Joseph Elkington

Joseph Elkington (baptised 1 January 1740[1] at Stretton-on-Dunsmore in Warwickshire, died October 1806) was an English agriculturalist, lauded by parliament for his reforms to land drainage.[2]

Joseph Elkington
black and white reproduction of a painted, bust-length portrait of a white male
BornBaptised 1 January 1740
Warwickshire, England
DiedOctober 1806
Resting placeGraveyard of All Saints' Church, Madeley, Staffordshire, England
MonumentsIn All Saints' churchyard, Stretton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire
NationalityEnglish
Occupations
  • Farmer
  • Drainage engineer
Known forImprovements to land drainage
RelativesGeorge Elkington (grandson)
Awards£1,000 and gold ring

Career

While farming at Princethorpe, Warwickshire he devised a way of using boreholes to drain boggy land.[2] For this innovation, and concerned that his frail health would result in the loss of his knowledge before it was shared,[1] parliament awarded him, in 1795, £1,000 and a gold ring.[2] Edinburgh land surveyor John Johnstone (d. 1838) was employed by the Board of Agriculture to study Elkington's methods.[1]

Elkington subsequently worked in partnership with Lancelot "Capability" Brown to develop drainage plans for the latter's landscaping schemes, starting with one at Fisherwick Park near Lichfield.[2]

Elkington moved to Hey House in Staffordshire in 1797 to farm 500 acres (200 ha) of land at Madeley,[2] which became known as Bog Farm.[1]

Personal life

Elkington was the eldest son of Joseph Elkington (1697–1758), a yeoman farmer, and Mary, née Gallimore (died 1750).[1] He had epilepsy.[1] He married Sarah Webb (baptised 1738, died 1821), daughter of Richard and Mary, on 26 December 1760.[1] Nine of their children survived Elkington.[1] His grandson was the industrialist George Elkington.[2] He died at Hay House on 17 October 1806[1] and was buried in the churchyard at All Saints' Church, Madeley[2] on 20 October.[1] A monument to him in All Saints' churchyard, Stretton-on-Dunsmore, calls him a "pioneer of land drainage".[2]

Further reading
  • Johnstone, John (1797). Account of the Mode of Draining Land According to the System Practised by Mr Joseph Elkington (1st ed.).
  • Holland, Christopher John; Langley, Anne D.; Moore, Adam (2006). Joseph Elkington: Warwickshires Land Drainage Pioneer. Stretton Millennium History Group. ISBN 9780953746248.

References
  1. H. S. Torrens, 'Elkington, Joseph (bap. 1740, d. 1806)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 accessed 16 Feb 2013
  2. Upton, Chris (15 February 2013). "Farm engineer Joseph Elkington was an expert in his field". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
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