In France a man named Perier seems to have been busy with fire-engines, though how far he worked independently of others we cannot tell.
The hose and suction-pipe are said to have been invented by two men named Van der Hide, inspectors of fire-extinguishing machines at Amsterdam about 1670. The hose was of leather, and enabled the water to be discharged close to the fire. It is worthy of note that this invention also appears to have been after the Great Fire of London.
Remembering, therefore, that Newsham was probably indebted to others for the important air-chamber and flexible leathern hose--though how far he was indebted we cannot say--we must regard him as the Father of the Modern Fire-Engine in England. Especially so, as his improvements have been regarded as in advance of all others in their variety and value. It is also worthy of note that the first fire-engines in the United States were of his construction.
Little is known of Newsham's life. The reasons leading him, a maker of pearl buttons, to turn his attention to fire-engine improvement are not clear. At his death in 1743, the undertaking passed by bequest to his son. The son died about a year after his father, and the business then came into the hands of his wife and cousin George Ragg, also by bequest; and the name of the firm became Newsham & Ragg.
One of Newsham's engines may be seen in the South Kensington Museum to-day, having been presented to that institution by the corporation of Dartmouth. The pump-barrels will be found to measure 4½ inches in diameter, with a piston-stroke of 8½ inches. The original instructions are still attached, and are protected by a piece of horn.
The general construction of Newsham's engines appears to have been something like this:
The body, which was long and narrow, measured about 9 feet by 3 feet broad; this shape enabled it to be wheeled in narrow streets, and even through doorways. Along the lower part of the body, which was swung on wheels, ran a pipe of metal, which the water entered from a feed-pipe. The feed-pipe was intended to be connected with a source of supply; but if this failed, a cistern, attached to the body of the engine, could be filled by buckets, while a strainer was placed at the junction between the cistern and the interior pipe to prevent dirt or gravel from entering it.