Frederick Marriott (16 July 1805,

Enfield, England Enfield is a large town in North London, north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 156,858 in 2018. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, London, Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay H ...

– 16 December 1884,

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

) was an

Anglo-America Anglo-America most often refers to a region in the Americas in which English is the main language and British culture and the British Empire have had significant historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural impact."Anglo-America", vol. 1, Microp ...

n publisher and early promoter of aviation, creator of the ''Avitor Hermes Jr.'', the first unmanned aircraft to fly by its own power in the United States. His early years were influenced by his father William Marriott, a law agent and editor of the ''

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

Courier''. During his early 20s he was employed as a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, returning to England in the early 1830s, where he married and accepted a position with the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

. The rapid expansion of the

printing industry Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

in Britain during the 1830s prompted Marriott to resign from the Bank of England and use a substantial portion of his wife's

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

to fund a number of new publications. With the expanding readership of

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

in England during the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, the investments paid off; Marriott was involved in the creation of the '' Weekly Chronicle'' and popular ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...

''. In 1845 Marriott began publishing a weekly publication ''Chat'', however by 1849 the venture failed, nearly

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

ing him. This lead ultimately to the dissolution of his marriage. Rumours of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

prompted Marriott to pursue further adventure overseas; age 45 he sailed to California via the treacherous

Isthmus of Panama The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country ...

and was nearly shipwrecked. Avoiding the temptation of the gold fields, Marriott became a

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

in San Francisco. In 1856 he used his accumulated wealth to start a publication known as the ''Newsletter''. He was described by the publisher of the newspaper ''Northern Indianian'', 19 March 1874 as "an English

gentlemen A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...

, of eccentric habits, much shrewdness and enterprise, and entire originality". Marriott is credited with inventing the term "aeroplane", and intended to build an air transport system that would bring people from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

without the perils of the normal voyage of the 19th century. The company he formed (with

Andrew Smith Hallidie Andrew Smith Hallidie (March 16, 1836 – April 24, 1900) was the promoter of the Clay Street Hill Railroad in San Francisco, USA. This was the world's first practical cable car system, and Hallidie is often therefore regarded as the inventor of ...

) in 1866 was named the Aerial Steam Navigation Company.

Publisher

* ''

The Morning Chronicle ''The Morning Chronicle'' was a newspaper founded in 1769 in London. It was notable for having been the first steady employer of essayist William Hazlitt as a political reporter and the first steady employer of Charles Dickens as a journalist. It ...

'' * ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...

'' * ''Chat'' * 1856–1928 ''San Francisco News Letter and California Advertiser'' * ''Pacific Coast Mining Journal'' * 1867–1876 ''California China Mail and Flying Dragon'' * 1854–1855 ''California Mail Bag'' * ''California News Notes'' * ''Motoring Magazine and Motor Life'' Graphic chart of the city and county of San Francisco LOC 75693102

Graphic chart of the city and county of San Francisco LOC 75693102

Marriott was a founder of ''

''. and credited as the publisher of the ''San Francisco News Letter and California Advertiser'', subtitled "The Authorized Organ of the Aerial Steam Navigation Company". One of the lead columns of the ''News Letter'' was named "Town Crier", written by Major

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by t ...

. The ''California China Mail and Flying Dragon'' was a

Chinese-language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

publication and one of the first sources of advertisements encouraging Chinese emigrants to work on the Western railway. It was subtitled "Issued Every China Steamer Day." The ''California News Notes'' was illustrated and many of the

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

s, typically depicting the linkages of various

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

s, remain popular with collectors. As a publisher, Marriott was one of the first to print works by

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

and other distinguished writers

Bret Harte Bret Harte (; born Francis Brett Hart; August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a caree ...

, Frank Pixley,

and

Daniel O’Connell Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...

