Edward Samuel Rogers Sr. (June 21, 1900 – May 6, 1939) was a Canadian inventor and pioneer in the
radio industry
The "radio industry" is a generic term for any companies or public service providers who are involved with the broadcast of radio stations or ancillary services.
Radio broadcasters can be broken into at least two different groups:
Public service ...
who founded the
Rogers Vacuum Tube Company Rogers Vacuum Tube Company (formally named Radio Manufacturing Corporation Limited) was founded as the Standard Radio Manufacturing Corporation in 1925 by Edward Rogers (1900–1939) to sell Rogers "Batteryless" radios using vacuum tube technology. ...
and the
CFRB
CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West.
CFRB is a clea ...
radio station in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Ontario. His only child,
Edward S. Rogers Jr.
Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers Jr., (May 27, 1933 – December 2, 2008) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who served as the president and CEO of Rogers Communications. He was the fifth- richest person in Canada in terms of net wo ...
, established
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of mobile phone operator, wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet access, Intern ...
.
Early life and family
Rogers was born on June 21, 1900, in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Ontario. During his childhood, his family lived at 49 Nanton Avenue in the
Rosedale neighbourhood of Toronto.
His father, businessman Albert Stephen Rogers (1860–1932),
was a director of
Imperial Oil
Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...
(after his Queen City Oil Company was bought out) and formerly a partner in Samuel and Elias Rogers Coal Company (later Elias Rogers and Company). The coal firm had been founded in 1876 by his Quaker father, Samuel Rogers, and uncle Elias Rogers. The latter served as a
Toronto alderman for St. Lawrence Ward in 1887.
The family descends from
Timothy Rogers
Timothy Rogers (1658–1728) was an English nonconformist minister, known as an author on depression as a sufferer.
Life
The son of John Rogers (1610–1680), he was born at Barnard Castle, County Durham on 24 May 1658. He was educated at Glas ...
(1756–1834), a Quaker leader who established
Newmarket and
Pickering in what is now the province of Ontario.
Career
Rogers first became interested in radio when he saw a receiver at age 11. By 1913, he was noted in local newspapers for his skill at operating a radio station, which at the time was an impressive technical accomplishment. Rogers worked as a radio officer on Great Lakes passenger ships during the summers of 1916-1919 inclusive. He graduated from the
University of Toronto Schools
University of Toronto Schools (UTS) is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school follows a specialized academic curriculum, and admission is determined by competitive exa ...
in 1919. Two years later, Rogers operated the only Canadian (and only
spark-gap) station to successfully compete in the first amateur trans-Atlantic radio competition. Rogers held the
amateur radio
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...
call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
3BP, and joined the Canadian chapter of the
American Radio Relay League
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the largest membership association of amateur radio enthusiasts in the United States. ARRL is a non-profit organization, and was co-founded on April 6, 1914, by Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence D. Tuska of ...
in 1921.
In the early 1920s, radio transmitters and receivers ran on large and expensive
batteries
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
to provide the high voltages needed for the
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied.
The type kn ...
s used. Early attempts at producing a radio receiver to operate on household
alternating current
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
were unsuccessful, since tubes designed for the low current supply from batteries were unsatisfactory when operated on 25- or 60-hertz alternating current. The batteries were also extremely large and bulky.
In April 1924, Rogers travelled to the United States and saw experimental AC receiving tubes at the laboratories of
Westinghouse in Pittsburgh. He purchased the patent rights to the experimental alternating current tubes of Frederick S. McCullough. After further development, Rogers produced a design of vacuum tube that would operate on alternating current.
By 1925, Rogers had introduced not only a complete radio receiver using the new tubes, but had also produced a "
battery eliminator
A battery eliminator is a device powered by an electrical source other than a battery, which then converts the source to a suitable DC voltage that may be used by a second device designed to be powered by batteries. A battery eliminator does awa ...
" (
power supply
A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The main purpose of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the correct voltage, current, and frequency to power the load. As a r ...
) that could be used with other manufacturers' receivers to eliminate the expensive batteries. By August 1925, the Rogers
batteryless radio
A batteryless radio is a radio receiver which does not require the use of a battery to provide it with electrical power.
Originally this referred to units which could be used directly by AC mains supply (mains radio); it can also refer to units ...
was in commercial sales, the first radio receiver in the world to operate from household current. At a time when a schoolteacher might earn $1,000 per year, the top-of-the-line Rogers radio sold for $370. Rogers formed the company "Standard Radio Manufacturing" (later
Rogers Vacuum Tube Company Rogers Vacuum Tube Company (formally named Radio Manufacturing Corporation Limited) was founded as the Standard Radio Manufacturing Corporation in 1925 by Edward Rogers (1900–1939) to sell Rogers "Batteryless" radios using vacuum tube technology. ...
