Joseph Whitworth
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Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for screw threads. Whitworth also created the Whitworth rifle, often called the "sharpshooter" because of its accuracy, which is considered one of the earliest examples of a sniper rifle, used by some Confederate forces during the American Civil war.
By unknown artist, Whitworth c. 1846
The Firs, now the Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre
The grave of Sir Joseph Whitworth Bart. In the grounds of St Helen's Parish Church, Darley Dale, Derbyshire (Whitworth's grave is the central tomb)
12-pounder Whitworth rifle
British Standard Whitworth
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British Standard Whitworth (BSW) is an imperial-unit-based screw thread standard, devised and specified by Joseph Whitworth in 1841 and later adopted as a British Standard. It was the world's first national screw thread standard, and is the basis for many other standards, such as BSF, BSP, BSCon, and BSCopper.
Two spanners, both nominal size 5⁄8 in, with a diagram superimposed to show the logic that allows them both to be nominal size 5⁄8 in when their actual sizes are clearly different (across-flats distance vs screw diameter). The across-flats definition is the common standard today, and has been for many decades. The larger spanner in this photo is from the 1920s or earlier. Its face was polished to allow the size stamp to show well in the photograph. This example is American, but it illustrates the way that spanners for Whitworth fasteners were typically labelled.