George Herbert Skinner

Last updated

George Herbert Skinner (1872–1931) was a British boot and shoe manufacturer, enthusiastic pioneer motorist [1] and inventor of a well-known carburettor which remained in production almost the entire twentieth century until superseded by fuel injection systems.

Contents

Biography

Herbert Skinner was born in 1872 in Wellingborough the eldest son of boot and shoe manufacturer William Banks Skinner (1847-1914) and his wife born Jane Lilley. [2] In 1881 Banks Skinner entered into a partnership with his brother-in-law, Thomas Lilley (1845-1916), and they built a very successful footwear manufacturing and retailing business, Lilley & Skinner.

Wellingborough market town in Northamptonshire, England

Wellingborough is a large market town in the Wellingborough district in the county of Northamptonshire, England, situated about 11 miles (18 km) from the county town of Northampton. The town is situated on the north side of the River Nene, most of the older town is sited on the flanks of the hills above the river's current flood plain. Due to frequent flooding by the River Nene, the town was mostly built above the current level of the floodplain. Originally named "Wendelingburgh", the settlement was established in the Saxon period and is mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name of "Wendelburie". The town was granted a royal market charter in 1201, by King John of England.

Lilley & Skinner

Lilley & Skinner was a British mid-market shoe brand, manufacturer, retailer and wholesale distributor of their own and others' boots and shoes and associated chain of high street shoe shops. It was also active in wholesale leather distribution.

The eldest son, Herbert Skinner followed his father into the management of Lilley & Skinner. [3] He brought back Britain's first modern shoe-making machinery from an 1895 visit to USA. [1]

He acquired his first car in 1898 and actively participated in the development of the petrol engine. [1] Herbert with his brother Carl, Thomas Carlisle Skinner (1882-1958), made a newly developed carburettor in 1904. [4] In February 1905 Herbert applied for a full patent [5] which was granted in January 1906. [6] The new carburettor was made for the Skinner brothers by G Wailes & Co of Euston Road until the brothers formed a limited liability company in August 1910 [note 1] to manufacture it themselves. [1] The original brand name Union Carburettor was changed to S. U. carburettor, an abbreviation of Skinner-Union. [7] [8] [9] [10] Younger brother, Carl (Thomas Carlisle) Skinner (1882-1958) sold out of Lilley & Skinner and took over the carburettor business. Herbert remained with Lilley and Skinner [11] and continued to patent improvements to his carburettor. [4] [12]

He was one of the founders and the vice-president of the Institute of Patentees and well-known in the City of London as an active member of the Cordwainers' Company. He represented England as a clay-bird shot in the 1908 Olympic Games and won a bronze medal. [1]

The Institute of Patentees and Inventors is a United Kingdom-based non-profit making association. It provides support to individuals on all aspects of inventing.

Herbert was father of Professor Herbert Skinner. He did not believe in early schooling. His son was nine years old before he entered Durston House School at Ealing. [5]

Herbert Wakefield Banks Skinner was a British physicist.

Herbert Skinner died suddenly at his house in Woodville Road, Ealing on 29 December 1931 aged 59. [13]

Diagram of original carburettor with leather bellows Skinner-Union carburettor 1909.jpg
Diagram of original carburettor with leather bellows

Notes

  1. ↑ S. U. Company Limited, 386—388 Euston Road, N.W. Capital £5,000 in £1 shares. Formed to acquire from G. H. Skinner certain inventions relating to carburettors for motorcars &c
    New Companies Registered. Private Companies. The Automotor Journal, 24 September 1910

Related Research Articles

Cyrus McCormick American inventor and businessman

Cyrus Hall McCormick was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which later became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902. Originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, he and many members of his family became prominent residents of Chicago.

Wheel clamp

A wheel clamp, also known as wheel boot, parking boot, or Denver boot, is a device that is designed to prevent motor vehicles from being moved. In its most common form, it consists of a clamp that surrounds a vehicle wheel, designed to prevent removal of both itself and the wheel.

The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin is a book published in 1887 edited by Francis Darwin about his father Charles Darwin. It contains a selection of 87 letters from the correspondence of Charles Darwin, an autobiographical chapter written by Charles Darwin for his family, and an essay by Thomas Huxley "On the reception of the 'Origin of Species'".

John Davenport Siddeley, 1st Baron Kenilworth, was a pioneer of the motor industry in the United Kingdom manufacturing aero engines and air frames as well as motor vehicles.

Orville H. Carlisle, a shoe salesman in Norfolk, Nebraska invented the hobby that would become known as model rocketry.

Karrier British commercial vehicle manufacturer

Karrier was a British marque of motorised municipal appliances and light commercial vehicles and trolley buses manufactured at Karrier Works, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, by Clayton and Co., Huddersfield, Limited. They began making Karrier motor vehicles in 1908 in Queen Street South, Huddersfield. In 1920, H.F. Clayton sold Clayton and Co's Huddersfield business into public listed company Karrier Motors while keeping their Penistone operation separate and mechanical and electrical engineers Clayton & Co Penistone remains active in 2018.

Gwynnes Limited defunct automobile and engine manufacturer

Gwynnes Limited was a City of London England engineering business, iron founders and pump makers founded in 1849 to capitalise on the centrifugal pump invented by James Gwynne (1804–1850). In 1856 his eldest son, J E A Gwynne, of Essex Street Wharves on the south side of The Strand was awarded a patent for the manufacture of carbon or charcoal powder. Their Strand site became part of the Victoria Embankment built between 1865 and 1867 and Gwynne profited from judicious investment in the reclaimed land. Their Crisp Road, Hammersmith Ironworks and works at Church Wharf, Chiswick, London, were established in 1867 to specialise in the manufacture of these centrifugal pumps and pumping engines This machinery was for use in practically all purposes where large or small quantities of liquid were required to be lifted and dealt with for low or high heads. A limited liability company was formed in May 1897 to own the business.

Daimler Conquest

The Daimler Conquest is an automobile which was produced by The Daimler Company Limited in the United Kingdom from 1953 to 1958. Based on the Lanchester Fourteen, the Conquest replaced the Daimler Consort. Sales were affected by increasing prices and by the fuel shortage caused by the Suez Crisis, and production ended by January 1958, before a replacement model was in production.

Rover 12

The Rover 12 was a name given to several medium-sized family cars from the British Rover car company between 1905 and 1948.

The Rt Rev Rennie MacInnes was a Bishop in the Anglican Church in the first third of the twentieth century.

Thomas Bloomer was born on 14 July 1894 and educated at the Royal School Dungannon and Trinity College, Dublin. He began his ministry as a curate at Carrickfergus. Later he was Vicar of St Mark’s, Bath and then Rural Dean of Barking before his ordination to the episcopate as Bishop of Carlisle. He retired as bishop in 1966, and died on 5 January 1984.

Frederick Wolseley Irish businessman

Frederick York Wolseley was an Irish-born New South Wales inventor and woolgrower who invented and developed the first commercially successful sheep shearing machinery after extensive experimentation. It revolutionised the wool industry.

SU carburettor

SU carburettors are a brand of carburettor of the constant depression type. The design remained in quantity production for much of the twentieth century.

H. H. Franklin Manufacturing Company was founded in 1893 by industrialist Herbert H. Franklin in Syracuse, New York. The company specialized in machine die casting and made small parts such as gears and bearing caps. It was the first company in the world in that enterprise.

Charles Euston Nurse was Archdeacon of Carlisle and a Residentiary Canon at Carlisle Cathedral from 1958 until 1970 and 1973 respectively.

Peter Hooker Limited owned an engineering business originally established in 1827 and carried on under the name Messrs Peter Hooker as printers' engineers at 12 Pump Row, Old Street Road, St Luke's, later at Pear Tree Court, Farringdon Road, London EC. The limited liability company was formed to own it in 1900. Operations were moved to Black Horse Lane Walthamstow, Essex, in 1901.

Herbert Ernest Campbell (1856-1930) was an Anglican priest in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Lionel Bussey

Lionel Ernest Bussey was a British mechanical engineer who amassed a collection of about 600 pairs of women's shoes. All were unworn, and many still unopened in their boxes with receipts. On his death he bequeathed his collection to "a likely museum or museums" and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London accepted 50 pairs, with others going to the Northampton Museum and the Brooklyn Museum.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Obituary. Mr. G. H. Skinner. The Times, Wednesday, Jan 06, 1932; pg. 12; Issue 46023
  2. ↑ FindMyPast census records
  3. ↑ 'Lilley & Skinner, The Times, Tuesday, Jun 02, 1896; pg. 14; Issue 34906
  4. 1 2 E A Forward, Handbook of the Collections illustrating Land Transport, II. Mechanical Road Vehicles, Science Museum South Kensington, 1936
  5. 1 2 H. Jones: Herbert Wakefield Banks Skinner. 1900-1960. Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, Vol.6, (Nov. 1960), pp.259-268, publisher: The Royal Society
  6. ↑ 3257 G H Skinner, Carburetting apparatus. reported in page 152, AutoMotor Journal 3 February 1906
  7. ↑ Profile Professor Herbert Skinner, The New Scientist 14 November 1957
  8. ↑ James Leasor, Wheels to Fortune, Stratus, Cornwall 2001 ISBN   0755100476
  9. ↑ Colin Campbell, Tuning for Economy, Springer 1981 ISBN   9780412234903
  10. ↑ Nick Meikle, Malloch's Spitfire: The Story and Restoration of PK350, Casemate 2014 ISBN   9781612002521
  11. ↑ Obituary. Mr. Thomas C. Skinner The Times, Saturday, Nov 15, 1958; pg. 10; Issue 54309
  12. ↑ Skinner-Union Carburettor Improvement. page 28, The Commercial Motor, 24 August 1920
  13. ↑ Deaths. The Times, Thursday, Dec 31, 1931; pg. 1; Issue 46018
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.