The block mills they designed required ten unskilled men to take the place of 110 skilled craftsmen, and have been recognised as the first use of machine tools for mass production.

One of their projects was to build engines for the SS Great Western's Atlantic crossing of 1838.

He was a prolific engineer working with the Atlantic Telegraph Company on machinery for cable laying, the Metropolitan Board of Works on sewage systems and Isambard Kingdom Brunel on his steamships.

In his inaugural address, delivered on 1 February, he alluded particularly to the changes which had then been introduced into steam navigation which allowed for a greater capacity and speeds.

Field died at his residence, Balham Hill House, Surrey, on 11 August 1863, aged 76 and was interred at West Norwood Cemetery in a Portland stone sarcophagus.