Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti
Encyclopedia
Sebastian Pietro Innocenzo Adhemar Ziani de Ferranti (April 9, 1864 - January 13, 1930) was an electrical engineer and inventor.
, England
. His Italian
father, Cesare, was a photographer and his mother Juliana Scott Ferranti (née
Scott) was a concert pianist
. He was educated at Hampstead School
, London; St. Augustine's College, Westgate on Sea; and University College London
.
He married Gertrude Ruth Ince on April 24, 1888 and they had seven children together. Ferranti died on January 13, 1930 in Zurich
, Switzerland
. He was buried in the same grave as his parents and his daughter Yolanda at Hampstead Cemetery
, London
.
His grandson, Basil de Ferranti
, was a Conservative
politician who represented Morecambe and Lunesdale in the late fifties and early sixties.
for street lighting. Reportedly, around the age of 16, he built an electrical generator
(that had a "Zig-zag armature") with the help of William Thomson (the future Lord Kelvin) and later patented the device (called the "Ferranti Dynamo"). He worked for Siemens Brothers at Charlton, London
and in 1882 he set up shop in London designing various electrical devices as the firm Ferranti, Thompson and Ince.
In the late 1880s there was a debate within the industry about the transmission of electrical power, known as the War of the Currents
. Thomas Edison
supported a direct current
(DC) based system, largely due to his holding many key patents and having set up some power plants supplying DC power. His rival, Nikola Tesla
, supported an alternating current
(AC) system that was being backed by Westinghouse.
Ferranti bet on AC early on, and was one of the few experts in this system in the UK. In 1887 the London Electric Supply Corporation (LESCo) hired Ferranti for the design of their power station at Deptford
. He designed the building, the generating plant and the distribution system. On its completion in 1891 it was the first truly modern power station, supplying high-voltage AC power that was then "stepped down" for consumer use on each street. This basic system remains in use today around the world. One of the remaining supports of the generating hall of Deptford Power Station
forms the frame of the sign at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester UK
, home of the Ferranti Archives.
S. Z. de Ferranti, the company set up by Ferranti in 1885 with Francis Ince and Charles Sparks as partners, became S. Z de Ferranti Ltd in 1890 and Ferranti Ltd in 1900, after resignation of Ince and Sparks. Ferranti Ltd would outlive its founder and develop the Ferranti Mark 1, the world's first commercially available general-purpose computer, in 1951.
Sebastian de Ferranti was President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers
in 1910 and 1911, and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1927. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester
in 1912.
In 1932 the London Power Company
commemorated Sebastian de Ferranti by naming a new 1,315 GRT
coastal
collier
SS Ferranti.
Personal life
Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti was born in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
father, Cesare, was a photographer and his mother Juliana Scott Ferranti (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Scott) was a concert pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
. He was educated at Hampstead School
Hampstead School
Hampstead School is a large multi-ethnic comprehensive school in the London borough of Camden. The school building is one of the oldest in the borough...
, London; St. Augustine's College, Westgate on Sea; and University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
He married Gertrude Ruth Ince on April 24, 1888 and they had seven children together. Ferranti died on January 13, 1930 in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. He was buried in the same grave as his parents and his daughter Yolanda at Hampstead Cemetery
Hampstead Cemetery
Hampstead Cemetery is a historic cemetery in West Hampstead, London, located at the upper extremity of the NW6 district. Despite the name, the cemetery is three-quarters of a mile from Hampstead Village, and bears a different postcode...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
His grandson, Basil de Ferranti
Basil de Ferranti
Basil Reginald Vincent Ziani de Ferranti was a British businessman and a Conservative Party politician. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, and was the grandson of the electrical engineer and inventor Sebastian de Ferranti.He was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1955 general...
, was a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician who represented Morecambe and Lunesdale in the late fifties and early sixties.
