Search our collection | Science Museum Group Collection

Bell from Liverpool Road Station, Manchester

Liverpool & Manchester Railway

c. 1831

Bell from Liverpool Road Station, Manchester, c. 1831.

section of first telegraph cable, 1837

Telecommunications

1837

Piece of the original telegraph line laid down between Euston Square and Camden Town, made by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone, England, 1837.

Portable double-needle telegraph and test set, 1850

Telecommunications

1850

Portable double-needle telegraph and test set, with removable wooden cover, unknown maker, possibly British, 1850

Single-needle block instrument

Signalling & Telecommunications

1845

Cooke's single needle instrument 1845 for signalling on the Norfolk Railway.

pot for Daniell cell used by Edward Davy, 1836-1839

Telecommunications

1836-1839

Pot for Daniell cell used and possibly made by Edward Davy, England, 1836-1839. Found in a field in Somerset by J J Fahie, an historian of the electric telegraph, in 1883.

Lead weight marked 'Reid' from the first cross-Channel telegraph cable, 1850.

Telecommunications

1850

Lead weight, marked Reid, with which the original cross-Channel telegraph cable of 1850 was weighted, made by Reid Brothers, Islington, London, England, 1850

Gold watch made for Queen Amelie of France by Henri Motel

Clockmakers

c. 1840

Gold engine-turned case. White enamel dial signed ‘hri Motel hges de la Marine Rle No. 48’ with subsidiary seconds. Steel hands. Mahogany deck box with silver plate inscribed ‘Don de la Reine Amelie H H’. Cuvette engraved with equation-of-time table. Pivoted detent escapement. Four-arm compensation balance, conical balance spring without terminal curve. Jewelled to centre. Paris, c.1840

Sir W. F. Cooke's original electric alarum, 1835-1840

Telecommunications

1835-1840

Sir W. F. Cooke's original electric alarum, unknown maker, British, 1835-1840

Wax portrait of George Atkins (1766 – 1855) by Richard Cockle Lucas

Clockmakers

1852

Wax portrait of George Atkins (1766 – 1855) by Richard Cockle Lucas, London, 1852.

Section of early underground telegraph cable, 1846

Telecommunications

1846

Section of early underground telegraph cable, believed to have been laid from Dumfries to Portpatrick, made by Edwin Clark and Henry Muirhead, British, 1846.

Sample of 1851 Dover-Calais telegraph cable, 1851

Telecommunications

1851

Specimen of Crampton's Dover and Calais telegraph cable, laid in 1851 and remained in use until 1875, made by R S Newall and Company, Millwall, London, England, 1851

Clark's block signalling telegraph instrument, 1854

Signalling & Telecommunications

1854

Clark's block signalling telegraph instrument, invented by Edwin Clark, probably made by W T Henley's Telegraph Works Company for the Electric Telegraph Company, London, England, 1854. This type of instrument was used of the London and North Western Railway Line between London and Rugby from 1855

Dental impression tray

Dentistry

1830-1850

Dental impression tray, bronze, gilt, probably French, from the Charriere, Collin and Gentile collection, circa 1840

Keyboard for transmitting telegraphic messages, 1845-1851

Telecommunications

1845-1851

Keyboard for transmitting telegraphic messages, probably made by John Watkins Brett, London, England, 1845-1851

A.B.C. telegraph transmitter, 1835-1845

Telecommunications

1835-1845

Magneto-electric ABC transmitter, patented by Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke, British, around 1840.

Guard's chronometer, Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway

Railway Timepieces

1834-1844

Guard's timepiece, Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway Company, No.1, George Littlewort, Maker, London, rectangular brass and mahogany case, circular face with Roman numerals, c.1839.

Railway bridge section, portion of rivetted girder from Britannia Bridge

Railway Infrastructure

1850

Railway bridge section, portion of rivetted girder from Britannia Bridge, Menai Straits, with painted inscription LAST RIVET / MARCH 5 1850 / R.STEPHENSON.

Peel, Williams & Peel steam engine

Motive Power

1846

Six-column beam engine, made by Peel, Williams & Peel, Manchester, in 1846 and originally used at Thomas Redfern's file-making factory in Stockport. A small beam engine, complete in itself and built as a free standing unit. Sometimes known as a 'wet bottom' engine due to its condenser tank at the base. Also described as a tank bed engine, with 12" x 20" slide valve cylinder.

Part of Two foot geodetic theodolite, British, 1826-1828

Surveying

1826-1828

Two-foot geodetic theodolite with cast iron base and mahogany stand, by Troughton and Simms, London, England, 1826-28. Fitted with three bubble levels and eight reading microscopes. First used in 1828 for checking the Lough Foyle base.

Hand printing block

Textile Industry

c.1840

Hand printing block, pattern C7415, made by Stead McAlpin & Co. Ltd, Carlisle c.1840.

Telegraph block instrument

Signalling & Telecommunications

1855

Telegraph block instrument; Walker's, 1855, Stockton & Darlington Railway, No 216, type introduced by Mr C V Walker on the South Eastern Railway. (No.161 of 1866) Lock and Block with double semaphore-arm block-indicators on vertical wooden post with top-mounted block-dome/striker. There are 3 plates attached: "SDR No 162" (enamel); "Walker's Semaphore Block Instrument.1855....." (ivorine); "Walkers' Patent.." (enamel). This has a significantly shorter case than the SER examples.

Hand printing block

Textile Industry

c.1840

Hand printing block, pattern C7415, made by Stead McAlpin & Co. Ltd, Carlisle c.1840.

