# William Pole > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Pole > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Pole.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pole > Source revision: 1354035944 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) English engineer, astronomer and musician For other people named William Pole, see [William Pole (disambiguation)](/source/William_Pole_(disambiguation)). **William Pole** [FRS](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society) [FRSE](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh) [MICE](/source/Member_of_the_Institution_of_Civil_Engineers) (22 April 1814 – 30 December 1900) was an English engineer, astronomer, musician and an authority on [Whist](/source/Whist). ## Life He was born in [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham) on 22 April 1814, the son of Thomas Pole. Pole was apprenticed as an engineer to Charles H. Capper in Birmingham around 1828.[1] He then went to [India](/source/India) in 1844 as professor of engineering at [Elphinstone College](/source/Elphinstone_College), [Bombay](/source/Bombay), where he had organized a course of instruction for Indian students; his health obliged him to return to England in 1848. For the next ten years he worked in London under [James Simpson](/source/James_Simpson_(engineer)) and [James Meadows Rendel](/source/James_Meadows_Rendel_(engineer)), and was appointed in 1859 to the chair of civil engineering at [University College, London](/source/University_College%2C_London). With official work from the government, he served on committees which considered the application of armour to ships and fortifications (1861–1864), and the comparative advantages of [Whitworth and Armstrong guns](/source/Whitworth_and_Armstrong_gun) (1863–1865).[2] Pole was secretary to the [Royal Commission on Railways](/source/Royal_Commission_on_Railways) (1865–1867), the [Duke of Richmond](/source/Duke_of_Richmond)'s Commission on London Water (1867–1869), also taking part in the subsequent proceedings for establishing a constant supply, the [Royal Commission](/source/Royal_Commission) on the Disposal of London Sewage (1882–1884), and the departmental committee on the science museums at [South Kensington](/source/South_Kensington) in 1885. In 1871 he was employed by the War Office to report on the [Martini-Henry rifle](/source/Martini-Henry_rifle), and in the same year was appointed consulting engineer in London to the Japanese government, a position through which he exercised considerable influence on the development of the Japanese railway system. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1861, in recognition of some investigations on [color-blindness](/source/Color-blindness).[2] Music was also one of his chief interests. At the age of twenty-two he was appointed [organist](/source/Organist) of St Marks, North Audley Street in London, in open competition, the next selected candidate being Dr E. J. Hopkins (1818–1901), who subsequently was for fifty years organist of the [Temple Church](/source/Temple_Church). He took the degree of [Bachelor of Music](/source/Bachelor_of_Music) at [Oxford](/source/Oxford) in 1860, proceeding to his doctors degree in 1867, and in 1879 published his *Philosophy of Music*. He was largely concerned in the institution of musical degrees by the [University of London](/source/University_of_London) in 1877, and for many years acted as one of the examiners. His mathematical tastes found congenial occupation in the study of whist, and as a contemporary to [Cavendish](/source/Henry_Jones_(writer)), he was an exponent of the scientific principles and history of the game. His literary work included treatises on the [steam engine](/source/Steam_engine) and on iron construction, biographical studies of famous engineers, including [Robert Stephenson](/source/Robert_Stephenson) and [Isambard Kingdom Brunel](/source/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel), Sir [William Fairbairn](/source/William_Fairbairn) and Sir [William Siemens](/source/Carl_Wilhelm_Siemens), several books on musical subjects and on [whist](/source/Whist), and many papers for reviews and scientific periodicals.[2] In 1877 he was elected a Fellow of the [Royal Society of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh). His proposers were all civil engineers: [David Stevenson](/source/David_Stevenson_(engineer)), Sir [John Hawkshaw](/source/John_Hawkshaw), [James Leslie](/source/James_Leslie_(engineer)) and [Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin](/source/Henry_Charles_Fleeming_Jenkin).[1] He died at home, 9 Stanhope Place near [Hyde Park](/source/Hyde_Park%2C_London) in [London](/source/London) on 30 December 1900.[1] ## Family Pole married Matilda Gauntlett (died 1900), daughter of [Henry Gauntlett](/source/Henry_Gauntlett_(priest)).[3] Their son, also William Pole but changing his name to [William Poel](/source/William_Poel) (1852–1934), became known as an actor and writer, and for his studies in [Shakespearian](/source/William_Shakespeare) drama and in connection with the [Elizabethan Stage Society](/source/Elizabethan_Stage_Society).[2] ## Published works - — (January 1871). *Quarterly Review*. Article on the evolution of Whist. - — (1874). *The Theory of the Modern Scientific Game of Whist... (Cover and spine title: Pole on Whist)*. Longmans, Green, and Co. (London), 7th Edition, 1874, 112 pages. / G.W. Carleton & Co. Publishers (London) 1879, 144 pages. / Longmans, Green, and Co. (London), 14th Edition, 1883, 112 pages. / G.W. Carleton & Co. Publishers (London) 1884, 114 pages. / Frederick A. Stokes (New York), 1887, 136 pages. / 1889, 128 pages. - — (1884). *The Philosophy of Whist: An Essay on the Scientific and Intellectual Aspects of the Modern Game. (Spine Title: Pole on Whist)*. Thos. De La Rue & Co. (London), 218 pages. - — (1895). [*The Evolution of Whist*](https://archive.org/details/cu31924031248556). Longmans, Green, and Co. (New York, London), 269 pages.[4] - — (1905). *Whist*. George Bell & Sons (London, New York), 104 pages. ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-fellows_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-fellows_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-fellows_1-2) [*Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002*](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf) (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-902-198-84-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-902-198-84-X). Archived from [the original](https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf) (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2018. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEChisholm1911_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEChisholm1911_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEChisholm1911_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEChisholm1911_2-3) [Chisholm 1911](#CITEREFChisholm1911). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEPollard1896_3-0)** [Pollard 1896](#CITEREFPollard1896). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [The Evolution of Whist](https://archive.org/details/evolutionofwhist00pole) - This article incorporates text from a publication now in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain): [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). "[Pole, William](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Pole,_William)". *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 976. - Pollard, Albert Frederick (1896). ["Pole, William (1561-1635)"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography,_1885-1900/Pole,_William_(1561-1635)). In [Lee, Sidney](/source/Sidney_Lee) (ed.). *[Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography)*. Vol. 46. London: [Smith, Elder & Co](/source/Smith%2C_Elder_%26_Co). - Smith, Stanley. "Pole, William (1814–1900)". *[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography](/source/Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)* (online ed.). Oxford University Press. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/ref:odnb/22463](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fref%3Aodnb%2F22463). (Subscription, [Wikipedia Library](https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/partners/88/) access or [UK public library membership](https://www.oxforddnb.com/help/subscribe#public) required.) ## External links Works by or about [William Pole](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:William_Pole) at [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND FAST WorldCat National United States Netherlands Greece Israel Belgium People Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef Open Library SNAC Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [William Pole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pole) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pole?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.