) to produce radio receivers using the new design of vacuum tubes.
In 1927, Rogers founded
CFRB
CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West.
CFRB is a clea ...
(''Canada’s First Rogers Batteryless'') radio station. The station is owned today by
Bell Media
Bell Media Inc. ( French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies.
Establishment (2011–13)
On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
.
Marriage and death
In 1930, Rogers married Velma Melissa Taylor. Three years later, they had a son,
Edward S. Rogers Jr.
Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers Jr., (May 27, 1933 – December 2, 2008) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist who served as the president and CEO of Rogers Communications. He was the fifth- richest person in Canada in terms of net wo ...
, who grew up to build
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is a Telecommunications in Canada, Canadian communications and media company operating primarily in the fields of mobile phone operator, wireless communications, cable television, telephony and Internet access, Intern ...
into a media conglomerate.
Rogers died suddenly in 1939 due to complications of a hemorrhage. He was buried in
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Mount Pleasant Cemetery is a cemetery located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries. It was opened in November 1876 and is located north of Moore Park, a neighbourhood of Toronto. The cemetery has k ...
. Velma Rogers subsequently married John Graham, a Toronto lawyer, who became the stepfather of Edward Rogers Jr.
Honours and awards
Rogers was posthumously inducted into the
Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame
The Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame, started in 1982, recognizes Canadians in broadcasting or entertainment related industries who have "achieved outstanding success in helping raise industry standards from a material or humanitarian standpoint." T ...
in 1982 and the
Telecommunications Hall of Fame Canada's Telecommunications Hall of Fame was a Canadian not-for-profit foundation that sought to foster a greater awareness of Canada's role in developing and innovating telecommunications. The foundation began operating in 2005 and had two main pr ...
alongside his son in 2006. In 2000, Rogers and the "batteryless radio" were included as one of the
Canada Post millennium stamps
Due to popular demand, Canada Post released the 68 specially designed stamps as a series of 17 Millennium souvenir sheets, each depicting four different stamps, starting December 17, 1999 through to March 17, 2000.
December 1999
This first serie ...
.
Relatives
Members of Rogers' family included:
* Albert Stephen Rogers (1860–1932): Rogers' father; a prominent businessman who also served as chairman of
Rogers Majestic.
[
* Joseph Elsworth Rogers (1898–1960): Rogers' brother; served as vice-president of Rogers Majestic until 1939, then as head from 1939 to 1960.]
* Samuel Rogers (1835–1903): father of Albert Stephen Rogers; partner in coal business with Elias Rogers, then founded the Samuel Rogers Queen City Oil Works, which became the Queen City Oil Company and was later amalgamated with Imperial Oil
Imperial Oil Limited (French: ''Compagnie Pétrolière Impériale Ltée'') is a Canadian petroleum company. It is Canada's second-biggest integrated oil company. It is majority owned by American oil company ExxonMobil with around 69.6 percent ...
.[
* Elias Rogers (1850–1920): youngest brother of Samuel Rogers; partner with Samuel in coal business, which subsequently became Elias Rogers and Company.][Profile: Elias Rogers, Canada’s “King Coal”]
/ref>
* Alfred Selby Rogers (1874–1953): nephew of Samuel Rogers and only surviving son of Elias Rogers; inherited the coal business from his father.
* Elias Rogers Sr. (1806–1850): father of Samuel and Elias Rogers ('' inter alios''), and son of Asa and Mary Rogers.[
* ]Timothy Rogers
Timothy Rogers (1658–1728) was an English nonconformist minister, known as an author on depression as a sufferer.
Life
The son of John Rogers (1610–1680), he was born at Barnard Castle, County Durham on 24 May 1658. He was educated at Glas ...
(1756–1834): a Quaker leader whose daughter Mary (1782–1809) married Asa Rogers (1781–1834); their eldest son was Elias Rogers Sr.
References
External links
Find A Grave – Edward Samuel Rogers
* ttp://www.hammondmuseumofradio.org/rogers.html Hammond Museum of Radio: Rogersbr>Radio Museum: Rogers - Majestic
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Edward S. Sr.
1900 births
1939 deaths
Rogers Communications
20th-century Canadian inventors
Canadian radio company founders
Businesspeople from Toronto
Radio pioneers
Burials at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Amateur radio people