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Huskisson Memorial

Miscellanea & Curiosities

1831

Memorial tablet, marble, restored original from the Huskisson Memorial, commemorating the accidental death of William Huskisson MP at Parkside on the opening day of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway , 15 September 1830.

Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway, composite 1st & 2nd class railway carriage

Locomotives and Rolling Stock

1834

Railway carriage, four wheeled, composite (1st & 2nd Class), Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway, Prussian blue and cream livery, built in 1834. Length over buffers: 16' 2"

Whitworth Planing Machine

Hand and Machine Tools

c.1842

Planing machine, made by Joseph Whitworth & Co. of Manchester, 1842. Belt drive, three pullies, one loos in the middle, to drive the lathe in either direction. Table worked by the worm screw and nut. Parts of the automatic cross feed to the tool holder are missing, as is the original tool holder which probably was the reversing type. This machine was originally in the LNWR Crewe works, reputedly used for making horn blocks for axles. Presented by A Bebbington & Son, Culland Street Works, Crewe.

Cammann type binaural stethoscope

Clinical Diagnosis

1845-1855

Cammann binaural stethoscope, presented by Cammann to Dr. Barth.

Hangman's rope, England, 1870-1888

Wellcome (general)

1870-1888

Hangman's rope, English, allegedly used in the hanging of Elizabeth Berry and Alfred Scandrett. Originally dated 1810-1824 and additionally associated with the execution of John Thurtell in 1824, stylistically this rope appears to be from a later period and Berry and Scandrett were executed in 1887 and 1888 respectively.

Strowger step-by-step automatic telephone exchange switch, 1897-1898

Telecommunications

1897-1898

Strowger step-by-step automatic telephone exchange switch, made by the Strowger Automatic Telephone Company, United States, 1897-1898

Bo-Third Rail No D75S

Locomotives and Rolling Stock

1898

Electric locomotive, Waterloo & City Railway, Bo - Third Rail No D75S, built by Siemens Brothers of London in 1898, withdrawn in May 1968.

Panhard Levassor 4hp motor car

Road Transport

1894-1895

Panhard Levassor 4hp motor car, France, 1894-5.

Reflecting telescope by William Herschel

Astronomy

1783-1785

Newtonian reflecting telescope with 6 1/8-inch diameter speculum mirror of 7-foot focal length with mahogany tube and altazimuth stand; includes accessories and a pamphlet of directions for use. Telescope made by Herschel for his friend Sir William Watson in Bath, 1783-1785.

Full dentures, England, 1890-1900

Dentistry

1890-1900

Full dentures, vulcanite plates, porcelain teeth, gilt springs, made in England, 1890-1900

Palmer's micrometer (replica)

Industrial Metrology

c. 1848

Replica of original micrometer caliper by Jean Laurent Palmer, patented in France 7.9.1848, range 0 to 20 mm, made after 1867 by Brown & Sharpe

'Haystack' Boiler, 1775-1799

Motive Power

1775-1799 (original); 1900-1907 (model)

Model, scale 1:12, of balloon or haystack boiler

Clock movement for Shelton regulator clock

Time Measurement

1768-1769

Movement for regulator clock with dead beat escapement, inverted grid iron pendulum with steel knife edge pivot on an agate plate and bubble level. Originally made by John Shelton, Shoe Lane, London, 1768-9, with later modifications.

Holmgren's coloured wool test for colour blindness, Europe, 1871-1900

Ophthalmology

1871-1900

Holmgren's coloured word test in original case with instructions

Improved Patent Magneto Electric Machine for nervous diseases

Therapeutics

1862

Improved Patent Magneto Electric Machine for nervous diseases, dynamo with steel magnet and brass and ebony terminals to apply to patient, all in polished wood case dated, unsigned, Europe, 1862

Decapitating hook, London, England,1851-1900

Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Contraception

1851-1900

Decapitating hook, Galabin, steel, ebony handle, by Down Bros. of London, second half 19th century

Parsons' steam turbine generator, 1884.

Motive Power

1884

Parsons' original Steam Turbine generator, with spare guide ring and fan, by Clarke, Chapman, Parsons & Co.,1884

Blundell's blood transfusion apparatus, London, England,1801-1900

Therapeutics

1801-1900

Blundell (?) blood transfusion apparatus in mahogany case, by Savigny and Co., London 19th century.

