Francis John Mudford
Francis John Mudford (1857-1929)
1883-92 In partnership with Richard Pentney Eidsforth at the Arrow Electrical Works, Holloway
1887 of Arrow Electrical Works, Jackson Road, Holloway.
1930 Obituary [1]
FRANCIS JOHN MUDFORD was born at Tiverton, Devonshire, in 1857, and died on the 13th November, 1929.
He had a natural aptitude for the study and practical application of physical science, and from his school at Tiverton, where at one time he taught this subject, he gained a scholarship at the Royal College of Science, South Kensington. This was about the time when the telephone, the dynamo, and the incandescent lamp were invented, and when the Institution of Electrical Engineers was the Society of Telegraph Engineers.
He turned his attention to electrical engineering, and after leaving the College became technical adviser to Messrs. Paterson and Cooper, one of the pioneer firms of the industry. Here he took part in the manufacture of the first (Gower Bell) telephones for the Post Office, and of the first ammeter, when this instrument for the direct measurement of current had been invented by Ayrton and Perry.
Later, when in business on his own account, his exceptionally wide knowledge led him to undertake a variety of electrical work, much of it experimental, and at this he was generally successful and always happy.
He treasured his contacts with Lord Kelvin, Professors Ayrton, Perry, Guthrie and Silvanus Thompson, and with his closer friend, S. A. Varley.
He joined the Institution as an Associate in 1881 and became a Member in 1891.