 1870).
File:The Benediction (engraving) by Henry Liverseege.jpg|''The Benediction'' by Henry Liverseege,<ref name="THE GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE"/> depicting ''Juliet'', engraving by Charles Heath.
File:Study for 'John Knox Dispensing the Sacrament at Calder House' by David Wilkie.jpg|Study for ''[[Biography:John Knox|John Knox]] Dispensing the [[Religion:Sacrament|Sacrament]] at Calder House'' by David Wilkie.<ref name="http"/><ref name="THE GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE"/><ref>{{cite journal|editor1-last=URBAN|editor1-first=SYLVANUS|title=WORKS OF SIR DAVID WILKIE|journal=The Gentleman's Magazine|date=June 1842|volume=XVII.|page=638|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LabPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA637&lpg=PA637&dq=wilkie+%2B+25+april+1842+knox&source=bl&ots=j3_6ENULD2&sig=OKAMoRTMckGc_gPs567f6FsgXjE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cGiVVf3CN6a67gaY4KuQAw&ved=0CCUQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2 July 2015}}</ref> The work was intended as a companion to Wilkie's ''Knox preaching the Reformation'', in the collection of Sir Robert Peel.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=BENT'S MONTHLY LITERARY ADVERTISOR |title=REGISTER OF BOOKS, ENGRAVINGS, MUSIC &c.|date=10 April 1841|page=57|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jp9bAAAAcAAJ&pg=RA1-PA57&lpg=RA1-PA57&dq=david+wilkie+knox+calder+house&source=bl&ots=HB0XA9viQa&sig=VtnrD7Ja4i03XOLBbp8x7-cae4U&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kF-VVaLIJ8KbsAHWwxE&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=david%20wilkie%20knox%20calder%20house&f=false|accessdate=2 July 2015}}</ref>
File:A City of Ancient Greece (engraving) by William Linton.jpg| ''A City of {{wipe|Ancient Greece}}. With the return of a victorious armament.'' by William Linton<ref name="http"/><ref name="THE GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE"/>
File:The Celestial City and the Rivers of Bliss by John Martin,jpg.jpg|<poem>[[Astronomy:Paradise Lost|Thee, Author of all being,<br>Fountain of Light, thyself invisible.]]</poem>''[[Unsolved:The Pilgrim's Progress|The Celestial City]] and the [[Astronomy:Paradise Lost|River of Bliss]]'' by John Martin<ref name="http"/><ref name="THE GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Archive & Image Library|url=http://www.leicestergalleries.com/19th-20th-century-paintings/d/the-celestial-city-and-river-of-bliss/11554|website=PETER NAHUM at the Leicester Galleries|publisher=Peter Nahum At The Leicester Galleries @ London, UK|accessdate=21 May 2015|date=2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Skilton|first1=David|title="Sweet Thames, run softly": Constructing a Clean River|journal=The Literary London Journal|date=March 2007|volume=5|url=http://www.literarylondon.org/london-journal/march2007/skilton.html#17|accessdate=21 May 2015|series=Literary London: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Representation of London|publisher=The Literary London Society.|issn=1744-0807}}</ref><ref name="British Paintings"/>
File:John Martin Le Pandemonium Louvre.JPG|<poem>[[Astronomy:Paradise Lost|Anon out of the earth a fabric huge<br>Rose like and exhalation, with the sound<br>Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet,<br>Built like a temple, where pilasters round<br>Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid<br>With golden architrave...]]</poem>''[[Religion:Pandæmonium (Paradise Lost)|Pandæmonium]]'' by John Martin<ref name="http"/><ref name="THE GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE"/><ref name="British Paintings"/>
File:Hall i'th' Wood, near Bolton (engraving) by William Linton.jpg|''Hall i'th' Wood, near Bolton'' by William Linton
</gallery>

==Death==
On 9 September 1842, Hick died suddenly at Bolton from a "[[Medicine:Cardiovascular disease|disease of the heart]]", age 52 .<ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq." /><ref name='Pilling'>{{cite book|title=P. W. Pilling, ''Hick Hargreaves and Co., The History of an Engineering Firm c. 1833 – 1939, a Study with Special Reference to Technological Change and Markets'' (Unpublished Doctoral Thesis, University of Liverpool, 1985)|page=475}}</ref> Following, [[Company:B. Hick and Sons|B. Hick and Son]] continued under the management of his eldest son, John Hick.

