Date Confirmed 1891

The first known inventor of the teawaker was Samuel Rowbottom. I am indebted to his grandson Peter for giving me access to the family photrographs on this page. These are included by kind permission of the copyright holder, Michael Lewis. It is not permitted to reproduce these photographs in any context without his express permission.

Samuel's ancestry has been traced back to his 4 x great grandfather Joseph Rowbottom, born c 1645. The Rowbottom family farmed at Moorside, Chisworth, Derbyshire, from the first half of the 18th centry to early in the 20th century. Samuel's great grandfather was Moses Rowbottom (1772-1858). His grandfather, James Rowbottom (1806 - 1849), a Cotton Spinner, was born at Moorside.

Samuel was born on 24 March 1866, at 53 King Street, Ardwick, Manchester. He had an older sister Hannah (1862 - 1863) and an older brother Thomas (1864 - ??). Following the death of Aaron's first wife, Mary, He remarried, giving Samuel a half brother, James Stanley Rowbottom (1888 - 1956).

When Samuel was five years old the family were living at 17 Caygill Street, Chorlton on Medlock, Mancehster. Aaron was now a Detective Officer, and both Samuel and Thomas were Scholars. By the time Samuel 1881 Aaron was a Detective Inspector, living at The Rectory to the Unitarian Church, 229 Upper Brook Street, Chorlton upon Medlock, Manchester. Samuel, although only 15, is recorded as a Plumber in the census of that year.

Shortly after the marriage Samuel and his family set up home in Derby. Here seven of their ten children were born. First came:

Bernice (1887 - 1973)
Constance (1888 - 1973)
Lilian (1890 - 1956)

Samuel is shown as either Electrician or Electrical Engineer on all his children's birth certificates except Constance's where he is shown as a Master Gas Fitter.

Samuel worked on several contracts for the Derby Town Council. In 1889 he was paid 13s 8d on one occasion and £1 6s 0d on another for repairs to the Electric Bell in the Market Hall.

In 1890 they moved to 82 Abbey Street, Derby.

In the 1891 Census, Samuel is shown as an Electrical Engineer, with Selina and Bernice, Constance & Lilian.

The photograph on the left shows Samuel Rowbottom at an exhibition with the teawaker. Click the photo to zoom in on the teawaker itself.

Samuel Rowbottom's teawaker was fuelled by gas, and required a permanent pilot light, which by today's standards would suggest a kitchen appliance. However, in Victorian England gas was a popular fuel for those who could afford it, and as the gas supply was piped throughout the house, it is quite conceivable that Rowbottom's invention was destined for the bedroom.

The invention used the same principal as present day teawakers, in that water is boiled in a specially designed kettle from which it is foced by steam pressure to ascend through a tube, whence it is fed to a teapot.

I have not confirmed whether Rowbottom's invention was ever commercially produced.

In 1892 Samuel was paid 10s 2d and 6s 9d in 1890 and a further £2 10s 0d by Derby Town Council for repairing the Electric Bell in the Market Hall. On 19th October 1892, at a Special Council Meeting, Samuel was awarded a contract for the sum of £176 for providing the boxes and all the accessories and way leaves for the installation of the new Fire Alarms, and a further contract for £15 per annum to maintain these alarms. A further contract was given for the construction of three telephone wires, and a new alarm board with connections, for £34.

In 1892 Samuel's first son was born, and named for his father, but he lived only a year:

Samuel (1892 - 1893)

In 1893, the family left 82 Abbey Street, Derby and moved to a different address.

In 1893 Samuel was paid for altering the alarm wires, and for further repairs to the Alarm Bell at the Market Hall.

Samuel's family continued to expand. Three more children were born in Derby:

Edward (1893- 1962)
Gertrude (1896 - 1897)
Alfred (1898 - 1956)

At some time between 1898 and 1900 the family moved to Cricklewood, Middlesex.

Simms was an Englishman born in Hamburg, was on the lookout for a power source to use in his 'Aerial Flights' (overhead railcar) and befriended Daimler, who at that time was using his new engine in motorboats. Simms saw the potential for marketing this engine in Britain. He took up the patent rights and formed a company in 1893 called 'The Daimler Motor Syndicate Ltd'. In 1891 he wrote a letter containing the first recorded use of the term "motor car" and he claimed to have invented the name "petrol". Following his building of a successful Daimler agency Simms founded the Daimler Motor Company Limited in 1895 to build Daimler engines in this country. Simms engines went on to be found in many products, including lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners and road rollers, as well as cars.

In 1897 Simms founded the Automobile Club of Great Britain & Ireland. A decade later, the patronage of King Edward VII transformed the ACGBI into the Royal Automobile Club - the RAC.

Did Rowbottom tell Simms about his invention? Did Simms pass the idea on to Booth when they worked together later on a vacuum cleaner engine? We will probably never know.

