Sebastian Pietro Innocenzo Adhemar Ziani de Ferranti (9 April 1864 – 13 January 1930) was a British
electrical engineer and inventor.
Personal life
Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti was born in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, England. His Italian father, Cesare, was a photographer (son of composer
Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti) and his mother
Juliana de Ferranti (née Scott) was a concert pianist. He was educated at
Hampstead School
Hampstead School is a large comprehensive school in the London Borough of Camden, England. The school building is one of the oldest in the borough. It has about 1,300 students between the ages of 11 and 19 attending the Lower School (Year 7 thr ...
, London; St. Augustine's College,
Westgate-on-Sea
Westgate-on-Sea is a seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of Kent, England. It is within the Thanet local government district and borders the larger seaside resort of Margate. Its two sandy beaches have remained a popular touri ...
; and
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
.
He married Gertrude Ruth Ince on 24 April 1888 and they had seven children together. Ferranti died on 13 January 1930 in
Zurich, Switzerland. He was buried in the same grave as his parents and his daughter Yolanda at
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. It is jo ...
, London.
His grandson,
Basil de Ferranti
Basil Reginald Vincent Ziani de Ferranti (2 July 1930 – 24 September 1988) 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 a ...
, was a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
politician who represented
Morecambe and Lonsdale in the late fifties and early sixties. His granddaughter
Valerie Hunter Gordon invented what is considered the world's first
disposable nappy and an early
sanitary towel
A menstrual pad, or simply a pad, (also known as a sanitary pad, sanitary towel, sanitary napkin or feminine napkin) is an absorbent item worn by women in their underwear when menstruating, bleeding after giving birth, recovering from gyneco ...
system.
Professional career
![Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti - Blue Plaque (Liverpool)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Sebastian_Ziani_de_Ferranti_-_Blue_Plaque_%28Liverpool%29.jpg)
Ferranti showed a remarkable talent for electrical engineering from his childhood. His first invention, at the age of 13, was an
arc light for
street lighting
A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...
. Reportedly, around the age of 16, he built an
electrical generator
In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) or fuel-based power ( chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, g ...
(that had a "''Zig-zag armature''") with the help of William Thomson (the future
Lord Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, he did important ...
) and later patented the device (called the "
Ferranti Dynamo"). He worked for
Siemens Brothers
Siemens Brothers and Company Limited was an electrical engineering design and manufacturing business in London, England. It was first established as a branchThe company started with a small factory at 12 Millbank Row, Westminster SW1, London, nea ...
at
Charlton, London
Charlton is an area of southeast London, England, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east of Greenwich and west of Woolwich, on the south bank of the River Thames, southeast of Charing Cross. An ancient parish in the county of Kent, it b ...
, 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 American industry about the transmission of electrical power, known as the
war of the currents
The war of the currents was a series of events surrounding the introduction of competing electric power transmission systems in the late 1880s and early 1890s. It grew out of two lighting systems developed in the late 1870s and early 1880s; arc ...
.
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
supported a
direct current
Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or eve ...
(DC) based system, largely due to his holding many key patents and having set up some power plants supplying DC power. The rival
Westinghouse Electric Corporation
The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...
supported an
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 ...
(AC) system.
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 is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...
. 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 for distribution at 11kV 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
Three distinct coal-fired power stations were built at Deptford on the south bank of the River Thames, the first of which is regarded as the first central high-voltage power station in the world.
History Deptford East (Low Pressure)
One of the ...
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 Ferranti Mark 1, also known as the Manchester Electronic Computer in its sales literature, and thus sometimes called the Manchester Ferranti, was produced by British electrical engineering firm Ferranti Ltd. It was the world's first commer ...
, the world's first commercially available general-purpose computer, in 1951.
Sebastian de Ferranti was President of the
Institution of Electrical Engineers
The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of T ...
in 1910 and 1911, and was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
in 1927. He received an honorary doctorate from the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univ ...
in 1912. Ferranti was actively involved in the formation of the British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers Association (BEAMA) in 1911 and its first chairman, to 1913.
[J. F. Wilson, ''Ferranti and the British Electrical Industry, 1864–1930''. Manchester University Press, 198]
/ref>
In 1932, the London Power Company
The London Power Company was an electricity generating and bulk supply company in London, England, formed in 1925 by the merger of ten small electricity companies. In 1948 Britain's electricity supply industry was nationalised under the Electri ...
commemorated Sebastian de Ferranti by naming a new 1,315 GRT coastal
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...
collier SS ''Ferranti''.
Patents
* " ''Unipolar dynamo electric machine''".
See also
* Vincent Ziani de Ferranti
Sir "Gerard" Vincent Ziani de Ferranti, CBE MC (16 February 1893 – 20 May 1980) was the second son of Dr Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti. As chairman of ''Ferranti'' from 1930 to 1963, he was responsible for evolving the company into a diverse mult ...
(son)
* Basil de Ferranti
Basil Reginald Vincent Ziani de Ferranti (2 July 1930 – 24 September 1988) 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 a ...
(grandson)
* Valerie Hunter Gordon (granddaughter)
* Ferranti effect
In electrical engineering, the Ferranti effect is the increase in voltage occurring at the receiving end of a very long (> 200 km) AC electric power transmission line, relative to the voltage at the sending end, when the load is very small, or no ...
References
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.,1882; published 1964 by Ferranti
Ferranti 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. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The firm was known ...
().
External links
Institution of Engineering and Technology
*
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Alumni of University College London
Burials at Hampstead Cemetery
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