Austin, John (b. 1752, d. before 1838), music stenographer and inventor of a power-loom, was born at Craigton, near Glasgow, on 17 April 1752, the son of the gardener to John Baird, esquire. Nothing is known of Austin's early life or education. On 30 May 1777 he married ...
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Austin, John (b. 1752, d. before 1838), music stenographer and inventor of a power-loom
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Clagget, Charles (1740?–c. 1795), musician and inventor of improvements for musical instruments theatre musician and cello soloist
Fiona M. Palmer
Clagget, Charles (1740
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Light, Edward (1746/7–1832), inventor of musical instruments and composer
L. M. Middleton
revised by Anne Pimlott Baker
Light, Edward (1746/7–1832), inventor of musical instruments and composer, was probably the man of that name who on 6 August 1774 married Elizabeth Hawkins at St Mary's, Marylebone Road, Middlesex. Nothing is known of his early life.
Light invented a number of instruments for ladies to play as an accompaniment to singing, at a time when the piano was not yet widely available. His first invention, about 1798, was the harp-guitar, which looked like a small pedal harp, but with seven gut strings, tuned like an English guitar, giving a more powerful tone than a guitar. This was followed by the harp-lute-guitar, with longer strings. He worked on the harp-lute between 1810 and 1813, adding five open strings off the fingerboard and a harp-like pillar to support the extra strings, with brass ring stops which could be used to raise their pitch by a semitone. He then went on to develop the British harp-lute, patented in 1816, with devices known as ‘ditals’ which when pressed by the fingers would change the pitch of the strings. This became known as the dital harp and although held like a guitar was in effect a small harp, played with both hands....
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Liston, Henry (1771–1836), inventor of a musical instrument and writer on music
Christopher Kent
Liston, Henry (1771–1836), inventor of a musical instrument and writer on music, the eldest son of Robert Liston, minister of Aberdour, Fife, was born on 30 June 1771. He matriculated at Edinburgh University in 1787 and read physics and mathematics before studying for the church. In 1793 he became minister of the parish of ...
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Marshall, James Charles (1923–2012)
Maker: Rob Wyatt
In
James Charles Marshall (1923–2012) by Rob Wyatt, 1992 © Rob Wyatt
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Marshall, James Charles [Jim] (1923–2012), audio equipment manufacturer
Adrian Powell
Marshall, James Charles [Jim] (1923–2012), audio equipment manufacturer, was born on 29 July 1923 at 3 Snarsgate Street, Kensington, London, the son of James Charles Marshall (1898–1965), a leading seaman who went on to own a fish and chip shop in Southall, and his wife, ...
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Merlin, John Joseph (1735–1803), inventor
Charles Mould
Merlin, John Joseph (1735–1803), inventor, was born or baptized, or possibly both born and baptized, on 17 September 1735 at Huy, Southern Netherlands, into a family who were probably inventors. He was the third child of Maximilien Joseph Merlin (born at Cambrai, 8 January 1710) and ...
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Merlin, John Joseph (1735–1803)
Maker: Thomas Gainsborough
In
John Joseph Merlin (1735–1803) by Thomas Gainsborough, 1782 © English Heritage Photo Library / The Bridgeman Art Library
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Poekrich [Pockrich], Richard (1696/7–1759), inventor of musical glasses and social and economic reformer
D. J. O'Donoghue
revised by Patrick Fagan
Poekrich [Pockrich], Richard (1696/7–1759), inventor of musical glasses and social and economic reformer, was born in Aghnamallagh, near the town of Monaghan, Ireland, and was descended from a Cromwellian planter family which had been granted land in co. Monaghan in the seventeenth century. His father, a landed gentleman also named ...
