Kennish was born in the
Parish of Maughold, on the
Isle of Man, in a cottage at Cornaa on the Douglas-Ramsey Road. His parents were farmers, and he learned farming from his father. He grew up speaking
Manx as his first language. He knew very little English until after he became a seaman in the
Royal Navy at the age of 22. He learned English and rose to the rank of Master Carpenter by the time he was 27. In October 1826, he married Mary Byford, of Gillingham,
Chatham, Kent, England. Between 1827 and 1832, while in the service of the Royal Navy, he invented a system ("A Method for Concentrating the Fire of a Broadside") for improving the aiming of naval artillery. Other inventions included a fuze for a shell, and a system for floating naval artillery to shore for land use. He invented a marine
theodolite, which was a key element of his improved method. He proposed the practice of painting naval vessels grey to reduce the distortion and decay caused by solar radiation on black-painted timbers. He also worked on creating an artificial horizon for navigation; a[n] automatic depth-sounding instrument; a method of drowning the magazine of a ship of war; an hydraulic ventilator; [and] a hydrostatic diving machine[.]
Migration to the USA In 1849, Kennish migrated to the United States for more opportunities. He soon began surveying gold-bearing land in
Chocó Department, Colombia, in South America. In 1855 he planned a route for an inter-oceanic river aqueduct across the northwest isthmus in this province, for the Hope Association of New York. His report on his survey of this proposed canal route was included in
The Practicality and Importance of a Ship Canal to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, published in 1855 by George F. Nesbitt & Co. of New York. According to his papers, Kennish proposed to use part of the
Atrato River (which flows north into the Atlantic), and possibly its tributary Rio Truando, to create a river aqueduct and inter-oceanic route across the isthmus of northwest present-day
Colombia, through Nerqua Pass and the valley of the Nerqua, to empty into
Bahía Humboldt on the
Pacific Ocean side. That year the US Congress approved a joint US Navy-Army military expedition to explore Kennish's proposed route in
Chocó Department, Colombia. He was chosen as guide for the expedition. Kennish died in
New York City in 1862. On March 19, 2017, a headstone was placed on his previously unmarked grave, reading "William Kennish | Born Cornaa, Isle of Man | Baptised February 24, 1799 | Died New York, March 19, 1862 | Manninagh Dooie - True Manxman | Royal Navy Carpenter, Inventor, Poet, Explorer, | and Discoverer in 1855 of the first route without | locks linking the Pacific and Atlantic oceans | This Memorial was placed by his descendants, the school's children, and the people of the Isle of Man in 2017. Colombia, which then controlled all of the isthmus, rejected an offer from the US in the 19th century to build a canal across it. No further United States action was taken on a canal until after
Panama revolted against Colombia and became independent in 1903. The Panamanians "negotiated a treaty with the United States that created a Canal Zone 10 miles (16 km) wide under U.S. sovereignty in exchange for an agreement by the United States to build the canal and to provide a regular annual payment to Panama. Although the U.S. government later agreed to pay $25 million to Colombia, the episode embittered Colombian-U.S. relations for many years." The canal was constructed from 1904 to 1914. ==References==