Henry Sutton (inventor)

Henry Sutton
Born	(1855-09-03)3 September 1855 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Died	28 July 1912(1912-07-28) (aged 56) Malvern, Victoria, Australia
Occupation	Inventor

Henry Sutton (1855-1912) born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia^[1] was an inventor credited with contributions to many forefront technologies of the day. Sutton studied and then lectured at the Ballarat School of Mines (SMB).^[2][3][4] He died in 1912 at the age of 56. ^[5]

Inventions

Some of his inventions include

• various telephones^[6]
• lightbulbs
• a dynamo
• a prototype Ornithopter/helicopter
• radio transmitters/receivers^[7][8]
• the world’s first portable wireless radio
• a colour-printing process
• battery^[9]
• several vacuum pumps^[10]
• telephane^[11] an early design for a television.^[12]
• An improved process of converting a photographic image on a gelatine surface into a relief or intaglio printing surface^[13][14]

A Henry Sutton car, built in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, in 1900, believed to be the first front wheel drive vehicle in the world. On display in 2011 at the Ballarat Heritage Festival.

Sutton Autocar

From 1898 Sutton held patents for improvements in combustion engine carburettors.^[15][16] By 1899 he had built and driven the Sutton Autocar, one of the first motor cars in Australia.^[2] In 1903 Sutton was a founding member of the Automobile Club of Victoria.^[5]

References

1. ↑ Victorian BDM index
2. 1 2 Gervasoni, Clare. "Henry SUTTON". Federation University Australia Honour Roll. 
3. ↑ Withers, William Bramwell (1887). The History of Ballarat, from the First Pastoral Settlement to the Present Time (2 ed.). Ballarat: F.W. Niven And Co. 
4. ↑ Beggs Sunter, Anne. "Henry Sutton the Eureka man" (PDF). Australian Heritage. 
5. 1 2 McCallum, Austin. "Henry Sutton". Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. 
6. ↑ Improvements in electric circuits for telephonic purposes Patent 1886
7. ↑ "WIRELESS EXPERIMENTS. A MELBOURNE INVENTOR. A SENSITIVE DETECTOR.". The Mercury (Hobart, Tas). 7 March 1912. 
8. ↑ Watt, Jarrod (12 Feb 2012). "Australian's forgotten radio pioneer: the amazing Henry Sutton". ABC radio. 
9. ↑ Sutton, H. "On a New Form of Secondary Cell for Electrical Storage". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 1882. 
10. ↑ Sutton, H. "Description Of Vacuum Apparatus" (PDF). Review 13 Dec 1881. 
11. ↑ Sutton, H. "1885 Telephane system diagrams" (PDF). Telegraphic Journal and Electrical Review 7 Nov 1890. 
12. ↑ Henry Sutton bio – IEEE Global History Network.
13. ↑
    • Photography Patent 1887 Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute
14. ↑ "An improved process of converting a photographic image on a gelatine surface into a relief or intaglio printing surface. US381091". Google patents. Nov 9, 1887. 
15. ↑ "Explosive-engine. US 650736". Google patents. Dec 7, 1898. 
16. ↑ "Speed-regulator for explosive-engines. US 664689". Google patents. Jul 10, 1899. 

External links

• Henry Sutton Oration 14 May 2014 - Robyn Williams
• Henry Sutton: A Forgotten Genius Storify by David Whatson
• Henry Sutton - inventor of television ABC Radio National - The Science Show, 22 Dec 2012
• The legacy of Henry Sutton by Mike Smyth, Electronics Online