It includes the quest for those who might have known John Pattinson Kirk. Anyone with Hugh Lee [note a] Pattinson's surname ranks for consideration. There is no established link so far. However, someone might be prompted by reading this site. Hugh as we'll call him, was an interesting man, as you will see. As for alchemy, we'll take stock.
As you read this - (1,2) etc gives the source of information - [a,b] gives links to notes - [....] gives a brief note within a quoted passage which itself is in italics.
George Kirk, John's father, married Margaret Pattinson and, as was fashionable in the 1800s, they included her surname in their son's name. We start in hope of a blood line between Margaret and Hugh.
Let's look at basics first.
(1) Hugh was born on 2 Dec 1796. His wife was Phoebe Walton. Phoebe is referred to again later.
We gain a lot of detail from (2).
Hugh was born on 25th December [in conflict with (1)] 1796 at Alston, Cumberland, son of Thomas Pattinson, a retail trader, and Margaret Lee. He gained some knowledge of electricity and at the age of seventeen constructed some electrical devices. He also studied chemistry especially in connection with metallurgy.
In 1821 employed as clerk and assistant to Anthony Clapham, a soap boiler in Newcastle.
1822 Pattinson joined the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle. In 1825 , he became assay master to the lords of the manor at Alston. In 1829, Pattinson discovered an easy [!!] method for separating the silver from lead ore but did not have the funds to complete his research.
1831 Appointed manager of the lead works of Mr Wentworth Beaumont where he had the opportunity to perfect his method of desilverising lead which was patented in 1833.
1834 He resigned his post and, in partnership with John Lee [his father-in-law] and George Burnett, established a chemical works at Felling, Gateshead and afterwards at Washington. His process for extracting the silver from lead allowed the working of lead mines that had been deemed too uneconomic to run.
1838 Became Vice President of the British Association, a Fellow of the Geological Society.
1839-40 Visited America to investigate an offered mining speculation.
1852 Elected fellow of the Royal Society in June.
1858 Retired from business to study astronomy, mathematics and physics. Soon after this he died at his home, Scot's House near Gateshead, and was buried in Washington. [End of ref (2) ]
In looking past Hugh's life and to his obituary in the Carlisle Patriot, 20 Nov, 1858 (3), we see the first description of him as a mineralogist.
Our obituary column records the death, at Scots House, West Boldon,Gateshead, of one of the "remarkable men" of the North -- Hugh Lee Pattinson, Esq., a native of Alston, in Cumberland, where he was born [b] on Christmas Day [another with this claim] , upwards of 60 years ago. The son of a respectable tradesman,Mr. Pattinson took part in his father's business till manhood, when, as a mineralogist, he entered upon a wider sphere, .....
A little alchemy
The desirableness of some ........ mode of extracting silver from lead, had been long obvious to those conversant with that branch of our national industry, and Mr. Pattinson was for some years engaged in occasional experiments on the subject. ...... his patient labours were not to go unrewarded. It happened, in the month of January, 1829, that in the prosecution of his object he required lead in a state of powder, and to obtain it, adopted the mode of stirring a portion of melted lead in a crucible, until it cooled below its point of fusion, by which process the metal is reduced to a state of minute sub-division. He was now on the threshold of his great discovery. ..... he began to conceive that possibly some difference might be found in the proportions of silver held by the part that crystallized and the part that remained liquid; and following up his conjecture by experiment, its truth was demonstrated -- the liquid lead yielding .....much more silver than the crystals.
Three or four years passed away before Mr.Pattinson made his discovery practically available to the extent of his wishes; there were difficulties to be overcome in its profitable application; but all these gave way before his ingenuity and perseverance; and the result, ........ was equivalent to an additionof 54,000 ounces of silver to the wealth of England and Wales -- a considerable portion of which, it is pleasant to know, found its way into his own pockets. ...
Prior to Mr. Pattinson's process (for which he took out a patent) the extraction of silver from lead could only be pursued with profit when the more precious metal was present in the proportion of 20 ounces to the ton. The minimum was now reduced to 3 ounces; lead mines, before neglected,could be worked with advantage; and the new mode of working came into use far beyond the limits of our own island.We have enlarged upon Mr. Pattinson's great act of alchemy, with which his name will for ever be associated: .... . (3)
A little conjecture
Towards the end of the chapter on Hugh within (2) {page 276}, its writer mentions that Hugh's father had a grocer/draper shop. John Kirk's father's shop was similar and they must have known each other.When the 'basics' of Hugh's life were covered, mention was made of his wife, Phoebe Walton. The book on page 284 states she had a brother with a draper shop. Quite a community of such within a tiny mining town.
