1827.] 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



547 



Coalfort, and Worcester, was added. Mr. 

 Spode's celebrity as a manufacturer of por- 

 celain, may be" inferred from the circum- 

 stance, that, in 1806, his present Majesty, 

 then Prince of Wales, attended by the Duke 

 of Clarence, the Marquess of Stafford, and 

 several other noblemen, visited his pot- 

 teries, and appointed him potter to His 

 Royal Highness. 



In 1803, Mr. Spode erected a splendid 

 mansion at the Mount, whither he removed 

 his family in 1804. There, at the Jubilee, 

 in 1809, he gave a splendid fete to all the 

 gentry of the district, and as handsomely 

 regaled the persons in his employment. In 

 1811, he erected a veiy large steam-engine 

 on his premises, and made many important 

 improvements. In 1823, having greatly 

 enhanced the value as well as the beauty of 

 his porcelain, he produced, as a specimen, 

 a large and superbly ornamented jar, of 

 such elegance in form and embellishment, 

 as to entitle it to the praise of a chef 

 d'ceuvre. 



Mr. Spode's liberality to his servants was 

 proverbial ; and, at his death, those who 

 were in the more confidential offices, were 

 distinguished by substantial proofs of the 

 estimation in which they had been held. 



Mr. Spode died, universally lamented, in 

 the month of July, 1827. 



GEORGE DODD. 



Mr. George Dodd, the projector of Water- 

 loo Bridge, was the son of Mr. Ralph Dodd, 

 a civil engineer of considerable merit, who 

 died at Cheltenham, about five years since, 

 in consequence of an injury which he had 

 received from the hot water from a steam- 

 engine, in the west of England, while it was 

 under his inspection.* He was born about 

 the year 1783, and, of the same profession 

 as his father, the public have profited by 

 many of his speculative schemes. A bridge 

 across the Thames from the Strand, is said 

 to have been first proposed by Mr. John 

 Gwynn, in 1766. Mr. Dodd revived the 

 idea ; and it was from his design, with very 

 slight alterations, that Waterloo Bridge, 

 which Canova pronounced to be the most 

 elegant and classical production of its kind 

 in Europe, was built. Mr. Dodd is said to 

 have received upwards of j5,000 for his 

 services from the Waterloo Bridge Com- 

 pany. On account of his youth, however, 

 he was superseded by Mr Rennie, as prin- 

 cipal engineer ; Mr. Dodd being retained as 

 resident engineer ; and each of those gen- 

 tlemen receiving a salary of j 1,000 per 



* Mr. Ralph Dodd was the projector of Vauxliall 

 Bridge, the South LondonWaterWorks,theThames 

 Tunnel at Gravesend, the Surrey Canal, &c. He 

 wrote an Account of the principal Canals of the 

 known World, 1/95 ; Reports, with Plans and Sec- 

 tions, of the proposed Dry Tunnel, 178 ; Letters 

 on the Improvement of the Port of London, &c., 

 1799; Observations on Water, intended to recom- 

 mend the metropolis being better supplied with that 

 article ; and Practical Observations on the Dry 

 Hot in Timber. 



annum. Mr. Dodd on what account we 

 know not, but he was always improvident 

 soon resigned his situation. 



It was to Mr. Dodd that the public were 

 first indebted for the idea of steam passage- 

 boats from London to Margate and Rich- 

 mond ; but from that scheme, which was 

 carried on successfully to a considerable 

 extent, he derived little solid advantage. 

 In a short time he had the mortification to 

 see his plans, his anticipated fame and pro- 

 fit appropriated by others, on most of the 

 navigable rivers of Britain. 



Amongst his more recent schemes, was 

 an invention, said to have been greatly ap- 

 proved of by many men of nautical emi- 

 nence, for extinguishing accidental fire on 

 board of ships at sea. However, not expe- 

 riencing the encouragement which he ex- 

 pected, the disappointment preyed upon his 

 mind, and ultimately produced an aberra- 

 tion of intellect. He was consequently re- 

 duced to a state of extreme want and 

 misery. On the 17th of September, this 

 unfortunate man was taken before the Lord 

 Mayor as a vagrant, having been found in a 

 state of drunkenness on the preceding night, 

 and carried to the Giltspur Street Conipter. 

 He requested permission to remain at the 

 Compter, till arrangements could be made 

 for his removal. The request was com- 

 plied with ; but, under the insane appre- 

 hension that poison would be administered 

 to him, he refused all medicine ; and, after 

 lingering until the morning of September 

 25, he expired. On the following day, an 

 inquest was held upon the body, and a ver- 

 dict returned of " died by the visitation of 

 God." 



Mr. Dodd has left a son and a daughter to 

 lament his loss. From some family in- 

 fluence, Mr. Dodd was accustomed to take 

 an active part in the elections for Berwick. 

 He was diminutive in stature, obliging in 

 his manners, and of lively address. 



LORD BANGOR. 



Nicholas Ward, second Viscount Bangor, 

 Baroo of Castle Ward, in the con nty of 

 Down, Ireland, was the descendant from a 

 family of Norman origin, seated at Capes- 

 thorn, in the county of Chester. Bernard 

 Ward settled in Ireland in the year 1580. 

 Michael Wnrd.one of his descendants, M.P. 

 for Downsbire in J715, and one of the Jus- 

 tices ot'the King's Bench in Ireland, married 

 a co- heiress of James Hamilton, ofBangor, 

 in the county of Down. His eldest son, 

 Bernard, was created Buron Bangor in 1770, 

 and advanced to the dignity of Viscount in 

 1781. His eldest son, Nicholas, by Anne 

 Bligh, daughter of John, first Earl of Darn- 

 ley, and widow of John Hawkin Macgill, of 

 Gilford, in the county of Down, Esq., and 

 mother of Tbeodosia, Countess of Clanwil- 

 liam, was the second and late Viscouut. His 

 Lordship was born in 1750, and he succeeded 

 to the title on the 20th of May, 1781. He 

 died at Castle Ward, on the llth ol'Septem- 



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