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Historical records matching Ernest Robert Godward
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About Ernest Robert Godward
Ernest Robert Godward
- 1869: Born in London. Is a sickly child who begins school at 9.
- 1881: Sent to prep school but fails first examinations and runs away to sea. Found by the British counsel in Japan and sent home. Is apprenticed to a fire engine manufacturer.
- 1884: Becomes steward on passenger ships.
- 1886: Jumps ship at Port Chalmers. Works as a painter and photographer's assistant. Becomes competitive cyclist. Finds work in Dunedin cycle shop. Learns to play banjo and forms entertainment group called Star Variety Company.
- 1894: Moves to Invercargill. Establishes Southland Cycle Works manufacturing and selling Sparrowhawk bicycles and imported brands. Joins Invercargill Cycle Club.
- 1896: Marries Marguerita (Madge) Treweek. Forms variety concert party.
- 1899: Patents Godward's Spiral (hair) Pin. Sells overseas rights, makes first million.
- 1900: Sells out of cycle factory. Sets up engineering workshop in Invercargill to manufacture hairpins and other inventions. Floats Godward Spiral Pin and New Inventions Co Ltd on stock exchange. Travels to America, England and Europe to market hairpins and rubber hair curlers.
- 1903-05: Invercargill borough councillor. Organises Oriental Carnival, builds dragon float and frightens horses. Forms Invercargill Banjo Club. Lodges patents for many gadgets including an eggbeater, padded draught protector, mechanical hedge cutter, hermetic tin lid, posthole borer, burglar-proof window, telescopic nozzle for a garden hose, water tank filter, fire alarm, door handle and an animal trap.
- 1906: Builds 16-room family home Rockhaven at 397 Queens Dr, Invercargill
- 1908: Involved in first hot-air balloon flights in Southland. Opens cycle shop which also sells motorcycles and Reo cars. Organises first motor car and motorcycle race event in Southland.
- 1909: Wins first road race from Invercargill to Dunedin and return in a Reo car. Race is rerun a few weeks later. Godward and co-driver swerve to avoid dray, run up bank and flip car. They spend a night in hospital with minor injuries. Races criticised by police, Automobile Association and borough councils for bringing motoring into disrepute.
- 1912: Develops Eclipse Petrol Economiser - an important forerunner of the modern carburettor - for motorcycles, then for cars, motorcycles, buses, tractors and aeroplanes.
- 1914: Patents economiser device. Sets up Godward Carburettor Company in London. Spends next 20 years mostly living abroad manufacturing, refining and marketing the product. By the end of his life has invented 72 different models of petrol economisers and one gas generator.
- 1929: Carburettor adopted by US Army transport system. Moves to New York and makes second million. Loses much of his fortune in the stock market crash.
- 1936: Heads home to Invercargill by ship. Wins skipping competition but dies next day aged 68. Is buried at sea.
Sources
- Rudd, Allison (2013, August 17). Truly a man of many talents. Otago Daily Times.
- Strachan, S. R. 'Godward, Ernest Robert', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3g13/godward-ernest-robert (accessed 10 September 2022).
- Walker, Shirley (2013). Ernest R. Godward Inventor.
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Ernest Robert Godward's Timeline
| 1869 |
April 7, 1869
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12 Charlotte Street, Marylebone, London, England (United Kingdom)
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| 1896 |
July 29, 1896
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Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand
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| 1898 |
January 7, 1898
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Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand
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October 1, 1898
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Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand
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| 1899 |
July 27, 1899
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Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand
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| 1902 |
February 12, 1902
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Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand
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| 1903 |
July 20, 1903
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Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand
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| 1906 |
March 24, 1906
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Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand
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| 1909 |
June 23, 1909
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Invercargill, Southland, South Island, New Zealand
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