Shutt End Colliery Railway steam locomotive 'Agenoria'

Locomotives and Rolling Stock

1829

Steam locomotive ‘Agenoria’ 0-4-0, built by Foster Rastrick & Co, Stourbridge for the Earl of Dudley's Shutt End Colliery Railway at Kingswinford, Staffordshire in 1829; withdrawn c1864, length over buffers, 13' 3"; width 6' 1"; height 24"; weight 11 tons with tender; area 7.19m square. Driving wheel diameter 4 feet, 0 3/4 inches; weigh 11 tons with tender

Architect's model of S&J Watts' warehouse

Textile Industry

1850-1856

Architecht's model of S & J Watts' warehouse, made around 1850.

Writing machine for blind people, United Kingdom, 1862

Printing & Writing

1862

Martin's writing machine for use by blind people, 1862. The carriage of the machine is moved one space at a time when the printing lever is operated by the engagement of a pawl with a rack. On the carriage is mounted a circular disc with raised letters and perforated punches sliding vertically in recesses. The desired letter is moved into line with a pointer by the sense of touch, the operating lever is then raised and depresses a plunger which enters the appropriate hole at the opposite side of the disc to the selected letter. The plunger forces down the punch which makes a perforated letter in the paper. The paper is fed by rollers and a spring indent and ratchet and passes over a springy leather pad beneath the punch. It is reversed for reading, the shape of the letter being determined by touch on the rough edges of the perforations forming the letter shape.

Copy of the receiver and alarm call of Schilling's electric telegraph, 1870-1877

Telecommunications

1870-1877

Copy of the receiver and alarm call of Schilling's electric telegraph, made by the British Telegraph Manufactory, London, England, 1870-1877. The original was made 1825-1830 by Baron P Schilling and was exhibited in the Loan Collection of Scientific Apparatus in 1876, lent by the Imperial Academy of Science St Petersburg, E.15 a to c - 1878. Vol.6 p.276, S.L.R.

Cooke and Wheatstone five-needle telegraph

Telecommunications

1837

Cooke and Wheatstone's earliest (five-needle) telegraph, England, 1837.

Mineral water bottle

Glass Technology

1801-1900

Egg shaped mineral water bottle, 19th century

Ear trumpet and walking stick combined

Audiology

1875-1885

Ear trumpet and walking stick combined

Copy of Chamberlen obstetric forceps

Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Contraception

1813

Copy of obstetric forceps, invented and used by Chamberlen

Enema syringe, France, 1855-1900

Therapeutics

1855-1900

Reservoir for an Eguisier's enema, French, 1855-1900

'Dr Syntax and his wife making an experiment in pneumatics', print, London, England, 1820

William Combe

1820

Aquatint, col. 'Dr Syntax and his Wife Making an experiment in Pneumatics'. Plate [15] from 'Dr. Syntax in Paris' [W Combe, 1820]. platemark 15x23cm, image 11x19cm. Caricature, scene dancing in drawing room, Nooth? chemical apparatus on lower left. In frame 29.5x35.5x1.5cm

Booklet of 'Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions' by Anna Atkins

Photographs

1843-1853

Booklet of cyanotype impressions, 'Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions' by Anna Atkins (1799-1871) Part 1 of Fox Talbot's own copy, sewn in original blue wrapper.

Cloth tape measure

Hand and Machine Tools

1850-1860

One flexible, cloth tape measure on reel with measurements in feet and inches one side and links on other, enclosed in leather case, made by John Rabone, Birmingham. Sold under the trade name of 'Hockley Abbey', the tape measure comes from a shipwright's tool chest dated to the 1850s.

