Lionel Lukin
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2008) |
Lionel Lukin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 May 1742 Great Dunmow, Essex, England |
| Died | 16 February 1834 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | English |
| Known for | Lifeboat |
Lionel Lukin (18 May 1742 – 16 February 1834)[1][2] was a British inventor and lifeboat designer.[3]
Private and professional life
[edit]Lukin was born in Great Dunmow, Essex, on 18 May 1742. He was apprenticed by a local coachbuilder and later established a business in Long Acre, London. He became the Master of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers.[4][5]
He had a house in Chelsea and retired to Hythe, Kent, where he took an active interest in matters of the church. He died on 16 February 1834 and is buried at St Leonard's church.[5][6]
Lifeboats
[edit]Lukin was granted a patent on 2 November 1785 for an 'unimergible' boat. The design had increased buoyancy becuase of sealed air spaces along the side of the boat and in the bow and stern. This enabled it would stay afloat if swamped with water, or when carrying people rescued from the water. A heavy iron keel gave stabilty. These principles were used in most lifeboats built until the 1960s.[6]
Rather than use the patent to make a profit, he published the design so that everyone could benefit from his ideas. The Royal Humane Society commended him for his "very praiseworthy liberality".[5]
Other inventions
[edit]The lifeboat was not the only invention to come from Lukin's fertile brain. Other ideas included a stove that could be used on a ship in rough seas, a rain gauge, an adjustable invalid's bed that was adopted in London hospitals, and a raft that could be used to rescuing people who had fallen through ice.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Edmund Burke, ed. (1835). Annual Register, 1834. London: Baldwin and Craddock... pp. 213. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
- ^ Sylvanus Urban, ed. (1834). "Obituary – Lionel Lukin Esq". The Gentleman's Magazine. New Series. Vol. II (July to December ed.). pp. 653–654.
- ^ H. M. Chichester, R. C. Cox (2007). Lukin, Lionel (1742–1834). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17170 (subscription required)
- ^ Sharp, Robin (1992). "Lionel Lukin - Lifeboat Inventor". Lifeboat. Vol. 52, no. 520. p. 224.
- ^ a b c d Martin, Frank (1985). "Lionel Lukin - Lifeboat Inventor". Lifeboat. Vol. 49, no. 492. pp. 200–201.
- ^ a b "Sketch of the progress made in the construction of coast life-boats (Part 1)". Life-boat. Vol. 17, no. 195. 1900. pp. 537–542.
Further reading
[edit]- Robus, Frederick (1925). Lionel Lukin of Dunmow: The Inventor of the Lifeboat. Robus Brothers.
- Malster, Robert, ed. (2013). The Minute Books of the Suffolk Humane Society... and the world's first sailing lifeboat. Suffolk Records Society, vol. 56. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-84383-805-0.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
