Savery proposed to apply his engine to various purposes. One was to pump water into a reservoir for the production of an artificial waterfall for driving mills or any other ordinary machinery; that is to say, by means of steam he would lift a body of water which by flowing back might drive an overshot wheel, from the rotation of which the motive power for any other mechanical operations would be derived. This, however, was never done, and Savery’s engine continued to be employed only in the drainage of Cornish mines. But it had this disadvantage, that it could not heave water but to about eighty feet, and as the depth of mines was from fifty to a hundred yards, the only way to exhaust the water was by erecting several engines in successive stages, one above the other. But the expense of fuel and attendants and the constant danger of explosions rendered it clear that the use of his engine for deep mines was altogether impracticable. Such was the state of affairs when Thomas Newcomen, a blacksmith and ironmonger of Dartmouth, turned his attention to the matter. Thomas Newcomen was a member of a very ancient family. In the church of Stoke Fleming, near Dartmouth, is a brass with this inscription:-- Elias old lies here intombed in grave, But Newcomin to heaven’s habitation. In knowledge old, in zeal, in life most grave, Too good for all who live in lamentation. Whose sheep and seed with heavie plaint and mone, Will say too late, Elias old is gone! The 13th May, 1614. Over this inscription is a shield of arms, with helmet, crest, and mantling, bearing the arms of Newcomen, of Saltfleetby, in Lincolnshire, with six quarterings. This is the monument of Elias Newcomen, rector of Stoke Fleming. The pedigree of the family commences with Hugo Newcomen, of Saltfleetby, in 1189-99. Elias Newcomen, rector of Stoke Fleming, had a brother Robert, who went to Ireland and was created a baronet. The son of the Rev. Elias was Thomas, who settled in Dartmouth, and this Thomas had a son Elias, who was the father of the inventor Thomas, who was baptized at Dartmouth 28 February, 1663-4. He married Hannah, daughter of Peter Waymouth, of Malborough, Devon, in 1705, and died in 1729. He left two sons, Thomas and Elias; and Thomas Newcomen, son of the inventor, compiled a pedigree with a view to proving his claim to the Irish baronetcy, but probably abandoned the attempt from want of funds to prosecute the claim.[25] [Illustration: SKETCH OF NEWCOMIN’S HOUSE, LOWER STREET, DARTMOUTH, BEFORE IT WAS DEMOLISHED] [Illustration: THE CHIMNEY-PIECE AT WHICH NEWCOMIN SAT WHEN HE INVENTED THE STEAM-ENGINE]