Thomas Parker (22 December 1843 – 5 December 1915) was an English

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

. He patented improvements in lead-acid batteries and

dynamo file:DynamoElectricMachinesEndViewPartlySection USP284110.png, "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator (electric), commutator. Dynamos were the f ...

s, and was a pioneer of manufacturing equipment that powered

electric tramway A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

s and

electric lighting An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...

. He invented the smokeless fuel Coalite. He formed the first company to distribute electricity over a wide area. He was described by Lord Kelvin as "the

Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These invention ...

of Europe". Thomas Parker
Engineering Timelines, accessed 29 July 2015.

Early life

Parker was born at Lincoln Hill Report by Toby Neal, title refers to Thomas Parker day being held 10 October 2015, organized by Madeley Living History Group. in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, son of Thomas Wheatley Parker and Ann ''née'' Fletcher. His father was a moulder at the Coalbrookdale Ironworks. The ironworks had been founded by Abraham Darby I in the early 18th century, and Parkers had worked there for several generations. Thomas attended the local

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

school. His first work was as a moulder, with his father.Thomas Parker:The Early Years
Wolverhampton History and Heritage Website, accessed 29 July 2015. He attended the

1862 International Exhibition The International Exhibition of 1862, or Great London Exposition, was a world's fair. It was held from 1 May to 1 November 1862, beside the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, London, England, on a site that now houses ...

in London, where he was one of four representatives of the Coalbrookdale Company. He was inspired by the technology shown there, which included the electric telegraph and the

wet battery Batteries provided the primary source of electricity before the development of electric generators and electrical grids around the end of the 19th century. Successive improvements in battery technology facilitated major electrical advances, fr ...

. Later in that year he moved to Birmingham, to get more experience as a moulder; during this time he attended lectures of the nonconformist preacher

George Dawson George Dawson may refer to: Politicians * George Dawson (Northern Ireland politician) (1961–2007), Northern Ireland politician * George Walker Wesley Dawson (1858–1936), Canadian politician * George Oscar Dawson (1825–1865), Georgia politic ...

. He later moved to

the Potteries The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of cera ...

, where in 1866 he married Jane Gibbons, daughter of engine-driver Lewis Gibbons. They moved to Manchester where he attended chemistry lectures of Henry Enfield Roscoe and others. In December 1867 they moved to Coalbrookdale; Parker, initially working as a foreman, was soon offered the post of chemist in the

electroplating Electroplating, also known as electrochemical deposition or electrodeposition, is a process for producing a metal coating on a solid substrate through the reduction of cations of that metal by means of a direct electric current. The part to be ...

department.

Early inventions

In 1876 he and Philip Weston, a machinist at Coalbrookdale, received a patent for an improved

steam pump A pump is a device that moves fluids ( liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they ...

. This was Parker's first major invention. "Parker and Weston's Patent Pump", manufactured only by the Coalbrookdale Company, was awarded a medal at the

International Inventions Exhibition The International Inventions Exhibition was a world's fair held in South Kensington in 1885. As with the earlier exhibitions in a series of fairs in South Kensington following the Great Exhibition, Queen Victoria was patron and her son Albert Edwa ...

of 1885. In the electroplating department, he replaced battery cells, which powered the process, with a large

which he had designed and built; it was probably the first time a dynamo was used for this purpose. Around this time there was national concern about the detrimental effect of coal smoke on cities, publicized by the

Kyrle Society Miranda Hill (Wisbech 1836–1910) was an English social reformer. Biography Hill was a daughter of James Hill (died 1872), a corn merchant, banker and follower of Robert Owen, and his third wife, Caroline Southwood Smith (1809–1902), ...

. The Coalbrookdale Company produced the "Kyrle Grate", invented by Parker; it was an open grate in which

anthracite coal Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...

could be burnt. It was awarded a silver medal at the Smoke Abatement Exhibition in 1881. Parker worked on improvements on the lead-acid battery invented by Gaston Planté. He took out a patent in 1882, which coincided with Gaston Planté's own patent for the same improvement; two separate patents were granted. In June 1882 Parker and Paul Bedford Elwell took out patents for improvements in dynamos and electric lighting.