Cooke and Wheatstone 5-needle telegraph, 1837

Telecommunications

1837

Large 5-needle Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, designed by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone, England, 1837

Model of human eye

Anatomy & Pathology

1870

Model of human eye, 1870, by Dr. Auzoux, French

Reis telephone transmitter, 1863

Telecommunications

1863

Reis telephone transmitter, made by J W Arnold, Frankfurt, Germany, 1863

Rudge 'ordinary' or 'penny farthing' bicycle

Road Transport

1884

Rudge Ordinary bicycle of 1884, lightened for racing purposes

Block instrument (lock and block)

Signalling & Telecommunications

1897

Block instrument: Sykes' Lock and Block absolute 2-tablet/1-semaphore block-indicator with plunger-commutator, release key-hole, and switch-hook (all brass). The upper/lower tablet indications are "Locked/Free" and "Blank/Train On" respectively. The tablet cut-out face-plate sits within a brass-bezelled circular aperture and is inscribed "Local 12", "To Coborn Road", "From Devonshire Street". Above the tablet-aperture is a rectangular brass Sykes' maker's plate. This instrument was presented by 'W.R. Sykes Interlocking Signal Company Ltd' and has a Description Card.

Barograph clock by Alexander Cumming

Time Measurement

1766

Barograph clock made by Alexander Cumming (1731 or 1732-1814), London, England, 1766. It consists of a compensated pendulum regulator clock and a mercury barograph mechanism for measuring changes in air pressure, which are recorded on the circular paper chart around the outside of the dial. Two tubes of mercury are concealed in the fluted wooden columns visible inside the glass trunk door. An ivory cistern and a wood and ivory pen cage run in ivory rollers connecting the pressure-measuring mechanism to the recording dial. The clock is housed in an exuberant carved mahogany case believed to be by the esteemed cabinet-maker Thomas Chippendale. Originally used by Cumming himself, the barograph clock was purchased in around 1814 and used by manufacturing chemist and meteorologist, Luke Howard (1772-1864).

Earthenware phrenological bust

Psychology, Psychiatry & Anthropometry

1860-1896

Earthenware phrenological bust, area divisions and labels marked in underglaze black, by L.N. Fowler, London 1860-1896

X-ray installation

X-rays

1896-1897

X-ray installation by Russell John Reynolds, London, England, 1896-97. Consists of:- 13-inch spark coil mounted on glass pillars, with mercury dipper break (motor control) and commutator, all mounted on wooden stand; condenser mounted in mahogany case; three-legged wooden tube stand; chromic acid battery.

Iron borings coherer (Branly type), 1894

Radio Communication

1894

Iron borings coherer (Branly type), probably made by Oliver Lodge, England, 1894. Mounted on wooden baseboard.

Sign for keeping away evil spirits, China, 1801-1900

Asian Medicine

1801-1900

Raffia hanging loop, for large wooden sign, painted with a demons face, hung outside house to keep away evil spirits, China, 1801-1900

Packet of pure quinine powder

Materia Medica & Pharmacology

1890-1900

Packet of quinine powder, as sold in post offices in India, 1890-1900

Chronophotographe double-use camera

Cinematography

1890

Etienne Jules Marey's Chrono-photographic camera, without lens (B3030), 1890.

'Royal Address of Cadwallader ap-Tudor ap-Edwards ap-Vaughan, Water-King of Southwark', print, London, England, 1832

George Cruikshank

1832

Coloured etching by G[eorge] Cruikshank: Source of the Southwark Water Works, or [headed] Salus Populi Suprema Lex. Published by S. Knight, [1832]. 51x32.5cm. Printed on broadsheet with text poem beneath: Royal Address of Cadwallader... water-king of Southwark [John Edwards]. Concern at pollution and threat to public health. In frame 69x44x2cm

Cast steel pressure cooker by A. Kendrick & Sons, 1885-1895.

Domestic Appliances

1885-1895

Cast steel pressure cooker by A. Kendrick & Sons, 1885-1895.

Thornton-Pickard Amber camera

Photographic Technology

c 1897

Thornton-Pickard 'Amber' camera with three blockform double darkslides. Sold by Sands, Hunter & Co. Stand camera for 4 3/4 x 6 1/2 inch plates. Ensign Anastigmat lens, Series VIIN No 3, f/7.7-32, Serial No 171064. Thornton-Pickard roller blind Time & Inst shutter /15/40/90/T. Rack and pinion focusing on back and front, double extension. Swing back. Swing out focusing screen (glass missing). Reversible back. Pendulum and spirit levels. Sliding rising front. Serial No 7432F. With 3 blockform double darkslides.