William Petrie
William Petrie (1821–1908), electrical engineer
1821 born on 21 January at Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, the eldest of four sons of William Petrie, a War Office official, and his wife, Margaret (nee Mitton).
Educated at home and at the South African College in Cape Town. Later studied chemistry and mathematics at King's College, London
1840 went to study at Frankfurt am Main, focussed on electricity and magnetism.
1841 Returned to England; took out a patent on a magneto-electric generator.
1846 to 1853 worked on electric lighting problems in collaboration with William Edwards Staite. Devised a self-regulating arc lamp, supervising its manufacture at the works in Long Acre of Holtzapffel and Co.
1848 The lamp was displayed at the Hanover Square Rooms and on the portico of the National Gallery
1849 Demonstrated the lamp by lighting the old Hungerford Bridge.
1850 Petrie and Staite described their achievements to the Society of Arts but did not achieve financial success - the necessary electrical generators only became available in the 1870s.
1851 Married Anne (1812–1892), only child of Matthew Flinders, a naval hydrographer. Their only child, William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853–1942), became a well known archaeologist.
Later Petrie worked in electro-chemistry, designing and equipping chemical works in France, Australia, and the United States. For many years he worked for Johnson, Matthey and Co, for whom he designed and patented a platinum-iridium boiler for concentrating sulphuric acid.
1908 Died at home in Bromley, Kent, on 16 March.
See Also
Sources of Information
- Biography, ODNB