The Elwell-Parker Company

In October 1882, Parker and his family moved to Wolverhampton to set up in business with Paul Bedford Elwell (1853–1899). (Elwell's family had a factory there, that made nails and horseshoes.)Thomas Parker:Elwell-Parker Ltd
Wolverhampton History and Heritage Website, accessed 29 July 2015. Thomas Parker Electric car

In Wolverhampton, Elwell and Parker began to manufacture accumulators (lead-acid batteries). From 1883 they manufactured dynamos. The business began to expand: there was soon a demand for dynamos, from the Manchester Edison Company and from Trafalgar Colliery in the Forest of Dean, for electric lighting in the mine. (This is thought to be the first time electric lighting was used underground.) Elwell-Parker dynamos supplied lighting in industrial works, and equipment was supplied for a tramway in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in 1885, the first electric tramway in the country. A prototype battery-powered tram was tested on the tramway in Birmingham. Several prototype

electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quie ...

s were built. Between 1884 and 1887, further patents were taken out by Parker and Elwell for electrical equipment. In 1887 he developed a process to extract phosphorus and chlorate of soda by

electrolysis In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from n ...

. In the general election of July 1892 Parker stood as a Liberal Party candidate for Kingswinford, where he was defeated by the Conservative candidate, the incumbent MP Alexander Staveley Hill. In 1893, he became a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in Wolverhampton. In 1889, the Electric Construction Corporation (E.C.C.), was founded by a syndicate to manufacture electrical equipment, and it purchased the Elwell-Parker company and others making similar equipment. A new factory was built in Bushbury, Wolverhampton. Parker failed to become a company director, but was appointed Works Manager. In 1893 an American branch of Elwell-Parker was founded in Cleveland, Ohio.Thomas Parker: The Electric Construction Corporation
Wolverhampton History and Heritage Website, accessed 29 July 2015. In 1893, the company was in difficulty and was reformed as the Electric Construction Company. In 1894, Parker resigned from the company and set up Thomas Parker Ltd. in Wolverhampton, making electrical equipment. (The company was eventually wound up in 1909.)
Wolverhampton History and Heritage Website, accessed 29 July 2015. In 1892 he designed the high voltage DC system for distributing electricity in the cities of Oxford and Birmingham and in the London area at

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

, Chelsea, Sydenham and

Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...

. In 1897, he formed the Midland Electric Corporation, the first company in the world to distribute electricity over a wide area.

In London

In 1899 Parker resigned as managing director of Thomas Parker Ltd. He moved to London, where he was consulting engineer to the

Metropolitan Railway The Metropolitan Railway (also known as the Met) was a passenger and goods railway that served London from 1863 to 1933, its main line heading north-west from the capital's financial heart in the City to what were to become the Middlesex su ...

company, involved in the electrification of the underground railway. The

Neasden Power Station Neasden Power Station was a coal-fired power station built by the Metropolitan Railway for its electrification project. It was opened in December 1904. It was within the site of the current London Underground Neasden Depot. The station was co ...

was opened in 1904 as part of the project. Parker stayed in London until retirement in 1908. In 1904 he invented a new smokeless fuel, marketed as Coalite. In 1936 Parker was posthumously awarded a gold medal by the Smoke Abatement Society for this.Thomas Parker: Coalite, a School and a Plaque
Wolverhampton History and Heritage Website, accessed 29 July 2015. In 1905 he actively promoted a decimal system of his own creation, based on English weights, measures and currency.

Retirement

In 1908 he retired to Ironbridge, near Coalbrookdale, where he purchased Severn House. He had a laboratory and workshop at his home, and in Coalbrookdale he gave a series of lectures on science. In 1910 he bought an ironworks on the local

Madeley Court Madeley Court is a 16th-century country house in Madeley, Shropshire, England which was originally built as a grange to the medieval Wenlock Priory. It has since been restored as a hotel. The house is ashlar built in two storeys to an L-sha ...

estate, and he ran this company, Court Works Ltd, with his son Charles. He died, aged 71, of a

brain tumour A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondary ...

at home in Ironbridge in 1915, and was buried nearby at

St Michael's Church, Madeley St Michael's Church, Madeley, is located near the centre of Madeley, Shropshire, England. It is one of three places of worship that constitute the Parish of Madeley, a Church of England parish. The parish is part of the Diocese of Hereford. Histo ...

.Thomas Parker:Return to Coalbrookdale
Wolverhampton History and Heritage Website, accessed 29 July 2015. He had twelve children, of whom nine survived to maturity. His son Charles Henry Parker ran the company that produced Coalite; his son Thomas Hugh Parker was an inventor, building prototype motor cars. A commemorative plaque was unveiled at the former Severn House, now a hotel (The Best Western Valley Hotel), on 10 October 2015.Thomas Parker Day
Madeley Town Council, accessed 28 April 2016.

References

External links

Elwell-Parker
Website of the present-day Elwell-Parker company founded in America in 1893 {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Thomas 1843 births 1915 deaths People from Coalbrookdale Deaths from brain tumor English inventors British electrical engineers Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Sustainable transport pioneers