Model of Arthur Parsey's compressed air locomotive, 1845

Railway Models

1845

Model compressed air locomotive, constructed in 1845 to demonstrate A Parseys patents of 1839 and 1844, presented to the Directors of the Great Western Railway by the late Sir James Caird Bt. (shipowner).

Judkin's lock-stitch sewing machine, 1851.

Textiles Machinery

1851

Reproduction of Judkin's lockstitch sewing machine made by Platt Bros & Co Ltd., Oldham, Manchester, England, shown at 1851 Exhibition.

Mummy of a peregrine falcon, Egypt, 2000-1001 BCE

Classical & Medieval Medicine

2000-1001 BCE

Mummy of peregrine falcon, Egyptian, 2000-1001 BC

A la memoire de J.M. Jacquard

Textiles Machinery

1839

Jacquard-woven picture "A la memoire de J.M. Jacquard" after the original by C. Bonnefond, in frame 20" x 14", frame 31" x 27", 1839

William Henson's model of his 'Aerial Steam Carriage'

Aeronautics

1845-1847

Henson's Flying Machine model [1843]

Plaster phrenological head of Sir William Edward Parry

Psychology, Psychiatry & Anthropometry

1827-1850

Plaster phrenological head of Sir William Edward Parry, explorer, by De Ville of London, 1829-1850

printing block

Textile Industry

c.1840

Hand printing block, pattern C7415, made by Stead McAlpin & Co. Ltd, Carlisle c.1840.

Five-needle train signalling instrument used on the London and Blackwall Railway

Signalling & Telecommunications

1840

5-needle train signalling instrument used on the London and Blackwall Railway, probably made by W T Henley's Telegraph Works Company for the Electric Telegraph Company, England, 1840. The London and Blackwall railway was the second permanent telegraph line to be constructed, along a 3 mile section of the track.

Stanhope iron hand-operated printing press

Printing & Writing

c.1835

Stanhope iron hand-operated printing press made by I. Brooks, London, c.1830-c.1850.

Bench vice belonging to George Stephenson

Tools of the Trade & Personal Accessories

1829

Bench vice, iron, used by George Stephenson during the Rainhill trials, 1829. Overall: 310 mm x 610 mm x 300 mm.

Monaural stethoscope and percussor

Clinical Diagnosis

1846-1855

Monaural stethoscope and percussor, c.1880

Hand printing block

Textile Industry

c.1840

Hand printing block, pattern C7415, made by Stead McAlpin & Co. Ltd, Carlisle c.1840.

Monaural stethoscope

Clinical Diagnosis

1840-1850

Monaural stethoscope

Seal die, The Southampton & Dorchester Railway Company

Railway Heraldry

1845

Seal die, steel, Southampton & Dorchester Railway Company, quartered shield: 1st and 4th arms of Southampton, 2nd device of Dorchester, 3rd arms of Poole, incorporated 1845, opened 1st June 1847, leased to (1847) and acquired by London & South Western Railway in 1848.

Telegraph receiver

Telecommunications

1846

Two-needle telegraph, made by William Reid & Co., London, 1846 and used on the Preston & Wyre Railway.

Pocket watch belonging to Joseph Lister

Wellcome (general)

1853

Gold pocket watch with second hand dial, formerly belonging to Lord Lister, by Simmons, London, 1853

Ice-skate of about 1830, wood with metal runner

Road Transport

1830

Ice-skate of about 1830, wood with metal runner

Truncheon, ebony, England, 1849

Wellcome (general)

1849

Truncheon, wood, English, dated 1849

Engraved lancet case

Surgery

1826

Lancet case, empty, silver, unsigned, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, 1826 or 1830

Silver lancet case, empty

Therapeutics

1833

Empty lancet case, silver, made in Birmingham, 1833

Transmitting keys for Five-needle telegraph, 1837-1846

Telecommunications

1837-1846

Two 5-needle telegraph transmitting keys for Cooke and Wheatstone's 5-needle telegraph, unknown maker, England, 1837-1846.

Gold chain for Lister's pocket watch

Wellcome (general)

1853

Gold chain for use with pocket watch, formerly belonging to Lord Lister, in case, by John Simmons, Fleet Street, London, 1853

printing block

Textile Industry

c.1840

Hand printing block, pattern C7415, made by Stead McAlpin & Co. Ltd, Carlisle c.1840.

Phrenological head of unidentified individual

Psychology, Psychiatry & Anthropometry

1824

Plaster phrenological head of unidentified individual, by O'Neill, Edinburgh, c.1824

Lancets in silver case

Therapeutics

1826

Five lancets, steel, tortoiseshell, and mother of pearl, various English makers, in silver case, made in Birmingham, 1826

Spectacles, gold rims, blue lenses, given to James

Ophthalmology

1853

Spectacles, gold rims, blue lenses, given to James Brown by W. Barnington, in silver case, by Mills, Birmingham, 1853

Charles Green Aeronaut

Coins, Medals & Tokens

1836

Medal commemorating balloon flight of Charles Green, aeronaut, from London to Weilburg, 1836. Bronze; 41mm diameter. Obverse, legend: Charles Green aeronaut.; relief portrait profile head to left, classical style; artist signed below base, W. J. Taylor. Reverse, legend: From London November 7. 1836 in company with Rob[er]t Hollond M.P. & M[onck]. Mason Esqr. To Weilburg Germany in 18 hours.; scene, balloon in distance above town of Weilburg.

Microscope Slide, 1852

Public Health & Hygiene

1852

Glass microscope slide. Part of compound monocular microscope owned by Edwin Lankester and purchased from the makers Smith & Beck of London in 1852. Possibly used by Lankester when examining water from the pump at Broad St, Soho, the focus of the outbreak of cholera in London in 1854.