William Colles (1702-1770)
of Millmount; Mayor & Owner of the Marble Works at Kilkenny
He was Alderman and Mayor of Kilkenny, as was his elder brother, Barry. He invented the machinery used for boring, cutting, and polishing marble by water-power, and having confirmed its success took a perpetual lease on the Kilkenny Marble Works. By 1734, he was selling marble chimneypieces (see images) and furniture from his Kilkenny marble warehouse in Batchelor’s Lane, Dublin. He was the contractor for three of Kilkenny's most important 18th century houses: Castlemorris, Woodstock and Bessborough, all designed by Francis Bindon. In 1800 it was said that, "while he amused the populace by various devices, such as that of a musical instrument which played by itself, as it floated down the stream of the river, and many others, he applied himself to the construction of useful machinery for different purposes; and invented a water-mill, and an engine for dressing flax, simple and efficacious, but now no longer used".
He was, "a man of great mechanical abilities and abounding in a variety of those eccentric schemes which mark original genius, though success only, in the eyes of the world can stamp them with rationality, one of which was an attempt to make dogs weave linen by turning wheels; another, the supplying of the Corporation of Dublin with bored marble tubes, as pipes for distributing water through the city, was defeated only by a combination of pump-borers and other mechanics, who rose in a mob and destroyed them on their arrival. Such was the impression his abilities made on the common people, that to this day his feats are proverbial among them, and they speak of him as a necromancer".
After the death of his brother, Richard, he took his nephews and nieces into his household who included among them the famous inventor and engineer of New York, Christopher Colles. He was the grandfather of James Colles, of New York, President of the Bank of the United States at New Orleans. A monument erected by his son reads: "By an uncommon genius he discovered and by unwearied application and patience, perfected the art of sawing, boring and polishing marble by water mills, which by lowering the price of that valuable manufacture rendered it more extensive. His whole life was employed in works beneficial to Society. His manner was inoffensive and his conduct always upright."
He was, "a man of great mechanical abilities and abounding in a variety of those eccentric schemes which mark original genius, though success only, in the eyes of the world can stamp them with rationality, one of which was an attempt to make dogs weave linen by turning wheels; another, the supplying of the Corporation of Dublin with bored marble tubes, as pipes for distributing water through the city, was defeated only by a combination of pump-borers and other mechanics, who rose in a mob and destroyed them on their arrival. Such was the impression his abilities made on the common people, that to this day his feats are proverbial among them, and they speak of him as a necromancer".
After the death of his brother, Richard, he took his nephews and nieces into his household who included among them the famous inventor and engineer of New York, Christopher Colles. He was the grandfather of James Colles, of New York, President of the Bank of the United States at New Orleans. A monument erected by his son reads: "By an uncommon genius he discovered and by unwearied application and patience, perfected the art of sawing, boring and polishing marble by water mills, which by lowering the price of that valuable manufacture rendered it more extensive. His whole life was employed in works beneficial to Society. His manner was inoffensive and his conduct always upright."
