George Webb Waterton Pinckney
Male, Person Number262, b. 25 February 1873, d. September 1953
 George Webb Waterton Pinckney 1873 - 1953 |
| Relationship | 5th great-grandson of Thomas Pinckney |
| Father | John Pinckney b. 13 Aug 1848, d. 1900 | |
| Mother | Mary Jane Hogg b. 1852, d. 1911 |
| Charts | Thomas Pinckney of Esh |
Birth, Marriages and Death | ||
| Birth* | 25 Feb 1873 | George Webb Waterton Pinckney was born on 25 Feb 1873 at Tynemouth, South Shields, England, ; apr-may-jun 10b 186.1  |
| He was the son of John Pinckney and Mary Jane Hogg. | ||
| Marriage* | 14 Aug 1907 | George Webb Waterton Pinckney married Agnes Rippon Lightford on 14 Aug 1907 at South Shields, England, ; jul-aug-sep 10a 1525.2 |
| Death* | Sep 1953 | George Webb Waterton Pinckney died in Sep 1953 at South Shields, England, , at age 80; jul-aug-sep 1a 710.3 |
Censuses | ||
| Census1881* | 3 Apr 1881 | George Webb Waterton Pinckney appeared in the 1881 census at 17 Byron Street, Westoe, England, ; RG 11 / 5009.4 |
| Census1891* | 5 Apr 1891 | He appeared in the 1891 census at Westoe, England, ; RG 12 / 4156.4 |
| Census1901* | 31 Mar 1901 | He appeared in the 1901 census at 34 Readhead Avenue, Westoe, South Shields, England, ; RG 13 / 4730.  |
| Census1939* | 29 Sep 1939 | He was listed as head of household in the 1939 census at 61-65 Cambridge Street, Sunderland, England, . |
Other Information | ||
| Anecdote* | George designed a device that was ultimately used on every battleship in the early part of the 20th century to prevent explosions in the magazine. A device for a flashtight door preventing the flash from getting down the trunk and igniting the fumes and blowing out the side of the ship. At least two ships lost in the Battle of Jutland (The Indefatigable and The Queen Mary) were lost by these explosions. This was chronicled in a book called "I.D" (New Tales of the Submarine War) by David Masters and also reported in a newspaper article on October 6, 1935 in "The Sunday Sun". | |
| Anecdote | Extract from "I.D. New Tales of the Submarine War" by David Masters Publshed in 1935 ...the action of the Dogger Bank on January 24, 1915 taught the Germans a sharp lesson that protected them from a great peril, for a shell, exploding against one of the after barbettes of the Seydlitz, drove into the turret some fragments of red-hot armour plate which fired some of the charges waiting for the guns. The flashes shot down the shafts, up which the shells were passed and exploded six tons of powder, blotting out 165 men. The ship was saved by an officer and two men who risked their lives to flood the magazines, and when she reached port the danger of a flashback down the shell hoists was evident to the Germans, who straight away guarded their ships against it. The British, however, remained in ignorance of the risk until the Battle of Jutland, when the Queen Mary and her consorts were wiped out of existence through this cause. There was something like consternation at the Admiralty when it was learned what had happened. It was a danger which British naval experts had not foreseen and against which the whole British fleet was unprotected. The most urgent requests were sent out to the big armament firms and the builders and designers of warships to produce something which would overcome the danger, but they were all baffled. How this problem, which was apparently insuperable to the most brilliant scientists and naval architects, was actually solved by an ordinary working man and the reward he reaped I am now able to disclose. After being torpedoed at Jutland, H.M.S. Marlborough, the Flagship of the First Battle Squadron, was put into the Admiralty floating dock on the Tyne for repairs; and Mr.R.H.Stephenson of Smith's Dock Company went down into the magazine with one of his workmen, Mr.G.W.Pinckney, to instruct him about the work to be done to prevent the charges from being ignited by a flash. The only thing the naval experts could think of was to shut the door through which the lyddite was passed and make a hole through it, fitting over the hole a brass ring to which was attached a cloth sleeve, something like the sleeve of a coat. This device was very crude, and it can be imagined how the handling of the charges was hampered by having to push them through this sleeve. Pinckney, however, carried out instructions and fitted these as he was told. Then he went up on deck to build a structure over the hatch of