Edmund Dummer | |
|---|---|
| Surveyor of the Navy | |
| In office 1692–1699 | |
| Preceded by | John Tippetts |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Furzer |
| Member of the English Parliament for Arundel | |
| In office 1695–1698 Serving with Lord Henry Howard | |
| Preceded by | |
| Succeeded by |
|
| Member of the English Parliament for Arundel | |
| In office January 1701 – November 1701 Serving with John Cooke | |
| Preceded by | Christopher Knight |
| Succeeded by | Carew Weekes |
| Member of the English Parliament for Arundel | |
| In office 1702–1708 Serving with
| |
| Preceded by | John Cooke |
| Succeeded by | Parliament of Great Britain |
| Member of the Great Britain Parliament for Arundel | |
| In office 1707–1708 Serving with James Butler | |
| Preceded by | Parliament of England |
| Succeeded by | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1651 |
| Died | April 1713 Fleet Prison, London, England |
| Resting place | St Andrew's, Holborn |
| Occupation | Naval engineer, shipbuilder, politician |
Edmund Dummer (1651–1713) was an English naval engineer and shipbuilder who, as Surveyor of the Navy, designed and supervised the construction of the Royal Navy dockyard at Devonport, Plymouth and designed the extension of that at Portsmouth. His survey of the south coast ports is a valuable and well-known historic document. He also served Arundel as Member of Parliament for approximately ten years and founded the first packet service between Falmouth, Cornwall and the West Indies. He died a bankrupt in the Fleet debtors' prison.
In her account of Dummer, Celina Fox sums up his career thus:
Using elements of mathematical calculation and meticulously honed standards of empirical observation, Dummer tried to introduce a more rational, planned approach to the task of building ships and dockyards, with the help of his extraordinary draughting skills. Operating on the margins of what was technically possible, meeting with opposition from vested interests and traditional work patterns, he struggled to succeed. Today he is little recognized outside the circle of naval historians and his grandest building projects were almost wholly destroyed by later dockyard developments or bombing.[1]