Safety lamp
Date
1817
Creator
Unknown, Engraver
Object type
Library reference
RCN29807
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 209mm
width (print): 130mm
width (print): 130mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Three figures showing a design for a Stephenson-type safety lamp for illumination in coal mines. The lamp was intended to prevent a fire-damp explosion being triggered by a naked flame. Figure 1 is the lamp in elevation, open to show the internal glass cylinder. Figure 2 elevation of the lamp enclosed in its carrying case. Figure 3 a detail of the base of the lamp, opened to admit air.
Plate 1 from the monograph Report upon the claims of Mr. George Stephenson, relative to the invention of his safety lamp…by R.W. Brandling (Newcastle, for Emerson Charnley, etc., 1817).
Inscribed above: ‘PLATE 1’
The accompanying text contains testimony by Nicholas Wood, then of Killingworth Colliery: ‘In the year 1815, about or before the month of August, Mr Stephenson communicated with Mr Wood about the construction of a lamp…which could consume the fire-damp without exploding…Mr. Wood was with Mr Stephenson when he ordered the lamp. It was made after a plan made by Mr. Wood, according to Mr. Stephenson’s ideas and direction. This lamp was received from the maker on the 21st of October, and was the same as Fig. 1 plate 1 except in shape…’
George Stephenson (1781-1848) British colliery and railway engineer, trialled his safety lamps at Killingworth Colliery, North Tyneside, England, in 1815. The lamp was the subject of a dispute over priority of invention with Sir Humphry Davy. Stephenson’s lamp featured perforated plates, rather than the gauze in Davy’s design.
Nicholas Wood (1795-1865) British civil and mining engineer assisted in George Stephenson’s lamp experiments and suggested design improvements. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1864.
Plate 1 from the monograph Report upon the claims of Mr. George Stephenson, relative to the invention of his safety lamp…by R.W. Brandling (Newcastle, for Emerson Charnley, etc., 1817).
Inscribed above: ‘PLATE 1’
The accompanying text contains testimony by Nicholas Wood, then of Killingworth Colliery: ‘In the year 1815, about or before the month of August, Mr Stephenson communicated with Mr Wood about the construction of a lamp…which could consume the fire-damp without exploding…Mr. Wood was with Mr Stephenson when he ordered the lamp. It was made after a plan made by Mr. Wood, according to Mr. Stephenson’s ideas and direction. This lamp was received from the maker on the 21st of October, and was the same as Fig. 1 plate 1 except in shape…’
George Stephenson (1781-1848) British colliery and railway engineer, trialled his safety lamps at Killingworth Colliery, North Tyneside, England, in 1815. The lamp was the subject of a dispute over priority of invention with Sir Humphry Davy. Stephenson’s lamp featured perforated plates, rather than the gauze in Davy’s design.
Nicholas Wood (1795-1865) British civil and mining engineer assisted in George Stephenson’s lamp experiments and suggested design improvements. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1864.
Associated place