A short article for Joseph Priestley's US home

I contributed a two-page guest article as a supplement for the newsletter of the Friends of the Joseph Priestley House museum in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. Entitled The Man who Drew Time, it is intended as an introduction to Priestley’s chronographics for those completely unfamiliar with the area.

It can be downloaded from the museum page.
Or this is a direct link to the PDF file.


Priestley left England in 1794 as the authorities became increasing intolerant of his views. Soon after their arrival in Northumberland PA, he and his wife Mary began construction of a house on land overlooking the Susquehanna River. It was intended as the re-creation of a self-contained, English gentleman’s estate. Two years after their arrival in Northumberland, Mary died.

In 1961, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission was appointed to administer and restore many of the property's original features. In 2000, as an enhancement to the site’s historic landscape, the Commission completed reconstruction of outbuildings associated with the property during Priestley’s residency.


Tom Bresenhan, President of the Friends, with whom I have had the pleasure of corresponding, is overseeing the creation of a new exhibit about Priestley’s timelines at the museum.