ELECTRICITY

In the late 19^thC and early 20^thC there was a strong link between the Thames and electricity generation. The river was used to ship coal directly to power stations and its water was utilised to cool down equipment.

In 1880 Peak Frean became the first London business to have an electricity supply.

Trevor Baylis

As a child Trevor Baylis (1937-2018) had a passion for making items with Meccano. He had a varied working life much of which was connected to water; it included working in the Berlin Circus as an underwater stuntman. He spent most of the 1980s inventing devices that aided disabled people in their daily lives. Largely, this involved adapting existing items so that they became usable.

In 1991 he was watching a television programme about the spread of H.I.V. in Africa. Information about the disease was not being learned because people could not afford the batteries to make radios work. It occurred to him that a clockwork radio was the solution. He went to his workshop and had a working prototype of what was to become the Freeplay radio within half an hour. However, he was unable to interest any party in it; the rejection letter that he received from the Design Council was framed and hung in his loo.

Three years later the B.B.C. Television technology show Tomorrow s World ran an item about it. Subsequently, he found himself being hailed for his invention; I found myself sitting in Nelson Mandela s house, chatting away as if we were old mates. A business was set up to manufacture them. He lost control of this. His patent was then invalidated by its spring being superseded by a hand-crank.

Location: Eel Pie Island, TW1 3DY. Mr Baylis came to know the island as a result of going to jazz concerts at the hotel.

Website: www.trevorbaylisbrands.com

Ford

Ford s former plant in Dagenham had wind turbines. These look like Mercedes-Benz s three-pointed stars.

Location: Kent Avenue, Dagenham, RM9 6PF

Website: www.ford.co.uk/experience-ford/sustainability/fords-dagenham-estate

James Graham s Celestial Bed

James Graham (d.1794) was born in Edinburgh. He trained in medicine. As a young man he travelled to America, where he became interested in the phenomenon of electricity and studied it with Ebenezer Kinnersley, who was an associate of Benjamin Franklin. Graham settled in London, where he established his Temple of Health at The Adelphi. In the streets nearby he came across Emy Lyon. He employed her to portray Hebe Vestina (the goddess of youth and health). In this role, she came to the attention of the diplomat Sir William Hamilton.¹

In 1781 Graham moved his business into Schomberg House on Pall Mall. There, he created his Celestial Bed. This was a 9ft. by 12ft., canopied device that was ornamented by a cage of turtle doves and clockwork musical figures. The movements made by the bed s occupants prompted organ pipes to produce music, the tempo of which increased as the encounter gathered pace. Graham s patients included Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire and the actress Mary Perdita Robinson. The latter was trying to have a child by her lover the Prince of Wales and thereby secure for herself a permanent income from the royal purse.

In his later years Graham developed a therapy that he called earthbathing. This involved the patient being buried in soil up to her/his neck. He also became interested in whether fasting could be used to extend life spans.

Location: Schomberg House, 80-82 Pall Mall, SW1Y 5ES (orange, orange)

¹. Emy was to become first Emma Hamilton and then the mistress of Nelson.

Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875)

Location: Euston Railway Station, Euston Road, NW1 2RT (red, brown)

King s College, Strand, WC2R 2LS (orange, pink)

David Backhouse 2024

ELECTRICITY

Trevor Baylis

Ford

James Graham s Celestial Bed

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