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Howard, just found this:-
Cubitt, Sir William
William Cubitt was born and Baptised in Dilham, Norfolk, in 1785, and died in Clapham Common, London, on 13 October 1861, aged 76. He was the son of Joseph Cubitt, miller, of Bacton Wood near Dilham. He became millwright at Horning, Norfolk where he invented and patented self-regulating windmill sails in 1807. From 1812-21 he was employed by Ransome & Son of Ipswich, agricultural implement makers, and was a partner between 1821 and 1826 (Peter Brown disputes this). In 1817 he invented the treadmill, at once adopted in the main British gaols. From 1826 to 1858 he practised as a civil engineer in London. He designed the Oxford canal improvements and the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction (now Shropshire Union) canal.
From 1836 to 1846 he built the South Eastern Railway. The biggest operation was blasting down the face of Round Down Cliff with one charge of 18 000lb (8 165kg) of gunpowder exploded electrically on 26 January 1843. The work included Shakespeare Cliff tunnel, 1387yd (l268m). On 23 September 1844 he was appointed consulting engineer to the London & York (GNR) following the resignation of Locke, until his retirement in 1855. He superintended the construction of the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851, for which he was knighted at Windsor Castle on 23 October 1851. He built two large floating landing stages on the Mersey at Liverpool and the iron bridge across the Medway at Rochester.
In case there is risk of seeing Cubbitt as infallible it is worth noting that he was the engineer of the London & Croydon Railway and a forceful advocate of the atmospheric system. Dendy Marshall History of the Southern Railway (rev. Kidner) pp. 45-6.
Elected MICE 1823; Member of Council 1831; Vice President 1836; President 1850-2; FRS 1.April1830.
