Joseph Whitworth

Life & Legacy

Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet (21 December 1803 – 22 January 1887) was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for screw threads. Whitworth also created the Whitworth rifle, often called the "sharpshooter" because of its accuracy, which is considered one of the earliest examples of a sniper rifle, used by some Confederate forces during the American Civil war.
Whitworth was created a baronet by Queen Victoria in 1869. Upon his death in 1887, Whitworth donated much of his fortune for the people of Manchester, with the Whitworth Art Gallery and Christie Hospital partly funded by Whitworth. Whitworth Street, Whitworth Park and the Whitworth Building in Manchester are named in his honour.
Whitworth's company merged with the W.G. Armstrong & Mitchell Company to become Armstrong Whitworth in 1897.