Hugh Orr (inventor)
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Hugh Orr | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 2, 1715 |
| Died | December 6, 1798 (aged 83) |
| Occupations | Toolmaker, gunsmith, inventor, legislator |
| Known for | Introducing cannon manufacturing techniques during the American Revolutionary War; pioneering textile machinery in America |
| Spouse | Mary Bass (m. 1742) |
| Children | 10, including Robert Orr Jr. |
Hugh Orr (2 January 1715 – 6 December 1798)[1] was a Scottish-born toolmaker, gunsmith and inventor in Massachusetts. He introduced to America new methods of manufacturing cannons during the Revolutionary War, and later of processing cotton.
Orr was the son of Robert Orr of Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, and he was brought up in the trade of a gunsmith and locksmith.[2] He emigrated to America, arriving in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737; he and two other emigrants from Lochwinnoch set up a blacksmith's shop in Easton, Massachusetts.[3]
In June 1740 he settled at Bridgewater in Massachusetts, which was already notable for iron-manufacturing. Here he manufactured scythes and edge-tools, setting up the first trip hammer to be constructed in Massachusetts. Through him the manufacture of edge-tools spread through Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.[2][4]
In 1748 he made five hundred muskets for the province of Massachusetts Bay, believed to have been the first weapons of the kind produced in the country.[2]
During the American Revolutionary War, Orr and a French business partner built a foundry to cast iron and brass cannon and cannon-balls.[2] They made cannons using a new method introduced from Europe: instead of casting the cannon with a cylindrical cavity which was later refined, the gun was cast solid and the gun barrel was then drilled. This produced a more reliable and accurate cannon.[4]