Samuel Instone
Encyclopedia
Sir Samuel Instone was a shipping and aviation entrepreneur
and the founder of the Instone Air Line
.
, Kent
, he came to Cardiff
in Wales
in 1908 to work for a shipping company as a manager. With his brother, Theodore Instone, he went into business as a coal factor in 1908, and in 1914 bought the ship, Collivaud from Morels. After World War I, the brothers owned ten vessels shipping coal from the South Wales valleys. It was during this period that Samuel diversified into coal mining with the acquisition of the Bedwas
colliery. In 1919 Instone Air Line was set up by Samuel along with another brother Alfred, and started an air route from Cardiff to Paris
. Due to the depression of the 1920s Samuel saw his shipping interests wane, and by 1925 the last of his ships were sold.
Instone was constantly at the front of commercial and technological trends within the aviation business. On August 19, 1920, Sir Samuel Instone had a telephone conversation from his home in London to a passenger on a flight destined for Paris. This call to a Vickers
aeroplane is thought to be the first telephone call to an inflight aircraft. He also introduced uniforms for his flight crews, the first non-military air service to do so. In 1921 Samuel was knighted, and as Sir Samuel Instone he represented the Chamber of Shipping at Air Conferences in England and the International Chamber of Commerce at the League of Nations
, Geneva
.
. Sir Instone on a visit to Bedwas Colliery brought with him the trophy and it was allowed to be displayed in one of the local shop's window.
As an act of public service, Samuel Instone and his brother Theodore once offered to hire Harry Grindell Matthews
in order to keep his reported death ray
in the United Kingdom.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and the founder of the Instone Air Line
Instone Air Line
Instone Air Line was an early British airline from 1919 to 1924. Along with other private airlines of the time, it was absorbed into Imperial Airways.-History:...
.
Personal history
Born in GravesendGravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, he came to Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
in 1908 to work for a shipping company as a manager. With his brother, Theodore Instone, he went into business as a coal factor in 1908, and in 1914 bought the ship, Collivaud from Morels. After World War I, the brothers owned ten vessels shipping coal from the South Wales valleys. It was during this period that Samuel diversified into coal mining with the acquisition of the Bedwas
Bedwas
Bedwas is a town two miles north-east of Caerphilly, south Wales, situated in the Caerphilly county borough, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire....
colliery. In 1919 Instone Air Line was set up by Samuel along with another brother Alfred, and started an air route from Cardiff to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Due to the depression of the 1920s Samuel saw his shipping interests wane, and by 1925 the last of his ships were sold.
Instone was constantly at the front of commercial and technological trends within the aviation business. On August 19, 1920, Sir Samuel Instone had a telephone conversation from his home in London to a passenger on a flight destined for Paris. This call to a Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
aeroplane is thought to be the first telephone call to an inflight aircraft. He also introduced uniforms for his flight crews, the first non-military air service to do so. In 1921 Samuel was knighted, and as Sir Samuel Instone he represented the Chamber of Shipping at Air Conferences in England and the International Chamber of Commerce at the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
, Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
.
Social enterprises
In 1922 Frank Barnard, chief pilot of Instone Air Line won the first King's Cup RaceKing's Cup Race
The King's Cup Race is an annual British handicapped cross-country air race, first contested on 8 September 1922. The event was open to British pilots only, but that did include members of the Commonwealth....
. Sir Instone on a visit to Bedwas Colliery brought with him the trophy and it was allowed to be displayed in one of the local shop's window.
As an act of public service, Samuel Instone and his brother Theodore once offered to hire Harry Grindell Matthews
Harry Grindell Matthews
Harry Grindell Matthews was an English inventor who claimed to have invented a death ray in the 1920s.-Earlier life and inventions:...
in order to keep his reported death ray
Death ray
The death ray or death beam was a theoretical particle beam or electromagnetic weapon of the 1920s through the 1930s that was claimed to have been invented independently by Nikola Tesla, Edwin R. Scott, Harry Grindell Matthews, and Graichen, as well as others...
in the United Kingdom.