perty of Collins, who put fresh commercial life in it, while it remained under the editorship of Griffiths, who recovered his proprietary rights about 1780. His last shop was in Pall Mall, probably near the house of Payne and Foss, the last of whom was his cousin. Griffiths died at Turnham Green, 28 Sept. 1803, in his eighty-third year, and was buried at Chiswick. His will is reprinted by W. C. Hazlitt (Essays by T. G. Wainewright, 1880, pp. 335-7). The family residence, Linden House at Turnham Green, fell to his grandson, Thomas Griffiths Wainewright.
He had a brother, a planter in South Carolina, who came to England about 1767, and returned as an agent for Wedgwood (Meteyard, Life, ii. 6). By his second wife he had two daughters and a son, George Edward Griffiths (d. 1829), for whom Provost Hodgson and Byron had friendly feelings (Life of Francis Hodgson, 1878, i. 133, 223-224). The son edited the 'Monthly Review,' which he sold in 1825, and was known as a horticulturist. He was a man of considerable literary ability, and wrote epigrams and vers de société. He died suddenly, unmarried, at Turnham Green, in January 1829. Ann (1773-1794), one of the two daughters, married in 1793 Thomas Wainewright of Chiswick. Her only child was Thomas Griffiths Wainewright, 'Janus Weathercock,' the forger and poisoner.
Nichols describes Griffiths as 'a steady advocate of literature, a firm friend,' fond of domestic life, and possessing great social gifts (Lit. Anecd. iii. 507). As a companion 'he was free-hearted, lively, and intelligent, abounding beyond most men in literary history and anecdote' (W. Butler, Exercises, 1811, p. 346). The degree of LL.D. was granted to him without solicitation by the university of Philadelphia. A portrait, engraved by Ridley, is given in the 'European Magazine,' January 1804, where it is stated that the son was about to publish memoirs of his father, a promise never fulfilled. A three-quarter length portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence is still in the possession of Griffiths's great-grand-nephew, who also owns a head by Wainewright, the grandson.
The first series of the 'Monthly Review' runs from 1749 to December 1789, 81 vols.; the second from 1790 to 1825, 108 vols.; the third, a 'new series,' from 1826 to 1830, 15 vols.; and the fourth from 1831 to 1845, 45 vols. It then came to an end. There is a general index (1749-89), 3 vols., by Ayscough, and another by 'J. C.' (1790-1816), 2 vols. The copy belonging to Griffiths and his son, who had noted the initials and names of contributors from the commencement down to 1815, is now in the Bodleian Library.
[Information contributed by Mr. G. T. Clark. See C. Knight's Shadows of the Old Booksellers, 1865, pp. 184-8; Essays and Criticisms by T. G. Wainewright, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1880; Timperley's Encyclopædia, 1842, pp. 677, 816; Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. ii. 351, 377, 458, 6th ser. i. 509, ii. 208, 275-6; Nichols's Illustr. vii. 249; Lit. Anecd. iii. 506-8, viii. 452, ix. 665; T. Faulkner's Hist. and Antiq. of Brentford, Ealing, and Chiswick, 1845, pp. 329, 466.]
GRIFFITHS, ROBERT (1805–1883), inventor of a screw propeller, was born at Lleweny Farm, in the Vale of Clwydd, on 13 Dec. 1805. He showed an early inclination for mechanical pursuits, and was, on his own choice, apprenticed to carpentry in North Wales. When a boy he executed some highly creditable ornamental woodwork at Cefn, and constructed three harps, upon which instrument he became a skilful player. He afterwards went as pattern-maker in an engine works in Birmingham, where an uncle resided. In spite of some jealousy he did such good work that he speedily secured a foremanship. His name is first recorded in the patent office in 1835, as the inventor of a rivet machine. In 1836, jointly with John Gold, he patented a very successful glass-grinding and polishing machine; and, a year later, in collaboration with Samuel Evers of Cradley, he obtained a patent which greatly facilitated the making of hexagon nuts. In 1845 Griffiths patented a marked improvement in machinery for making bolts, railway spikes, and rivets. The same year, on account of his wife's ill-health, he migrated to France, and at Havre, in conjuntion with M. Labruère, founded engineering works, at which were manufactured most of the ironwork for the railway then being constructed from Havre to Paris. The revolution of 1848 having brought trade to a standstill, Griffiths parted with all his property to compensate and send home the mechanics who had accompanied him to France. Meanwhile Griffiths had been busy improving the atmospheric railway, and took out patents with Mr. Bovill, the leading features of which were the using of a vacuum on one side as well as a plenum on the other to act on the piston, and the closing of the atmospheric pipe. After the closing of his French works Griffiths experimented upon the screw propeller, and in 1849 took out a patent for an amended method of screw propulsion, which was largely adopted in the navy. Further improvements were patented by Griffiths in
