Savery, Thomas (c. 1650-1715)

Thomas Savery's steam pump, the ‘Miners' Friend’, has been described as the precursor of the steam engine. However, it achieved only limited success and was not adopted widely, probably because of faulty materials and poor workmanship.

British engineer who invented the steam-driven water pump in 1696. It was the world's first working steam engine.

The pump used a boiler to raise steam, which was condensed (in a vessel) by an external spray of cold water. The partial vacuum created sucked water up a pipe; steam pressure was then used to force the water away, after which the cycle was repeated. Savery patented his invention in 1698, but it appears that poor-quality work and materials made his engines impractical.

Savery was born in Devon. His first patent was in 1696 for a machine for cutting, grinding, and polishing mirror glass. He also invented a mechanism for measuring the distance sailed by a ship. From 1705 to 1714 he was treasurer for Sick and Wounded Seamen. In 1714 he was appointed surveyor of the waterworks at Hampton Court and he designed a pumping system, driven by a water wheel, for supplying the fountains.

His pump was called the Miner's Friend and was intended to raise water from mines, but there are no records of any engines being installed in mines. An engine built at York Buildings waterworks had continuous problems with blowing steam joints.