The war car had a Daimler engine, a bulletproof casing and was armed with 2 machine guns developed by Hiram Maxim on revolving turrets.

Simms is shown left at the trigger of a quick-firing gun on a pioneering quadricycle armoured car.

In 1899 Samuel Rowbottom assisted Simms with the development of the front wheel drive "Motor Wheel". It was a three wheeler, with the engine between the front two wheels, and steered by the rear wheel. It carried two people in tandem, with the driver behind the passenger. The March 25th 1899 Autocar magazine featured an article on the 'motor wheel'.

In April 1900 The Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland organised the first 1000 Miles Trial. The committee and the entrants were all the leading lights of the early motor car movement including Sir David Salomons, the Hon. C.S. Rolls, Count Zborowski, Worby Beaumont, Hewetson, Edgerton, the Hon. Evelyn Ellis, Frederick Simms, Sir Bernhard Samuelson, the Hon. John Scott Montagu, S.F. Edge, Montague Napier, Harvey du Cross, J E Hutton, T D Siddeley, E M Iliffe, and Henry Sturmey.

The cars were on exhibition before the trial from 14th April in the Agricultural Hall. The Trial commenced in London on Monday April 23rd, 1900 at 7 a.m.. Sixty five cars travelled the country in a reliability trial, which introduced the horseless carriage to parts of the country where it had not been seen before.

Simms' Motor Wheel was entered as No. 20 in the Trial by one of Simms' companies, Motor Carriage Supply Limited, and it was driven by Samuel Rowbottom. In the List of Starters in The Autocar magazine the address for Motor Carriage Supply Co Ltd is given as 17 Balderton Street, Oxford Street, London, W., however a reprint of an advert for the company in Elizabeth Bennett's book gives the address Donnington House, Norfolk Street, Strand, London, W.C..

The trial finished in Whitehall, London on Saturday May 12th, 1900, (illustrated left), and the cars were again on exhibition in Crystal Palace, until Saturday 19th May. Samuel's attempt was described by Hon. C.S. Rolls (later of Rolls Royce fame) at a final dinner:

"Nothing, too, could exceed the pluck and determination displayed by the driver of Simms' motor-wheel. All who had an opportunity of seeing how perseveringly he kept on despite the most discouraging circumstances expressed thier admiration of his endeavours, which, at times, were almot heroic, displaying a high courage and steady nerve."

For more information see http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~adamw/index.html and Elizabeth Bennetts book entitled "Thousand Mile Trial".

Motoria (1900 -1990)

At this time Samuel's occupation is given as Mechanical Engineer. Motoria was given that name as, before she had been named, Samuel and Selina were driving in their Benz motor car in Oxford Street, London, with Motoria in her mother's arms. Suddenly a horse shied causing Samuel to brake to avoid what could have been a serious collision. Motoria went over the front of the Benz, but fortunately she was not badly hurt. At the time Samuel was working for the Motoria Motor Company.

By the 1901 Census the family had moved from Cricklewood, to 61 Upper Grange Road, Bermondsey, London, with Samuel employed as a Engineer (Motor) Car. By this time Frederick Simms had moved his workshop to just around the corner at 55a Southwark Park Road. They were still there in 1902.

In 1902, worried by the random proliferation of motor shows, Simms also established the SMMT as a "strong, responsible and corporate body of the motor trade". The society organised its first show at the Crystal Palace in January 1903.
His theories on mechanised warfare saw the building in 1899 of a lightly-armoured quadricycle with quick-firing gun and an armoured "war-car", the ancestor of the tank. His Simms Manufacturing Company produced engines of all sizes, and Simms Motor Units, which he ran until 1935, specialised in ignition, lighting and starting equipment. He continued working as a consultant, and died in 1944 at the age of 80.

By 1903 they had moved to Sheffield, where another son was born:

Thomas (1903 - 1956)

Samuel being described as a Mechanical Engineer. A few years later in a newspaper advertisement Samuel said that he had been employed as a Foreman Engineer by Durham Churchill. In 1903 Durham Churchill were in Sheffield manufacturing a motor car called the Hallamshire using engines supplied by Simms. In one of the advertisements Samuel said that he had a certificate for the 1903 1,000 Mile Motor Trial, unfortunately although the Hallamshire was entered in that Trial, I have not found details of the driver.

By 1904 they were in Southport, Lancashire, where their youngest child was born:

Henry (1906 - 1960)

Samuel was at this time described as a Motor Engineer.

The Napierian was a fabulously decorative coffee maker. The base was made of polished wood (optionally walnut), and upon it stood an ornamental vase (the coffee pot itself) with optional finishes in gold, china or bronzed copper.

The water was heated by a brass lamp under a spherical glass bottle supported by a nickel or brass frame, and was then fed through a nickel or silver plated syphon to the vase. The whole apparatus could be covered by an optional brass cover.