David Edward Hughes (1831-1900), Scientist and Inventor |
David Edward Hughes was one of America's earliest performers on the concertina, and played a Wheatstone
English system instrument. He went on to become one of America's and Britain's most honored inventors of the
19th century, and was responsible for the telegraph printer, which included the first electrical keyboard; the
carbon microphone, which enabled the telephone as well as the later-to-arrive broadcast and recording industries;
and the induction balance, used in both the medical and security industries. He also preceded Marconi by nearly
two decades in sending and receiving radio transmissions--these included what is arguably the world's first mobile
telephone call. This brilliant inventor's career has many parallels with that of concertina inventor Sir Charles
Wheatstone, although there is no record that the two ever met.
This article originally appeared in Papers of the International Concertina Association. It is available as a free
download for individual use. Further distribution and commercial use are prohibited without the written
permission of the author.
© Dan M. Worrall, 2008
Note: This research material was expanded and updated in 2009 for The Anglo-German Concertina: A Social
History (see Home Page).
English system instrument. He went on to become one of America's and Britain's most honored inventors of the
19th century, and was responsible for the telegraph printer, which included the first electrical keyboard; the
carbon microphone, which enabled the telephone as well as the later-to-arrive broadcast and recording industries;
and the induction balance, used in both the medical and security industries. He also preceded Marconi by nearly
two decades in sending and receiving radio transmissions--these included what is arguably the world's first mobile
telephone call. This brilliant inventor's career has many parallels with that of concertina inventor Sir Charles
Wheatstone, although there is no record that the two ever met.
This article originally appeared in Papers of the International Concertina Association. It is available as a free
download for individual use. Further distribution and commercial use are prohibited without the written
permission of the author.
© Dan M. Worrall, 2008
Note: This research material was expanded and updated in 2009 for The Anglo-German Concertina: A Social
History (see Home Page).
David Edward Hughes as a boy of 10
in Virginia, 1840. Image courtesy of
Ivor Hughes.
in Virginia, 1840. Image courtesy of
Ivor Hughes.
