Title
Death notice cards for Oswald G Moseley
Reference
2021-1665/2/3
Production date
06-01-1948 - 06-01-1948
Creator
- David Moseley & SonsBiographyBiography
Established in 1833, David Moseley & Sons of Manchester manufactured a range of india rubber and gutta percha goods. The company is notable as one of the first in Britain to be involved in telecommunications.
In November 1877 Charles Moseley recruited the engineer William Fereday Bottomley, who had worked for the Magnetic and Indo-European Telegraph Companies. The company began providing private telephone services to local customers as a telephone agent. Wishing to connect his premises on Dantzig Street and Shudehill by telephone, hardware merchant Thomas Hudson became the first customer.
The next step for David Moseley & Sons was to become telephone manufacturers. Alexander Marr joined the company as head of the construction department, patenting a granular carbon transmitter in 1879. The company began supplying apparatus to the Post Office, railway and private companies. Marr soon developed another granular carbon transmitter especially for the transmission of opera, which was used in Manchester theatres in 1880 to 1881.
In 1880, Charles Moseley, William Bottomley and William Edwin Heys (local consulting engineer and electrician), patented a system for erecting telephone wires, called the ‘twist’ system, which was designed ‘to diminish or prevent the results of inductive action’. Although the patent was never enforced (Professor Hughes having previously described the same principle), the ‘twist’ system was adopted universally in Britain. Moseley patented another three types of telephone apparatus in 1881 and 1882. As well as in-house designs, the company also made telephone equipment under licence, such as the Gower-Bell wall telephone.
David Moseley & Sons advertised plans to open a telephone exchange at its offices and warehouse in New Brown Street. The business received a licence in August of that year, but by October the Lancashire & Cheshire Telephonic Exchange had bought the licence to head off its competitor. Moseley & Sons continued to trade as telephone constructor and erector until around 1890, but by 1897 its entry in the Manchester street directory no longer listed these activities.
The Moseley company maintained its original business of manufacturing india rubber and gutta percha, branching out into plastic products.
David Moseley & Sons moved to the Chapelfield Works in Ardwick in 1845, and kept a warehouse in New Brown Street. From 1906 to 1961 there was also a separate waterproof clothing factory on Dolphin Street in Ardwick.
In 1964 David Moseley & Sons was taken over by Avon Rubber and was renamed Avon-Moseley in 1968. In 1981, economic recession led Avon Rubber to rationalise its operations, and the Avon-Moseley factory was closed.
Scope and Content
Two copies of a death notice card issued by David Moseley & Sons to mark the death of the former company director. The cards were previously stored inside 2021-1665/Box 1/2.
Extent
2 cards
Physical description
Good condition. Some minor surface dirt.
Language
English
Level of description
ITEM
Repository name
Science and Industry Museum
Associated people and organisations
Conditions governing access
Open access.
Conditions governing Reproduction
Copies may be supplied in accordance with current copyright legislation and Science Museum Group terms and conditions.