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Metcalf, John
Metcalf, John (1717–1810). Road-builder, known as ‘Blind Jack of Knaresborough’. Blinded by smallpox at the age of 6, Metcalf proved extraordinarily adaptable, and became successively travelling fiddler and horse-dealer, recruiting for Cumberland's army in 1745, and was present at both Falkirk and Culloden, trading thereafter in Aberdeen stockings. He set up a stage-wagon to York (1754), and traded in horses and provender, before securing his first road-building contract in 1765, eventually constructing 180 miles in northern England, and employing at peak 400 men. He was perhaps the first to apply coherent principles to construction, based upon the excavation of firm foundations, ditch drainage, and convex section. Metcalf retired in 1792, and set down his achievements in his autobiography (1795).
J. A. Chartres |
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Metcalf, John." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Metcalf, John." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-MetcalfJohn.html JOHN CANNON. "Metcalf, John." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-MetcalfJohn.html |
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Metcalf, John
Metcalf, John (1717–1810). Road‐builder, known as ‘ Blind Jack of Knaresborough’. Blinded by smallpox at the age of 6, Metcalf proved extraordinarily adaptable, and became successively travelling fiddler and horse‐dealer, recruiting for Cumberland's army in 1745; he was present at both Falkirk and Culloden. He set up a stage‐wagon to York (1754), and traded in horses and provender, before securing his first road‐building contract in 1765, eventually constructing 180 miles in northern England, and employing at peak 400 men.
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Metcalf, John." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Metcalf, John." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-MetcalfJohn.html JOHN CANNON. "Metcalf, John." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-MetcalfJohn.html |
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Metcalf, John
Metcalf, John (b Swansea, 1946). Welsh composer. Assoc. art. dir. (from 1986) and comp.-in-residence (from 1991), Banff Centre, School of Fine Arts, Alberta. Works incl. operas The Journey (1981), Tornrak (1989); mus. th. The Crossing (1981); The Boundaries of Time, cantata (1985); hn. conc. (1972), cl. conc. (1982), Music of Changes, orch. (1981), Orchestral Variations (1990); pf. trio (1988); and songs.
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Cite this article
MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Metcalf, John." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Metcalf, John." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-MetcalfJohn.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Metcalf, John." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-MetcalfJohn.html |
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