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Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti

Life Details

Born: April 9^th, 1864. Died: January 13^th, 1930.

Introduction

A British electrical engineer that promoted the use and installation of large electrical generating stations and alternating current distribution in England, Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti lived during the time when electricity was first being harnessed.

Early Life

Born in Liverpool, Ferranti became interested in electrical engineering when he was a teenager. He was even consulted by his father on the installation of electrics at Bold Street when he was 13.

While at school, Ferranti was continually researching motors, machines and electrical equipment. He wrote letters home to his parents requesting diagrams and data on steam engines. During this time, he created an alternator, which would eventually be seen powering steam power stations across Britain.

When he left school, Ferranti created his own company, Ferranti, Thompsom & Ince Ltd. Combining his invention of a zigzag armature for dynamos with Lord Kelvin's invention of a dynamo, it gave five times the output of any previous machine.

In 1866 The Grosvenor Gallery Company hired Ferranti as Chief Engineer, and this led to the biggest change in his life, creating the London Electric Supply Corporation Ltd. This provided a large scale operation to supply London with electricity.

One of the most significant inventions and advancements in his career, a new power station at Deptford was constructed to provide London with even more power. Ferranti's alternators would help provide the necessary power.

Later, he had several contracts with LESCo, and he dissolved his own company to work for others, as this would then pay bills he needed to support his extended family.

Other inventions and creations that Ferranti was responsible for included:

• cookers
• electric fires
• immersion heaters
• irons
• water heaters

Ferranti revolutionised the home by giving so many inventions and creations of appliances that he sold after moving to Hollinwood, near Manchester and Oldham.

Home Life

Ferranti worked with Francis Ince, and they got on well enough to be introduced the his family. Ince's daughter, Gertrude, took a liking to Ferranti, so much so that they married in 1888. She was his constant, and her devotion and strength of character helped Ferranti while at work.

Together, they had several children:

• Zoe, born in 1889
• Basil, born in 1891
• Vincent, born in 1893
• Vera, born in 1898
• Yolanda, born in 1902
• Denis, born in 1908, and
• Yvonne, born in 1913

Later Life & Death

Ferranti won the Faraday Medal in 1924, and just six years later, at the age of 66, he died in Zurich, Switzerland.