Frederick Herbert William Higgins (c1849-1915)
1916 Obituary [1]
FREDERICK HERBERT WILLIAM HIGGINS, who was for 40 years chief engineer of the Exchange Telegraph Company and one of the few surviving pioneers of telegraphy, died on the 1st September, 1915, at the age of 66.
He began his career with the Electric and International Telegraph Company, and before he was 20 years old had devised the non-inductive shunt which is still in use on repeater circuits.
Later, in Mr. R. S. Culley's laboratory he investigated the conditions affecting the rise of current in a submarine cable, and was successful in effecting such an acceleration of the speed of transmission in the Dutch cables as to render unnecessary the provision of a contemplated new cable.
He was then appointed Telegraph Engineer to the island of Mauritius.
After three years he returned to England and entered the service of the Exchange Telegraph Company. The form of tape machine then used in this country was far from perfect, and he devoted himself with considerable success to its improvement.
In 1884 he devised a tape machine working on a single wire. The new invention contained also an improvement in the method of transmission and in, the transmitter itself, which resulted in a considerable increase of speed combined with greater reliability. The instrument in this form remained in use for nearly 30 years, but the developing needs of the public for a more rapid news service led him to make further improvements, and in 1902 he patented the apparatus now in use.
The column printer was also his invention, his first patent for this being taken out in 1880. Among his other numerous inventions are an automatic transmitter for the tape machines, the "annunciator" - a machine in use in the smoking-rooms, etc., of the Houses of Parliament which indicates in large letters the name of the member speaking and the subject of the debate - and the first public fire alarm system used in the streets of London.
He was elected an Associate of the Institution in 1873 and a Member in 1877, and served on the Council in 1877-8.
1915 Died. 'The Exchange Telegraph Company announces the death of its chief engineer, Mr F. Higgins, which took place at his residence in Stamford Hill on the lst inst. Mr. Higgins commenced his career at the Post Office telegraph department, and after passing through the junior rank was made superintendent of telegraphs in the Island of Mauritius. After being there some years he returned home, and entered the service of the Exchange Telegraph Company in the year 1873, devoting his inventive genius henceforth in the development of the type printing telegraph in the various forms now familiar to the public as tape instruments. In this he was particularly successful, besides perfecting various forms of relays, very largely increased the speed the instruments. The original form of tape machine, which brought over from America, known by the name its inventor, Mr T. A. Edison, when first worked in this country printed the rate of six words a minute only, but, thanks Higgins's skill, various important alterations and improvements were from time to time effected, resulting in the present form of the apparatus, which prints in tape form at the speed of from 35 to 45 words per minute, according to the individual skill of operator. In addition, he invented an instrument printing on broad bands of paper, known as the column printer, now largely in use in the principal clubs and hotels in London and the chief provincial towns. Mr Higgins was also the patentee of numerous inventions electrical fire alarms, and the author of many papers read before the Institute Electrical Engineers, of which he was a member. He leaves a widow and family, and several of his sons are now serving their country.'[2]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 1916 Institution of Electrical Engineers: Obituaries
- ↑ Western Daily Press - Saturday 04 September 1915