John Stephen Woolrich
John Stephen Woolrich (1820-1850)
Born in Lichfield in late 1820, the second son of John Woolrich (c.1791–1843) and his wife Mary Woolrich (formerly Egginton).
In August 1842 he was granted patent number 9431 for the use of a magneto-electrical machine (instead of batteries) in electroplating, and the use of gold sulphite and silver sulphite as electrolytes. Elkington and Co took out a licence, and Woolrich later relicensed the patent himself to use in his own Magneto-Plating and Gilding Works in Great Charles Street, Birmingham.
In 1849 was listed as a "chemist & magneto-plater & gilder", residing at 12 James Street.
He died young in early 1850, aged only 29.
The Woolrich Electrical Generator, now in Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum, is described as the earliest electrical generator used in an industrial process. It was constructed in February 1844 at the Magneto Works of Thomas Prime and Son, Birmingham, and was used by the firm of Elkingtons for commercial electroplating.
The generator stood for some time in the chapel of Aston Hall, accompanied by a plaque bearing the following inscription:-
This machine, founded upon Faraday's great discovery of Induction, was invented by the late John Stephen Woolrich of Birmingham. It was constructed by Messrs. Prime & Son in 1844, and was worked by them for many years, until superseded by machines of improved construction and greater power. It is the FIRST magnetic machine that ever deposited silver, gold or copper, and it is the forerunner of all the magnificent dynamo machines that have since been invented. Professor Faraday, on the occasion of the meeting of the British Association in Birmingham, paid a visit, together with some of his scientific friends, to Messrs. Prime & Son's Works, purposely to see the application of this great discovery in practical operation, and expressed his intense delight at witnessing his discovery so early and extensively applied and so successfully carried into practical use. To Birmingham belongs the honour not only of introducing electro-plate, the use of which has been extended to every civilised nation, but also the honour of first adopting Faraday's great discovery of obtaining electricity from magnetism, — a discovery that has influenced science and art to an enormous extent.
All the above information is condensed from the excellent Wikipedia entry
1843 Letter from J S Woolrich[1]
'ELECTRO-MAGNETO PLATING
Sir, - In a letter which appeared in your Number of last week, containing an exposure of the common and fraudulent practice of appropriating and securing other persons’ inventions by patent, mention is made of a patent, which is conspicuously held up as one of the “numberless instances in which parties obtain patents for inventions to which they have not the slightest foundation of claim;” in reply to which, I beg the favour of the insertion of the following remarks.
'The writer asserts that Mr. Sturgeon published an account of my magneto process of plating, &c., in 1842. To this effect, he quotes the following passage: “It is now more than seven years ago that I contrived a magnetic electric machine, by means of which I coated metals with tin, copper, &c.; and I have employed the same machine to advantage in gilding, silvering, platinizing various kinds of metals of inferior value, and I have no doubt that in this capacity the magnetic electric machine may become generally useful. I have produced good electrotypes on a small scale by its employment.”
'As far back as the year 1834 I was engaged with my father in experiments with the magnetic machine, and had a large one constructed, by which we decomposed water, iodine of potassium, and other compound solutions, and were the first, I believe, to produce a continuous current by the magnet, which was never published beyond the lecture room of the Royal School of Medicine, of this town. Two years afterwards we applied the magnet to the decomposition of copper. In 1839, we used it in depositing silver from the ammoniacal solutions, with a view to plating; but our trials, although partially successful then, were not brought to that perfection requisite for practical purposes, until I accomplished this desideratum in 1841, and, at the same time, discovered a new class of solvents. I then applied for a patent, and owing to a patent being unspecified before mine, was advised to wait a few months, during which time Mr. Sturgeon published his work, stating that he did it, but without explaining and mentioning how he effected this object.
'In answer to what “C.W.” says – “If Mr. Woolrich had made some ingenious improvement in the magnetic-electric machine,” I would refer him to my specification, and Mr. Sturgeon’s account of his machine, a perusal of which will show that there is an essential improvement and difference between the two – the general form of both machines being that taken from Mr. Saxton’s, which was made in 1833. Some idea, I think, will be formed of the improvements which I have introduced, when I state that I can construct a machine for about £15, which is capable of depositing 60 ozs. of silver per week; and hope still to reduce its cost considerably. Mr. Sturgeon’s merit as an electrician, and his valuable assistance in the collateral branches of science, entitle him to the regard of every scientific person; but although, like others, he may have contributed to the advancement of this department of science, he certainly not applied it, practically and beneficially, to the arts. I was for doing this, and obtained my patent.
I am, Sir,
Yours respectfully,
JOHN STEPHEN WOOLRICH'