Art works from Benjamin Hick's collection were advertised in January and February 1843 editions of ''The Art-Union'', ''Athenaeum'' and ''Literary Gazette'',<ref>{{cite journal|title=SALE BY AUCTION.|journal=THE LITERARY GAZETTE AND JOURNAL OF Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences &c.|date=21 January 1843|volume=1843|issue= 1357.|page=46|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LIFGAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=Literary+gazette+benjamin+hick&source=bl&ots=MrpoqpWgk8&sig=NAxD1bfVeosWAuc6zuuul7cgQ9I&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZrxHVdWaLIT_UK6LgcgF&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Literary%20gazette%20benjamin%20hick&f=false|accessdate=2 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=SALE OF AN IMPORTANT AND GENUINE COLLECTION OF PICTURES, DRAWINGS, ENGRAVINGS, &c|journal=The Athenaeum, Journal of Literature, Science, the Fine Arts, Music and the Drama.|date=21 January 1843|volume=2991|issue=795|page=49|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJpTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=benjamin+hick+athenaeum&source=bl&ots=O0jjj-URIV&sig=QFOHE7BbeNGKVtKB-agQP1udoAY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=e2BOVezFJ4GWsAGt0oCgCA&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20hick%20athenaeum&f=false|accessdate=9 May 2015|location=National Library of the Netherlands}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=SALE BY AUCTION|journal=THE LITERARY GAZETTE AND JOURNAL OF Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences &c|date=11 February 1843|volume=1843|issue= 1360|page=94}}</ref> then [[Finance:Auction|auction]]ed by Thomas Winstanley & Sons of Liverpool at the Exchange Gallery in Manchester between 21 and 24 February 1843. The sale included John Martin's pair ''[[Religion:Pandæmonium (Paradise Lost)|Pandæmonium]]'' and ''The Celestial City and the River of Bliss''.<ref name="http"/><ref name="British Paintings">{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Phillip|title=John Martin – Pandemonium|url=http://goldenagepaintings.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/john-martin-pandemonium.html|work=British Paintings|accessdate=14 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=SALE OF AN IMPORTANT AND GENUINE COLLECTION OF PICTURES, DRAWINGS, ENGRAVINGS, BRONZES &c|journal=The Art-Union|date=1 February 1843|volume=|page=51|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGZRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=benjamin+hick+art+journal+51#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20hick%20art%20journal%2051&f=false |accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Darcy|first=C. P.|title=The encouragement of the fine arts in Lancashire 1760–1860|year=1976|publisher=The Chetham Society, Manchester University Press ND|location=Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL|isbn=0-7190-1330-5|page=143}}</ref> Both paintings were bought by Hick from the artist following their exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1841; ''Pandæmonium'' and its frame designed by Martin<ref>{{cite magazine|last=James|first=Richard|magazine=The Burlington Magazine|date=August 1952|volume= 94|issue= 593|page=234|url=https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/870983?uid=3738032&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21101561969627|title=Burlington Magazine|accessdate=14 December 2012}}</ref> can be seen at the Louvre. Hick's obituary in the ''Art-Union'' appeared with those of John Varley, Lady Callcott and John Berney Crome.<ref>{{cite journal|title=OBITUARY.|journal=The Art-Union|date=1 January 1843|volume=5|pages=9–10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGZRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=John+varley+The+art+union#v=onepage&q=John%20varley%20The%20art%20union&f=false |accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref> Details of the sale were published in the April edition of ''The Art-Union''<ref name="SALES OF THE MONTH">{{cite journal|title=SALES OF THE MONTH - MANCHESTER - COLLECTION OF THE LATE B. HICK, ESQ|journal=The Art-Union|date=1 April 1843|volume=IV|issue=52|page=90|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BJaAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA90&lpg=RA1-PA90&dq=%22view+at+amiens%22+%2B+%22stanley%22&source=bl&ots=uN152GYckf&sig=RmLbDvYcd7bjxF7GSvAemxZuVko&hl=en&sa=X&ei=z2N0Ve3cOcvTUe-XgcgC&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=%22view%20at%20amiens%22%20%2B%20%22stanley%22&f=false|accessdate=7 June 2015|publisher=W. Thomas|location=Princeton University}}</ref> and May edition of ''The Gentleman's Magazine''.<ref name="THE GENTLEMEN'S MAGAZINE"/>