the shell hoist from which the charges emerged. He was hard at work on the second day when Commander G.C.C.Royle came along with Mr. Stephenson and the Admiralty Overseer to look at his work. "This is what you want, Mr.Royle?" inquired Mr.Stephenson. "Yes, that is what I want," was the reply. "But how are you going to get the charge out to the guns?" Mr.Stephenson looked at the naval officer. "Don't you understand what this house is for?" said Commander Royle. "It is to stop the flash from getting down the trunk and igniting the fumes and blowing the side of the ship out. You must have an outlet, and it must be flash-tight and water-tight if possible." Pinckney, standing by his work, could not avoid hearing what was said. It set him thinking deeply. Next day Commander Royle came along to him again. "You are getting on very well with this job," he commented. "Yes; there is not very much in it," answered Pinckney. "No," agreed Commander Royle. "The dilemma we are in is to get an outlet." "I've got an idea that would answer the purpose," said Pinckney quietly. The naval officer looked at him quickly. "What is it?" Without the slightest hesitation and with the utmost frankness Pinckney explained his idea and how it would work. "My God!" exclaimed Commander Royle, his eyes lighting with excitement. "That is the very thing we have tried to get. Make them at once. We go off in thirty-six hours." Pinckney went to his firm, who made a wooden model of his flash-tight door for him, and when the Marlborough sailed she was fitted with the first flash-tight door the British navy ever possessed. It was a rush job, done in a tremendous hurry, just to show how the idea would work, and before the warship was long at sea Pinckney had already improved on it. He did nothing about his invention and made no attempt to protect it or patent it in any way. Some time afterward he met the Admiralty Overseer. "Have you done anything about your door?" asked the Overseer. "What should I have done?" asked Pinckney. The Admiralty Overseer shook his head. "I can't tell you. Only I wish it had been mine. I would have gone right up the tree. It is where we finish that counts." Pinckney, the sturdy English workman used to handling intractable metal, was puzzled. He pondered over the whole thing, and decided to travel to London, where he went to the House of Commons and explained everything to the Right Honourable J.M.Robertson. "You must go to the Admiralty," advised Mr.Robertson, "and if you are not satisfied come back to see me and I will introduce you to the First Lord." Away went Pinckney to the Admiralty, who passed him on to their experts in Victory House at Trafalgar Square, to whom he explained his mission. "Could you improve on your first idea?" asked one of the experts. "Yes," said Pinckney, and told them about his improved door, the type which is now fitted to every British battleship afloat. "How much money do you want?" inquired another expert. "I have not thought of asking for money," replied the patriotic Englishman. "But I would like some thing to let my kiddies know their father has done something out of the ordinary." The Admiralty sent him a letter thanking him for his helpfulness in the matter and awarding him a gratuity of £5. Incidentally, his trip to London cost him £10. If one of the big armament firms had put forward Pinckney's flash-tight door they would have exacted the largest sum possible from the State. Pinckney himself made no claim for any reward. But in a grave naval crisis he produced an invention which protected the British navy from one of the greatest perils to which it was subject, he remedied an inherent defect which British naval designers had completely overlooked. Because he was generous, there was no reason why Great Britain should prove so niggardly. I believe the nation even at this late date would prefer to see him adequately rewarded. | |
| Occupation* | 31 Mar 1901 | George Webb Waterton Pinckney was Ship Plater on 31 Mar 1901. |
| Occupation | 29 Sep 1939 | He was a Publican on 29 Sep 1939. |
Children of George Webb Waterton Pinckney and Agnes Rippon Lightford |
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| Children | 1. | Stanley James R Pinckney+ b. 11 Jun 1908, d. 19 Apr 1988 |
| 2. | Jennie Pinckney | |
| 3. | George Pinckney+ b. 1914, d. 16 Aug 1960 | |
| 4. | Sapper Thomas Pinckney b. 26 Nov 1915, d. 23 Sep 1947 | |
Citations
| Last Edited | 6 Apr 2022 |