Lucas, Francis Robert 1849 - 1931
- Nationality:
- English; British
(1849-1931), telegraph engineer
Francis Robert Lucas, born in in 1849, was a telegraph engineer, working from 1856 at the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Co. (Telcon) at Enderby’s Wharf in Greenwich. He was involved in laying submarine cable, succeeding Henry Clifford as Chief Engineer in 1893, and becoming Managing Director in 1906 until his retirement in 1925. He participated in the cable laying voyages of SS 'Great Eastern' in 1878; invented a wire-sounding machine which was first used on the cable laying ship the 'Alert' in 1887; invented a type of oceanographic sounding machine in 1891; patented a scoop sounder, an instrument also known as the 'snapper' which was used when cable laying.
He was married to Katherine and they were the parents of Ralph Lucas (1876-1955), designer and builder of motor cars. Francis died in 1931.
Related Documents
Albums documenting the laying of submarine cables (German Atlantic Telegraph)
Albums documenting the laying of numerous submarine cables
Albums documenting the laying of submarine cables (Sierra Leone-Ascension, Durban-Mauritius)
Album, compiled and written, documenting the laying of the Durban-Mauritius and the Sierra Leone-Ascension submarine cables
Album documenting the laying of the Vancouver-Fanning Island-Fiji sections of the Pacific submarine cable
Album, compiled and written, documenting the laying of the German-Atlantic submarine cable
Album documenting the laying of the first three stages of the Mauritius-Rodriguez-Cocos-Fremantle-Glenelg submarine cable
Album documenting the laying of the Porthcurno-Madeira-St. Vincent submarine cable
Album documenting the laying of two submarine cables
