Jonathan Hulls

It has been suggested that the background to the efforts of Hulls was the 1734 publication in the abridged Philosophical Transactions of a paper by the French engineer Monsieur Duquet on ships and mechanical propulsion.

[1] The patent for the invention by Hulls is dated 21 December 1736, and his account of it appeared as Description and Draught of a new-invented Machine for carrying Vessels or Ships out of or into any Harbour, Port, or River against Wind and Tide, or in a Calm; for which his Majesty has granted Letters-patent for the sole benefit of the Author for the space of fourteen years (London, 1737).

[3] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography casts doubt on the traditional story about practical trials by Hulls.

[1] The Dictionary of National Biography first edition related that they were made on River Avon at Evesham in 1737; that they were a failure; and that Hulls was the butt of humour.

[3] In 1754 Hulls published The Art of Measuring made Easy by the help of a new Sliding Scale; he also wrote the Maltmakers' Instructor.