Where did the "Lee" come from? His mother's maiden name was Lee and you would conclude it was put in as a matter of routine. Hugh was a man beyond his era and he adopted it within his name (2) {287}. Phoebe was the best-looking girl in Alston and at first rejected Hugh's advances. Once the marriage had been arranged, Hugh took it upon himself to become respectable, perhaps, and got himself baptised on 23 Dec 1815. He entered the church as Hugh Pattinson and left as Hugh Lee Pattinson. Two days later on Christmas Day the couple were married.
Under the year 1839, Hugh is seen to go to America concerning a mining speculation. Phoebe Walton's grandfather is said to have had large amounts of shares in mines - (2) {page 284}. As a teenager, talk of shares, mines, investment etc was all around him.
Did John Kirk rub shoulders with Hugh? Perhaps if they were sitting down. Hugh had an almost forty-year start on John. (Hugh - 1796, John - 1835) By the time Hugh had died in 1858, John would have been twenty three. However, John was clearly a go-ahead fellow who would have sought the advice etc of those prominent within the community generally and within the mining community.
Were they related? So far, there's no evidence but over to you, the reader. In research it's best not to hold your breath too much or you hyper-ventilate. In checking that HLP had been a Fellow of the Royal Society (which he was), ref (4) was looked at. It states that Margaret Pattinson was HLP's daughter. Is that John Pattinson Kirk's mother? Silly woman went off and married a Baronet! [c]
Hugh's decendants
(5) The Carlisle Patriot, Saturday, November 20, 1858, Obituary HUGH LEE PATTINSON Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 23:39:47 -0400 DEATH OF HUGH LEE PATTINSON, F.R.S. continued
MRS. PATTINSON, who was born, we believe, on the same day with himself,survives her husband; and he also leaves a son and three daughters: -
HUGH LEE PATTINSON, Esq., of Stote's Hall, Jesmond
MRS. R. B. BOWMAN, of Newcastle;
MRS. ISAAC LOWTHIAN BELL, of Washington
MRS. R. S.NEWALL, of Gateshead.
The funeral of this eminent gentleman took place at the village of Washington on Saturday.
The chief mourners comprised:
HUGH LEE PATTINSON, Esq., son of deceased [and a long list of gentry]
Many other gentlemen and 600 workmen attended. The neat little church was crowded to excess. Mr. Pattinson is deposited in a vault at the east end,at the head of which stands a monumental stone, recording the deaths of
WALTER, his beloved child, who died March 6th, 1847, aged six years; and also
THOMAS, who died at Para, in Brazil, July 17th, 1856, aged nineteen.
Refs
1 http://www.sandars.org.uk/Geneology/getperson.php?personID=I275&tree=SuperSandars
2 http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/daguerreotypes_pattinson.php
3 http://www.cultrans.com/november-20-1858/obituary-hugh-lee-pattinson.html
4 http://www.thepeerage.com/p5613.htm#i56121
5 http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/CUMBERLAND/2004-06/1087961987
6 http://archives.northyorks.gov.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo==) but see note c
Notes
a The site title gives Hugh LeA Pattinson. The writer's computer skills do not extend to editing that.
b In the mid 1800s, the only record was the baptism and 'baptism' and 'birth' were interchanged at will.
c Isaac Lowthian Bell, 1st bart., joined the ironworks of his father's firm of Losh, Wilson and Bell at Walker, Northumberland in 1836. In 1842 he married Margaret, daughter of Hugh Lee Pattinson a metallurgical chemist, and in 1852 in partnership with his father in law established the Washington Chemical Company with premises near Gateshead. (6)
If you are desparate to follow up the reference, have lunch first. When you click the link at ref 6 - all you get is a home page and a "Submit Query" system.
To get round the silly system, you can do one of two things. Probably the second is easier.
First option - type - Hugh Lee Pattinson genealogy - into Google. Select "Search:NYCC Logo You are here Leisure and Culture > Record" When you arrive go to admin/history to see the extract and the background to it. You may notice ZFK at the end of the web address for that page. Ref 6 has everything but ZFK and the system removes it - clever isn't it?
Second option - paste ref 6 into your browser. Then slip in ZFK like this at the end - ....(RefNo==ZFK) - click go and there you are. Go to admin/history as in the first option.
One thing from the first option - there's nothing on Hugh's genealogy.
The writer can be found at - - avrf23 @dsl.pipex.com - - but close the 23 to the @ first.
To return to the home-page - http://honeywoodheritagecentreancestryinfo.blogspot.com/
