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Josiah Vavasseur (26 November 1834 – 13 November 1908) was an English industrialist who founded Vavasseur and Co. (also known as London Ordnance Works). In 1883 the company merged with W.G. Armstrong and Company, and Vavasseur became a director of the firm. Late in life he adopted Cecil Fisher, only son of Admiral
John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic bishop, cardinal, and theologian. Fisher was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Fisher was executed by o ...
, and the Fisher family inherited his fortune, including Kilverstone Hall.


Early career

Vavasseur was born in
Braintree, Essex Braintree is a town and former civil parish in Essex, England. The principal settlement of Braintree District, it is located northeast of Chelmsford and west of Colchester. According to the 2011 Census, the town had a population of 41,634, ...
, in 1834, and following school he spent six years as an apprentice to the engineering firm of James Horn and Company in
Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
. In 1857 he partnered with David Guthrie in establishing the Patent Dyewood and Drug Mills, at 17 New Park Street, Southwark. By 1860, he was in business as Josiah Vavasseur and Company, engineers of 8 Sumner Street, Southwark. He obtained a patent for improvements in cannon rifling and the firm bought a small iron works at 28 Gravel Lane, Southwark. In the same year Vavasseur became a member of the
Honourable Artillery Company The Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) is a reserve regiment in the British Army. Incorporated by royal charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII, it is the oldest regiment in the British Army and is considered the second-oldest military unit in the w ...
. In 1861 he developed a portable machine for the rifling of
smooth-bore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without signi ...
guns, which he later sold to Russia. In 1862 Vavasseur's firm became subcontractor to captain Alexander Blakely, RA, who held a number of patents in gun construction and sold guns to countries in Europe, South America and particularly North America, where demand was high due to the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. Vavasseur initially produced a series of 2.9 inch guns for the Confederate States, but the ship carrying them foundered, and they never reached their destination. Vavasseur's rifling machine was employed by Blakely for the rifling of some of his largest guns. In 1863 Vavasseur and Blakely collaborated on the production of spherical steel shot, intended to penetrate the armour of ironclads coming into service at the time. Later in 1863 Josiah Vavasseur and Company merged with The Blakely Cannon Company, resulting in the Blakely Ordnance Company, with Josiah Vavasseur as engineer and manager. In 1865 the new company became The Blakely Ordnance Company, Limited with Vavasseur as Resident Engineer. One year later, the
panic of 1866 The Panic of 1866 was an international financial downturn that accompanied the failure of Overend, Gurney and Company in London, and the ''corso forzoso'' abandonment of the silver standard in Italy. In Britain, the economic impacts are held p ...
caused a squeeze on liquidity that forced The Blakely Ordnance Company, Limited into liquidation, and Vavasseur out of his job.


London Ordnance Works

The collapse of Blakely's enterprise made it possible for Vavasseur to buy back the iron works in Southwark, and in 1867 the firm Josiah Vavasseur and Company was back in business, commonly referred to as the London Ordnance Works. The company took over at least one of the orders in the books of the Blakely Company, for 11-inch steel guns, delivered to Chile in 1867. The continuation of Blakely's projects was made easier (and cheaper) by the fact that the strain on Blakely's personal finances had prevented the renewal of his gun patents. Vavasseur also made smaller guns, including 27 12-pounders for France during the Franco-Prussian War 1870–1871. The production at the Ordnance Works included towed torpedoes of the Harvey design and
spar torpedoes A spar torpedo is a weapon consisting of a bomb placed at the end of a long pole, or spar, and attached to a boat. The weapon is used by running the end of the spar into the enemy ship. Spar torpedoes were often equipped with a barbed spear at ...
and mines designed by Captain Charles Ambrose McEvoy, formerly of the
Confederate Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...
. In 1866 he invented the copper rotating ring, or band, for the projectiles of breech-loading guns, and this system was widely adopted. The patent laws of
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
prevented Vavasseur from protecting his invention in that country, and made it possible for the
Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...
company to produce projectiles that Vavasseur saw as an infringement to his patent. The inventor tried to protect his claims in 1877, when British shipyards were building the '' Fusō'' and the two ''Kongō'' class ironclads for Japan. They were all armed with Krupp guns, and when the offending shells arrived in Britain, Vavasseur had an injunction placed on them. In the ensuing court case (and appeal) in 1878, it was decided that the Japanese
Mikado Mikado may refer to: * Emperor of Japan or Arts and entertainment * ''The Mikado'', an 1885 comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan * ''The Mikado'' (1939 film), an adaptation of the opera, directed by Victor Schertzinger * ''The Mikado'' (1967 f ...
(emperor) could not be sued and that his property (the shells) could not be held. The nature of the lawsuit was rather controversial and the verdict was frequently cited in works on
international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
.''The Engineer''. 20 November 1908, p. 536.
/ref> In 1877 Vavasseur patented and developed a mounting for breech-loaded guns, which came to be used by most of the world's navies. The demand for the
Vavasseur mounting Vavasseur mountings were several mounting devices for artillery and machine guns. They were invented and patented by Josiah Vavasseur. The mountings were used in Barton's Point Battery in Sheerness, on the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent Kent is a ...
was so high that London Ordnance Works was unable to cope, so in 1883 Josiah Vavasseur and Company merged with Sir W.G. Armstrong & Company. The Vavasseur company name disappeared, Josiah Vavasseur became a director, and all production was transferred to the Elswick Works. Here "he continued his work of improving ordnance in every detail," until the last three or four years of his life, when ill-health prevented his attendance.


Final years

Josiah Vavasseur became a very wealthy man, and he was able to buy the manor of Kilverstone Hall and to donate substantial funds to religious and philanthropic undertakings, including Rothbury Hall in Greenwich, London. The major part of his fortune went to Cecil Fisher, the only son of Admiral of the Fleet
Sir John Fisher John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, (25 January 1841 – 10 July 1920), commonly known as Jacky or Jackie Fisher, was a British Admiral of the Fleet. With more than sixty years in the Royal Navy, his efforts to reform the service helped t ...
. The story of the inheritance was retold by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' on 21 November 1910, when Cecil Fisher came to the United States to marry miss Jane Morgan. The paper wrote that Cecil Fisher as a young lieutenant had helped Vavasseur with his work on quick-firing guns at
Whale Island, Hampshire Whale Island is a small island in Portsmouth Harbour, close by Portsea Island. It is home to HMS ''Excellent'', the oldest shore training establishment within the Royal Navy, and the location of the Navy Command Headquarters. The island is lin ...
. A friendship evolved, and Vavasseur had adopted Cecil on the condition that he would take the name and arms of Vavasseur. When Josiah Vavasseur died on 13 November 1908, Cecil Vavasseur Fisher inherited the equivalent of two million
USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
(corresponding to $ million in ), and when Admiral of the Fleet Fisher was made a baron on 7 December 1909, he took the title
Baron Fisher Baron Fisher, of Kilverstone in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1909 for the noted naval reformer Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Fisher. His son Cecil Fisher, the second Baron, was the a ...
, of Kilverstone in the County of
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vavasseur, Josiah 1834 births 1908 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath English inventors English industrialists 19th-century English businesspeople