Rose Waterpool
Female
35
purple eyes
brown hair
Wears a thick work jacket and and work pants, a sturdy leather hat and goggles. She always has a tool satchel pack on or with her, just in case

Excerpt from The Encyclopedia of Modern Engineering:

"Waterpool, Rosemary (Rose), Wiltman 1835 - ?

During an interview for the London Times September 3rd, 1859; when asked where she saw science and technology taking the human race in the future: “Steam is not infinite in its power or application. But what is infinite is the human ability to see beyond the current limits of technology and dream of what can and will be once our hands have built new means by which to achieve those dreams.”

Born Rosemary (Rose) Wiltman, June twenty third 1835 to Robert and Madeline Wiltman (see pg 1328) in Bristol, England. Rose was raised primarily by her father and brothers after her mother’s death from tuberculosis in 1840 at the age of 33. The youngest of three, she was the only daughter had by the two. Her father, Robert Wiltman, was a well known watchmaker in the Bristol area, owning a small and moderately successful shop on Stenton street.

Self educated, Rose spent most of her time in her father’s workshop, learning the trade while her older brothers were apprenticed in order to take over the shop eventually. By the age of ten, Rose showed an astounding aptitude for the construction and design of mechanical devices. She inherited the watch shop in may of 1848 after the death of her father and eldest brother in the Bristol fires (pg 1329, 1340), running it with her remaining brother and handling the majority of the actual design and construction of the watches. Over the next four years Rose developed her skills and began expanding her area of work to include larger and more complex machines.

In 1855, at the age of twenty, Rose Wiltman entered a device of her own design to be judged at the World Fair in London. Entered under the assumed name “Frederick Wiltman,” her device, a walking machine capable of navigating unguided over almost all terrains and powered only by a steam engine mounted on the back (fig. 113 appendix 15), won first prize, an amount of 300 pounds. She accepted the prize on behalf of “Frederick,” claiming to be his wife. The following year she entered another device of her own construction. Titled simply “Automated Worker” (fig 114 appendix 15), it was capable of constructing simple structures unguided and was powered by a revolutionary compressed steam tank (fig 116 appendix 15), also of Rose’s own design. When it received first prize, Rose stepped forward to receive again, this time revealing her identity as the designer. The judging committee immediately withdrew the prize, awarding it instead to Franz Waterpool (pg 1302).

At the request of both Wiltman and Waterpool, the committee agreed to offer Rose a chance to prove her claim. It was decided that she would be required to, in the period of two weeks, design and construct a replica of the Bridgeman Walker (fig. 256 appendix 21) without the use of blueprints. Rose accepted, claiming she would only need one week if provided with the necessary materials. Wiltman was transported to Waterpool’s private workshop and kept under close watch to prevent her from cheating or using blueprints of any kind outside of ones she herself made for the project. She was also barred from communicating with the outside so as to prevent sympathizers from providing her with input or assistance. After six days, Wiltman claimed she had completed her task. Her and her completed work was presented to the judging committee in a widely popularized event which was attended by the royal family as well as the majority of the British Association of Science (pg 482). The completed device she presented not only met the requirements of the test, but improved upon the original design of the Bridgeman Walker in many ways (fig. 117 appendix 15). The design was later purchased by the British Armed Forces to replace their existing models.

Following the conclusion of the world fair, Wiltman’s fame grew rapidly and she soon made her name in the field of engineering and scientific research. In 1858 she married Franz Waterpool and moved her shop from Bristol to Gladstone. Over the next ten years her business grew along with her renown. In 1869 Franz died of Blue Fever, leaving his entire estate to Rose and their nine year old son, Arthur Waterpool. Following the death of her husband, Rose turned over control of the company to her brother, Harold Wiltman, refocusing her attention to her private shop in Gladstone.

Her work continued until January 10th, 1870, when, in an event that has proven to be the most perplexing in modern history, she and a mechanical dragon she was testing, as well as her entire workshop vanished into thin air before a crowd of more than one thousand witnesses (pg 1553). Her complete disappearance has remained one of the great unexplained mysteries of science and has become the most researched phenomenon in memory..."