The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences holds the largest collection of material internationally of the aviation pioneer, Lawrence Hargrave. While no single individual can be attributed to the invention of the aeroplane, Hargrave belonged to an elite body of scientists and researchers (along with Octave Chanute, Otto Lilienthal and Percy Sinclair Pilcher) whose experiments and inventions paved the way for the first powered, controlled flight achieved by the Wright Brothers on December 17, 1903.
This particular envelope and note is significant because of its association with Lawrence Hargrave. It was written by Lawrence's father for posterity and records important information about the provenance and use of a pair of razor blades given to John Fletcher Hargrave by his father. The reference to old London Bridge is particularly important, given that it no longer survives and provides written evidence for the recycling of materials into resalable products.
Lawrence Hargrave was an aviation pioneer. His greatest contribution to aeronautics was the invention of the box or cellular kite, which evolved in four stages, from being a simple cylinder kite made of heavy paper to a double-celled one capable of lifting Hargrave sixteen feet off the ground. The fourth kite of the series, produced by the end of 1893, provided a stable supporting and structural surface that satisfied the correct area to weight ratio which became the foundation for early European built aircraft. For example, Hargrave's box kite appears to be the inspiration for Alberto Santos Dumont's aircraft named '14bis', which undertook the first powered, controlled flight in Europe in 1906. Similarly, Gabriel Voisin states in his autobiography that he and his brother Charles, who manufactured the first commercially available aircraft in Europe, owe their inspiration to their construction to a Hargrave box kite, while via correspondence with Octave Chanute, there is also evidence for Hargrave's box kite influencing the aircraft used by the Wright Brothers during their historic flight in 1903.
Hargrave's contribution to aeronautics can also be observed in other ways. For example, he conducted important research into animal movement and produced a number of flapping models which successfully demonstrated a means of propulsion. He also designed and produced alternative power sources including a variety of engines. Beyond aviation, Hargrave undertook exploration work in the Torres Strait and New Guinea and assisted in the discovery voyage of the Fly River with Luigi d'Albertis. He also contributed to the study of astronomy with his development of adding machines to assist Sydney Observatory in their calculations, researched and wrote on Australian history and was an early proponent for the establishment of a bridge across Sydney Harbour.
References
Adams, M., "Wind Beneath His Wings - Lawrence Hargrave at Stanwell Park" (September 2004)
ADB Online, "Lawrence Hargrave", http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090194b.htm (Downloaded 18/7/2007)
Grainger, E., "Hargrave and Son - A Biography of John Fletcher Hargrave and his son Lawrence Hargrave" (Brisbane, 1978)
Hudson Shaw, W & Ruhen, O., "Lawrence Hargrave - Explorer, Inventor & Aviation Experimenter" (Sydney, 1977)
Roughley, T.C., "The Aeronautical Work of Lawrence Hargrave" (Technological Museum, Sydney Bulletin No.19, 1939)
This short history of a pair of razors handwritten in cursive script on the outside of an envelope was produced by John Fletcher Hargrave (father of Lawrence Hargrave) in New South Wales, Australia on May 13, 1881.
The blades are made out of a portion of iron shoe from one of the old piles of London Bridge, which was reportedly driven into the bed of the River Thames by King William Rufus in 1100.
This note describes a pair of razor blades that were given to Judge Hargrave by his father en route to Cambridge on October 13, 1833 (when Judge Hargrave was 16 years old). The blades are made from recycled iron which was used in old London Bridge and they were possibly manufactured by 'R.WADE' ironworks. Other objects produced from iron shoes used in the Bridge include surgical instruments, which were marketed at large prices to local London surgeons.
John Fletcher Hargrave was born on December 28, 1815 in Greenwich, England. He was educated privately until 14 years of age, at which time he was accepted to London University and later Cambridge University (BA, 1837 and MA, 1840). In 1843, Hargrave married his cousin Ann Hargrave and had four children: Ralph, Lawrence, Ann and Gilbert. For ten years, Hargrave practiced chancery (retiring in 1851 to pursue railway and other public matters) until Ann admitted him to an asylum in Middlesex with the belief that too much studying had "unhinged his mind". This obviously caused resentment and hostility for Hargrave, as he moved to Australia with his brother Edward and eldest son Ralph in 1856, not to be reunited with Ann again for almost three decades.
In New South Wales, Hargrave worked as a solicitor-general for Charles Cowper; he was a member of the Legislative Council; worked as an attorney-general and government representative for John Robertson and in 1865 gained a place on the bench in the Supreme Court. In 1858, Hargrave became reader in general jurisprudence at the University of Sydney and ironically, in 1873 was appointed divorce judge. Hargrave died on February 23, 1885 from an "effusion on the brain". He is buried in Waverley Cemetery.
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