''Avitor''

In 1841 in London, England, Marriott was one of three board members of the Aerial Transit Company along with

John Stringfellow John Stringfellow (1799 – 13 December 1883) was a British early aeronautical inventor, known for his work on the aerial steam carriage with William Samuel Henson. Life Stringfellow was born in Attercliffe, England to Martha ée Gil ...

and

William Samuel Henson William Samuel Henson (3 May 1812 – 22 March 1888) was a British-born pre- Wright brothers aviation pioneer, engineer and inventor. He is best known for his work on the aerial steam carriage alongside John Stringfellow. Biography Henson ...

. Marriott was responsible for the illustrations and publicity campaign for their planned aerial steam carriage the ''

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...

''. The aircraft captured the imagination of the public and the company constructed and flew a small glider, but after a failure to build a larger working model and lacking funds, the company failed. Henson married and relocated to the United States, while Stringfellow continued aeronautical experiments. Marriott moved to California during the

Gold Rush of 1849 The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

. ''Avitor Hermes Jr.'' was a prototype unmanned aircraft built largely by

candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candles i ...

light in the basement of the publishing building

Montgomery Block The Montgomery Block, also known as Monkey Block and Halleck's Folly, was a historic building active from 1853 to 1959, and was located in San Francisco, California. It was San Francisco's first fireproof and earthquake resistant building. It came ...

. The craft flew a few feet off the ground at Shell Mound Park racetrack,

Millbrae Millbrae is a city located in northern San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County, California, United States. To its northeast is San Francisco International Airport, San Bruno, California, San Bruno is on its northwest, and Burlingame, Cal ...

during a short demonstration on 2 July 1869, Following, ''Avitor'' was moved to the

San Francisco Mechanics' Institute The Mechanics' Institute is a historic membership library, cultural event center, and chess club at 57 Post Street, San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1854, as a mechanics' institute, an educational and cultural institution, to serve the ...

Pavilion, the largest hall in the city and displayed with scheduled flights four times per day. Many thousands visited for an admission fee before the aircraft caught fire after its first season. The 1869 stock market crash stymied Marriott's efforts to fly a lighter-than-air craft, although he did continue to work on a heavier-than-air

triplane A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they occasionally are. Design principles The triplane arrangement may ...

all the way until his death.

John Joseph Montgomery John Joseph Montgomery (February 15, 1858 – October 31, 1911) was an American inventor, physicist, engineer, and professor at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, who is best known for his invention of controlled heavier-than-air ...

was inspired by these experiments. Two years before Marriott's death, in 1882, the Aerial Steam Navigation Company was refinanced, and Augustus Laver, architect of The

James C. Flood Mansion The James C. Flood Mansion is a historic mansion at 1000 California Street, atop Nob Hill in San Francisco, California, USA. Now home of the Pacific-Union Club, it was built in 1886 as the townhouse for James C. Flood, a 19th-century silver ba ...

and The Ellen Kenna House, was named Consulting Engineer of the company. Frederick Marriott died in San Francisco on 16 December 1884.

Sources

* Drury, William, ''Norton I, Emperor of the United States'' (Dodd, Mead, & Company, 1986) * Evans, Charles Morgan, ''Steam-Powered Pioneer'', (Aviation, May 1993) * Harwood, Craig S. and Fogel, Gary B. ''Quest for Flight: John J. Montgomery and the Dawn of Aviation in the West,'' (University of Oklahoma Press 2012) * Johnson, Kenneth M., ''Aerial California. An Account of early Flight in Northern and Southern California, 1849 to World War I'' (Dawson's Book Shop, 1961) * Parramore, Thomas C., ''First to Fly: North Carolina and the Beginnings of Aviation'' (University of North Carolina Press, 2002)

References

External links

Marriott's patent "Aerial Steam Car" (23 November 1869)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marriott, Frederick 1805 births 1884 deaths People from Enfield, London 19th-century English people People of the Industrial Revolution 19th-century British newspaper founders 19th-century British newspaper publishers (people) People of the Victorian era English emigrants to the United States 19th-century American inventors 19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Aviation inventors Aviation pioneers American newspaper founders 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century male writers Publishers from California Journalists from San Francisco

Publisher

''Avitor''

See also

Sources

References

External links