Jane Horrocks discovers her industrious ancestors

Jane Horrocks discovers her industrious ancestors

09 February 2006

Coinciding with the Industrial Revolution theme in this week's penultimate episode of Who Do You Think You Are? The National Archives are celebrating Britain's enduring legacy on the modern world through the exhibition Inventors and Inventions: Patents, Protest and Power in the Industrial Revolution.

Actress Jane Horrocks (Absolutely Fabulous and more recently Little Voice) delves into her ancestors' Lancashire roots during the mid-1800s, exploring the effect of the introduction of the telegraph and the cotton industry on family life.

Inventors and Inventions Patents, Protest and Power features a range of famous patents, plans, paintings, artefacts and photographs from The National Archives including:

Agriculture
Richard Arkwright's Patent Specification for the Spinning Frame;
Edmund Cartwright and his Specification for Loom for Weaving;
James Hargreaves with his Specification for Spinning, Drawing, and Twisting Cotton.
 
Communications
Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke with a  ABC Telegraph Transmitter from 1840;
A map of the telegraph network in Britain from 1848, produced by The Electric Telegraph Company.
Wheatstone and Cooke's Patent Specification for Improvements in Giving Signals.

Curator of the exhibition, Sue Laurence, said:

"We used material housed here at The National Archives which is relevant to inventors and inventions.

"One of the things the archives is responsible for are patents. We've focused on the Industrial Revolution and inventions that are going to inspire."

Among other items and inventors within the exhibition are:
Public health and sanitation
Joseph Bramah's Patent Specification for his Water Closet. 
Transport
George and Robert Stephenson's various Specifications for Improvements to Locomotive Engines;
Isambard Kingdom Brunel with photographs and artefacts.