Sir William Cubitt

In 1807 Sir William Cubitt invented his “patent sail” combining Meikle’s hinged shutters with Hooper’s remote control by chain from the ground via a rod passing through a hole drilled through the windshaft; the operation was comparable to operating an umbrella; by varying the weights hung on…

…improved upon in 1807 by Sir William Cubitt, who combined Meikle’s shutters with Hooper’s remote control by hanging varying weights on the adjustment chain, thus making the control automatic. These so-called patent sails, however, found acceptance only in England and northern Europe.

…1818 by the British engineer Sir William Cubitt (1785–1861) as a means of usefully employing convicts. The device was a wide hollow cylinder, usually composed of wooden steps built around a cylindrical iron frame, and was designed in some cases to handle as many as 40 convicts. As the device…