Frederick Hale Holmes (born 1812) was a professor of Chemistry at the

Royal Panopticon of Science and Art The Royal Panopticon of Science and Art was one of the grand social institutions and architectural splendours of Victorian London. It was given a royal charter in 1850 and in July 1851 a lease was taken out on a premium site for 60 years and buil ...

and pioneer of electric lighting.

Career

In 1853 he demonstrated the ability of electro-magnetic generators to provide continuous current to power arc lighting and in 1856 patented a

magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

to power an arc light for lighthouses which he demonstrated to

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

at Blackwall in 1857. His experiments with

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 ...

arc lighting at

South Foreland Lighthouse South Foreland Lighthouses are a pair of Victorian lighthouses on the South Foreland in St. Margaret's Bay, Dover, Kent, England, used to warn ships approaching the nearby Goodwin Sands. There has been a pair of lighthouses at South Foreland ...

in 1857-60 were the subject of a lecture by

at the

Royal Institution The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...

. One of Holmes' generators built in 1867 and used at

Souter Lighthouse Souter Lighthouse is a lighthouse located in the village of Whitburn, Tyne and Wear, England. (It was generally known as Souter Point Lighthouse when in service). Souter Point was the first lighthouse in the world to be actually designed and bu ...

is displayed at the Science Museum, London.

References

{{Reflist 1812 births Lighting engineers Year of death missing