Nelson & His World

I thought readers might like to see a snippet I found today about one of Nelson's coachmakers, Lionel Lukin. From the BBC's History/Domesday Reloaded website:


He sounds an interesting character. Wish I knew more about patents in the 18th century.

Jacqui

Are you interested to see a copy of this patent?

I won't make any firm promises but I am pretty sure that Birmingham Central Library has copies of patents going back this far.

One major problem is that most of their records are about to go "out of bounds" for about 18 months. This is part of the transfer over to the new library which is currently under construction.



Next time I am in the vicinity of the library I'll see if I can check out:

- whether the patent was indeed registered.

- the patent reference number.

MB

I was intrigued by this mention of Lionel Lukin, as many years ago, we lived in Great Dunmow in Essex. By the village pond, (called Doctor's Pond) there was a plaque recording that Lionel Lukin, born in Great Dunmow, had made his first trials with his prototype model lifeboat right there on the village pond!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Lukin

On reflection, that plaque might have said, 'Legend has it that........'! I'm actually going there in a couple of weeks to visit an old friend, so I'll pop down and make a note of the exact wording.

And here's a picture of Doctor's Pond - there are numerous images on the web but the flippin' plaque isn't visible in any of them!


http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1502625

Hi Jacqui,

Yes - I have found Lukin's patent.

The volumes that they have in the BCL are from about 1850 but as far as I know they are facsimiles of the original patents.

This patent seems to have been submitted in November of 1785 and granted on 1st December.

The reference number is 1502. (I'm sure it will be on the internet somewhere - but I wonder what Patent #1 was!!)

The full description is - take a deep breath - "An improvement in the construction of boats and small vessels, for either sailing or rowing, which will neither overset in violent gales nor sudden gusts of wind, nor sink if they should by any accident be filled with water."

Of course many patents have detailed drawings accompanying them, but in this case it seems to be just text describing Lukin's novel idea.

Including all the "legalese" the patent only covers two and a half pages so I will see if I can get a scan and post it up. At times like this I am glad that there are no drawings as scanning or copying them is a near impossible task.

Watch this space!!

MB

It looks as if 10 years later he produced a pamphlet on the subject:

Lukin, L. Invention, Principles of Construction, and uses of Unimmergible Boats. 1806.

I imagine it goes into more technical detail than the patent.

There is a copy in the British Library. It is a very long shot but I will see if Birmingham have this in original or reprinted format.

MB

Wow, Mark! Many, many thanks. And so fast!

I look forward to hearing/seeing more if you have the opportunity to continue the chase. Lukin looks to be one of those many interesting characters whose endeavours and accomplishments have been virtually lost through time.

The process of patenting an invention in the 18th century is a topic that has crossed my mind a number of times before. Not least because the practice seemed to be popular amongst the general public and also in Nelson's family/circle. George Matcham and Francis Oliver are both recorded as having patented their own discoveries.

Oliver - who I imagine had no medical qualifications or experience - was marketing an unspecified 'patent medicine' in about 1808. The Matchams' friend Dr. Lawrence (Doctor of Divinity rather than medicine, I think) was, apparently, aiding him and suggested Lady Hamilton might champion the remedy to guarantee its success (!!!)

I had wondered how a member of the public would go about patenting their discovery, what they would need to do and whether these records might still exist. Also whether, even in an age of quackery, a medicinal 'remedy' discovered by a household servant/tutor would be taken seriously by the medical profession and the public. I had also wondered if Lukin - given his non-naval/seafaring background - would have struggled to have his own ideas accepted.

Anna, many thanks too for the story and link to Doctors Pond.

O.K. - let's see if this works??!!

The real nitty gritty is at the bottom of Page 2/top of Page 3.

Jacqui

No sign of that Lukin pamphlet in the BCL catalogue.

BUT also from the British Library Catalogue comes this little book from 1925:

Frederick Robus: Lionel Lukin, of Dunmow, the inventor of the lifeboat ... Together with a reprint of Lukin’s pamphlet on Unimmergible Boats, etc. [With plates.]

It looks like it might have been a little book just done for the local (Dunmow and environs) market. So a slight chance you would find one in a library/BL over that way - or if all else fails the BL.

I'm done!!

MB

Mark! Thanks for all this! How fascinating it is to see how it all worked. And loving old documents as I do, reading through the whole patent was a treat (though some of the legalese defeats me.)

Sitting here and looking back from the 21st century, it seems strange that no working drawings were included, but perhaps that's how these things were done two hundred and odd years ago. I wonder if the prototype actually did what it promised to do?

Cheers for everything you've looked up, and for putting it on here.

On the subject of coachmakers, I am presently reading a fascinating book entitled "Coachmaker, the life and times of Philip Godsal" by John Ford. In Nelson's time there were 3 pre - eminent coachmakers (Godsal, Hatchet, and Wright and Lukin), all located close together in Long Acre, London. Nelson and Lady Hamilton enter the narrative as does Nelson's attorney William Haslewood. Coachmakers were clearly both captains of industry and notable figures on the lower rungs of society.

Buying and maintaining a carriage in Nelson's day was a considerable expense, and acquiring one was a sure sign that one had moved up in the world. Not for nothing did shopkeepers call their wealthy patrons 'carriage trade.'

The second volume of the Nelson & Hamilton Papers has an appendix listing the expenditure incurred by Nelson & the Hamiltons on their tour of Wales in 1802. A fair proportion went on horses, drivers, coachmen etc. There was also a bill for three shillings for 'greasing the carriages' and one of two shillings and sixpence for 'repairing carriage.'

Bolting horses and overturned carriages were a common hazard as obituaries of the day confirm. Nelson and his party luckily escaped serious injury when their carriage overturned as they made their journey home overland from Naples.

I'm looking at Lionel Lukin and would be very grateful for the reference quoting him as Coachmaker to Nelson. In an advert in The Times in 1790 he described his firm, then Lukin & Allan, as Coachmaker to the Prince of Wales, so he must have been at the top of his profession. I believe that he was Master of the Coachmakers' Company in 1793-4. He was connected with Vice-Admiral William Lukin, who changed his name to Windham and inherited Felbrigg Hall (National Trust).
Thanks ayteejaytee

The reference comes from Nelson's current account with Alexander Davison. Payment to Lukin & Allan, Coachmaker: £35-10-0. The entry is dated 4th February, 1801, but doesn't provide details of the purchase. The original is at the National Maritime Museum, I'll try to dig out the MS reference for you.

That would have been about the right price for what Nelson termed 'a neat common carriage' suitable for the servants to run about in. Certainly not comparable with the £352 he paid for a more fashionable conveyance commissioned by Fanny in 1799.

I imagine the amount could easily have been for repairs or additions to an existing carriage, and Nelson didn't stick to a preferred coachmaker. He patronised others too.

Hope that helps.

Thanks a lot, Mira: just what I'd hoped for. I don't know how much credit would have been given, but the weeks before Feb 1801 were certainly busy ones for Nelson and I daresay a plain discreet means of transport might have been very useful. Or could it have been the charge for renting a coach?
Ayteejaytee