Samuel Brown (Royal Navy officer)

[3] During his service, he carried out tests on wrought iron chain cables, using them as rigging for HMS Penelope in 1806 on a voyage to the West Indies.

[5][6] By 1811, he was promoted to commander (in 1842 he accepted the rank of retired captain),[3] and his chains were introduced to hold ships' anchors.

"When he was thinking about how to build a bridge across the River Tweed, Sir Samuel Brown stopped while observing a spider's web.

[9] Most of his designs used an unstiffened bridge deck, before it became clear that this form was vulnerable to wind forces and unstable under concentrated loads.

His designs were reviewed by eminent engineers including John Rennie and Thomas Telford, and generally approved.

Brown's designs were significantly less conservative than his contemporaries, adopting a higher tensile strength for his iron chains.

He died, aged 75, at Vanbrugh Lodge, Blackheath, London on 13 March 1852 and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery.