Henry Sutton - inventor of television
While John Logie Baird is widely credited with inventing television, the concept was developed much earlier in Ballarat Victoria by Henry Sutton. Baird’s system was certainly the first publicly demonstrated system, but it was based on principles developed by Sutton years earlier in 1885.
Robyn Williams: In 2012 we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the death of Henry Sutton. And I've asked all year, 'What did Henry Sutton do in Ballarat in 1885?' No one knows. Here's Professor Mark Dodgson from the University of Queensland.
Mark Dodgson: Perhaps our greatest inventor then and perhaps even today is Henry Sutton, 1856 to 1912. Although there are some considerable uncertainties about his contribution due to the isolation in which he worked, there are grounds for claiming he may well have been one of the greatest inventors of all time.
Educated by his mother until age 11, Sutton was thereafter self-taught. His list of inventions is extensive; a clockwork helicopter that mimics the flight of birds, an electric continuous current dynamo, a storage battery, photolithography and colour printing process, a vacuum pump, telegraph facsimile, and a long-distance wireless system that attracted immediate interest from the Australian and US navies. Because of concern for secrecy, the extent to which his communication systems was used by the military gets murky.
Sutton is reputed to have been hard on the heels of Edison's development of the carbon filament lamp, to have invented a torpedo which failed to get funded, experimented with mineral floatation processes before it was developed for use in the mining industry, photographed the cholera germ, designed and helped build Australia's first hydraulic lift, developed, built and drove a number of motorcycles and two cars with carburettors of his own design, and he built the world's first portable radio with a range of 500 yards.
A year after Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, Sutton had experimented with 20 different telephones, 16 of which were patented by others. Bell visited Ballarat and was apparently hugely impressed to see a complete telephone system installed by Sutton in his family's business.
Sutton also set up what was probably the first telephone system at an educational institution, at the Ballarat School of Mines where he worked. His interests were broad and eclectic. According to his biographer, his great-granddaughter, Lorayne Branch, amongst his many other achievements he established Victoria's Scientific Instrument Industry and founded the Automobile Club of Victoria.
Of all Sutton's inventions perhaps the most extraordinary is the telefane. According to the global history network of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the telefane was a forerunner to television, developed three years before its inventor, John Logie Baird, was born.
Sutton used his knowledge of optics to use the telegraph to transmit images. Victoria's government astronomer is reported to have seen a demonstration of the telefane transmitting the Melbourne Cup to Ballarat in 1885. It was demonstrated in England, France and America, and Baird used Sutton's principles when he developed the television.
Geniuses such as Sutton are a rare breed and dance to their own tune. As an indicator of his energy and drive, I love the quote in the Australian Dictionary of Biography which describes how Sutton worked tirelessly, with 'daylight sometimes surprising him every morning for a week'.
Robyn Williams: 'Cos he was working all night, of course. So next time you're asked, 'What did Henry Sutton do in Ballarat in 1885,' the answer is, 'He invented television.' That was Professor Mark Dodgson from the Business School at the University of Queensland. He'll present a Science Show series on innovation next month.
- Mark Dodgson
- Professor and Director
Technology and Innovation Management Centre
University of Queensland
- Robyn Williams
- David Fisher