Friends of Hick from Lancashire: Robert Barlow, Joseph Beckton, Robert Daglish Jr (son of Robert Daglish), Jonathan Hardcastle, John Moore, John Mawdsley, Peter Rothwell and Thomas Lever Rushton formed a committee to see through the production of an [[Engineering:Engraving|engraving]] from Hick's portrait by George Patten. The picture was entrusted to John Grundy and Henry Cousins undertook the work in [[Mezzotint|mezzotint]]; proofs were then published at a moderate price,<ref>{{cite journal|title=THE LATE BENJAMIN HICK, ESQ|journal=The Art-Union|date=1 January 1843|volume=5|page=26 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGZRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=benjamin+hick+in+the+course+of+the+month+of+february+the+art+union#v=onepage&q=benjamin%20hick%20in%20the%20course%20of%20the%20month%20of%20february%20the%20art%20union&f=false |accessdate=23 January 2014}}</ref> examples can be found today in various museum collections.<ref>{{cite web|last=The British Museum|title=Collections Online|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3380614&partId=1|work=Portrait of Benjamin Hick|publisher=Trustees of the British Museum|accessdate=20 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Royal Museums Greenwich|title=The Collection |url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/145498.html|work=Benjamin Hick, Esqre (of Bolton in Lancashire and Soho Ironworks)|publisher=National Maritime Museum|accessdate=20 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10419299|title=Benjamin Hick, British engineer, c 1810–1842 |publisher=Science Museum/Science & Society Picture Library|accessdate=20 March 2014}}</ref> 
  
Hick was well respected, despite his family's wish the funeral be "stricty private", more than 500 people "including a great number of influential gentlemen of the neighbourhood", attended his grave; employees of B. Hick & Son gathered nearly £200 for a memorial and despite offers of assistance "resolved unanimously to keep this honour for themselves".<ref name="books.google.co.uk"/> Benjamin Hick's memorial in Bolton Parish Church reads:

<blockquote><poem>
This monument is erected by a general subscription of his Workmen,
in remembrance of his Christian character
and to record virtues so rare, for future imitation;
that he, though dead, may live again
in the spirit, action, and conduct of those,
who, guided by his character, and stimulated by his example,
will learn to love their neighbour as themselves
and to do good to all men.

He was an affectionate husband, 
a kind father, and a sincere friend;
alike distinguished by eminent ability,
and uniform integrity;
genius, in whatever art or science displayed,
even found in him a liberal patron;
He was [[Finance:Benefactor (law)|benefactor]] to this town,
where his worth will be long appreciated;
and his loss deeply deplored.<ref name="CATALOGUE OF THE PRINCIPLE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, BOOKS, BRONZES, &C., AT MYTTON HALL, The Residence of John Hick, Esq." /><ref name="Unknown"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Scholes|first1=James Christopher|editor1-last=Pemblett|editor1-first=William|title=HISTORY OF BOLTON: WITH MEMORIALS OF THE OLD PARISH CHURCH.|date=1892|publisher=Bolton: THE DAILY CHRONICLE OFFICE|page=172|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyboltonwi00schogoog#page/n198/mode/2up/search/hick|accessdate=18 November 2015}}</ref></poem></blockquote>

==See also==
*John Musgrave & Sons<ref name='Devided'/>
*Sharp, Roberts & Co.<ref name='Hills'/>
*[[Biology:Temple Works|Temple Works]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|3}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book| first=John| last=Marshall| chapter=John and William Hargreaves, Benjamin and John Hick and Peter Rothwell| title=A Biographical Dictionary of Railway Engineers| year=1978| pages=104, 112–3 and 187}}
* {{cite book| first=A. P.| last=Woolrich| chapter=John Farey and his ''Treatise on the Steam Engine'' (1827)| title=History of Technology| volume=22| year=2000| pages=63–106}}
* {{cite book| first=Mike| last=Chrimes| chapter=Hick, Benjamin| title=[[Engineering:A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers|A Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers]]| year=2002| page=322}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://archive.org/stream/engineersandmec03hebegoog#page/n748/mode/2up Internet Archive] Rothwell, Hick and Rothwell Low Pressure engine, p.&nbsp;741-743
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=-fEdAAAAMAAJ&pg=PP20&lpg=PP20&dq=winter%27s+wreath+1831&source=bl&ots=IKy_LdnEfH&sig=Z3RWsiPGOJBUdpfRJgFAMNDsKs8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGm7H75t3JAhUGtBQKHSnYCXAQ6AEIIzAA#v=onepage&q=winter's%20wreath%201831&f=false The Winter's Wreath] 1831, with reproductions from Hick's collection, p.&nbsp;49, 109, 325
* [https://archive.org/stream/engineersandmec03hebegoog#page/n576/mode/2up Internet Archive] Hick's Vertical Boiler 3-cylinder Locomotive 1834, p.&nbsp;568-569
* [https://archive.org/stream/appletonsdiction01dapp#page/168/mode/2up Internet Archive] Hick's Vertical Boring Machine c.1841, p.&nbsp;167-168



{{DEFAULTSORT:Hick, Benjamin}}
[[Category:Mechanical engineers]]

{{Sourceattribution|Benjamin Hick|1}}