Professional career
Ferranti showed a remarkable talent for electrical engineering from his childhood. His first invention, at the age of 13, was an arc lightArc Light
Arc Light is the debut novel by Eric L. Harry, a techno-thriller about limited nuclear war published in 1994 and written in 1991-2.As China and Russia clash in Siberia in June 1999, nuclear missiles strike the United States. The U.S. retaliates against Russia, and World War III begins...
for street lighting. Reportedly, around the age of 16, he built an electrical generator
Electrical generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
(that had a "Zig-zag armature") with the help of William Thomson (the future Lord Kelvin) and later patented the device (called the "Ferranti Dynamo"). He worked for Siemens Brothers at Charlton, London
Charlton, London
Charlton is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Greenwich. It is located east-southeast of Charing Cross. Charlton next Woolwich was an ancient parish in the county of Kent, which became part of the metropolitan area of London in 1855. It is home to Charlton...
and in 1882 he set up shop in London designing various electrical devices as the firm Ferranti, Thompson and Ince.
In the late 1880s there was a debate within the industry about the transmission of electrical power, known as the War of the Currents
War of Currents
In the "War of Currents" era in the late 1880s, George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison became adversaries due to Edison's promotion of direct current for electric power distribution over alternating current advocated by several European companies and Westinghouse Electric based out of Pittsburgh,...
. Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
supported a direct current
Direct current
Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
(DC) based system, largely due to his holding many key patents and having set up some power plants supplying DC power. His rival, Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
, supported an alternating current
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
(AC) system that was being backed by Westinghouse.
Ferranti bet on AC early on, and was one of the few experts in this system in the UK. In 1887 the London Electric Supply Corporation (LESCo) hired Ferranti for the design of their power station at Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
. He designed the building, the generating plant and the distribution system. On its completion in 1891 it was the first truly modern power station, supplying high-voltage AC power that was then "stepped down" for consumer use on each street. This basic system remains in use today around the world. One of the remaining supports of the generating hall of Deptford Power Station
Deptford Power Station
Deptford Power Station was a coal-fired power station on the south bank of the River Thames at Deptford, south east London.-Deptford East:The first station was designed in 1887 by Sebastian de Ferranti for the London Electric Supply Corporation. It was located at the Stowage, a site to the west of...
forms the frame of the sign at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester UK
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, home of the Ferranti Archives.
S. Z. de Ferranti, the company set up by Ferranti in 1885 with Francis Ince and Charles Sparks as partners, became S. Z de Ferranti Ltd in 1890 and Ferranti Ltd in 1900, after resignation of Ince and Sparks. Ferranti Ltd would outlive its founder and develop the Ferranti Mark 1, the world's first commercially available general-purpose computer, in 1951.
Sebastian de Ferranti was President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers
Institution of Electrical Engineers
The Institution of Electrical Engineers was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. The I.E.E...
in 1910 and 1911, and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1927. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
in 1912.
In 1932 the London Power Company
London Power Company
The London Power Company was an electricity generating and supply company in London, England. The LPC was formed in 1925 by the merger of 10 smaller electricity companies...
commemorated Sebastian de Ferranti by naming a new 1,315 GRT
Gross Register Tonnage
Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...
coastal
Coastal trading vessel
Coastal trading vessels, also known as coasters, are shallow-hulled ships used for trade between locations on the same island or continent. Their shallow hulls mean that they can get through reefs where deeper-hulled sea-going ships usually cannot....
collier
Collier (ship type)
Collier is a historical term used to describe a bulk cargo ship designed to carry coal, especially for naval use by coal-fired warships. In the late 18th century a number of wooden-hulled sailing colliers gained fame after being adapted for use in voyages of exploration in the South Pacific, for...
SS Ferranti.
Further reading
- The Life and Letters of Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti by Gertrude Ziani de Ferranti and Richard Ince ; published 1934 by Williams & Norgate, Ltd.
- Centenary of Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti, D.Sc.,F.R.S., born 9 April 1864: Founder of Ferranti, Ltd.FerrantiFerranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. Known primarily for defence electronics, the Company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but ceased trading in 1993.The...
,1882; published 1964 by FerrantiFerrantiFerranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. Known primarily for defence electronics, the Company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but ceased trading in 1993.The...
.