Henry Alcock

Historical figure of the sport of billiards Henry Upton Alcock
Portrait of HU Alcock
Born	22 September 1823 (Dublin, Ireland )
Deceased	6 Aug 1912 (age 88) (Melbourne, Australia )
residence	Melbourne, Australia
nationality	Australia
job	Entrepreneur, author
Known for	Pool tables

Henry Upton Alcock (born September 22, 1823 in Dublin , † August 6, 1912 in Melbourne , Victoria ) was an Irish - Australian entrepreneur, inventor, author and editor in the field of billiards. He submitted several patents for further developments and inventions in the billiard table sector and was awarded a total of 22 medals during his lifetime. He was the first manufacturer of pool tables in Australia. The World of Billiards Magazine referred to him as "The father of australian billiards trading". Keith Dunstan in his book Sports and Andrew Ricketts in Walter Lindrum : Billiards Phenomenon fully agreed with this statement .

Life

Emigration and company formation

Henry Upton Alcock was born in Dublin, Ireland. In London he learned the craft of carpenter, where he already gained experience in building billiard tables. He embarked in October 1852 (other information: November 30, 1852) in London, at the age of 29, on the "Africa" ​​to Port Phillip and reached Melbourne on April 15, 1953. During the crossing to Australia he wrote a travel diary which was later published with illustrations.

At first he tried his hand at gold digging (colloquially in Australian: to do the goldfields), but soon went back to his profession as a carpenter . He set up a sawmill and a mold shop and began making billiard tables . In 1860 he founded his company "Alcock & Co" on the corner of Brunswick Street and Gertrude Street in Fitzroy, initially with four workers. As early as 1901, the company had branches in Perth and Brisbane .

Alcock was known as one of the best wood appraisers in the colony and developed highly skilled wood drying techniques. His tables have won many awards and, while not a pool player himself, he has organized tours with leading British players in Victoria . He received hundreds of references from players around the world. In 1863 he published his book "Epitome or the game of billiards" in Melbourne, the fifth edition of which was published in 1901, and the book "The Book of Alcock Billard".

On Dandenong Road he owned a house called "Upton Hall" which he shared with his wife Jane, née Webb. With her he had four sons (Alfred Upton Jr., * September 22, 1865), (* September 20, 1867), (* May 11, 1869), (* December 7, 1872) and three daughters (* March 29, 1867) 1871), (Isabel Columbia, marriage; June 27, 1916). He died at the age of 88 in his adopted home Melbourne.

Alfred Upton Alcock (son)

His eldest son Alfred Upton Alcock (born September 22, 1865 in Hawthorn , Melbourne , Australia, † February 1, 1962 in Exmouth , Devon , England), who later took over his father's company, became an electrical engineer and inventor. He received his education from 1879 at the "Geelong Church of England Grammar School" and later worked in his father's company. In his spare time he taught himself "Applied Electrical Engineering". At the age of 16 he constructed a Leyden bottle from a wine bottle , which he used to demonstrate to friends the principle of boiling water and cooking. Further applications will follow in the next few years.

He received his first patent in 1883, at the age of 18, for the development of an electrical device for number counting, for example for game points. His remarkable inventive talent, his technical skills and his craftsmanship also attracted attention in Europe and so, in 1889, he received membership of the "Institution of Electrical Engeneers" in London.

In the mid-1880s, Alfred became interested in the public power supply. He had built a dynamo and in 1888 he and his father built a generator station on Corr Lane , Melbourne. In that year Ganz transformers were also introduced to Australia and the supply system used by Alcock was the single-phase AC system . The following year they founded the "AU Alcock Electric Light and Motive Power Co."

Act

Alcock's & Co. workshop: billiard table and carpentry department, gang production on the right

If Henry's first company headquarters with four employees was still on Brunswick Street , he moved to Russel Street soon after the company had outgrown the first premises. The buildings on Russel Street were on the east side of the street, stretching most of the block between Little Bourke Street and Lonsdale Street , almost to Brogan Lane . As the company grew, additional space was required and in 1906 a factory and lumber yard was acquired on Sturt Street , South Melbourne. After that, additional land was acquired in the same area to meet the company's requirements.

With regard to the gangs, where major developments in the art of billiard table manufacture had already been recorded, he, like John Thurston , drove his development work to reduce the temperature sensitivity of rubber bands. By then, these had hardened in the cold season and gave a different angle of reflection than usual. Among other things, he experimented with running hot water pipes around the boards in order to keep them evenly heated. In 1903 he passed the company management on to his sons.

In previous years, Alcock had great difficulty getting slate for his tables. He found that some of the early Collingwood settlers built their homes entirely from slate. So he bought the houses, tore them down and used the slate for his tables. He later owned a slate quarry in Castlemaine . But to get the volume he needed, he also had to import slate from Wales, Italy and Portugal.

After moving to 132 Russel Street in 1862, more than 40 men were employed and he now had quite an extensive range of machinery. From 1867 to 1868 he installed a new veneer saw weighing three tons, 3.65 meters in diameter (12 feet), with which he was able to cut veneers between 1.8 mm and 25 mm thick (1/14 -1 inch). It took about six months to install this machine. Costing about £ 1,800, it was tackled with 25,000 rubber feet, and it was the only machine of its kind in the southern hemisphere. With this saw, Alcock was able to supply veneer for the furniture trade throughout the entire colony.

In 1873 Alcock employed 60 men, in 1877 his facility was able to make a table every four hours. In 1883 there were 140 employees on his payroll. Between 1883 and 1885, the company processed approximately 1,371,000 meters of logs (4 1/2 million feet) in their saws.

Alcock's had practically all of the pool table manufacturing processes under one roof on Russell Street . The timber was delivered as logs, sawn and dried; Table frames were built, legs turned, slates cut, pegged, screwed and sanded, the boards made, billiard balls turned from ivory; Cues and other accessories manufactured etc. pp. For several years, the pool cloth was the only item that was imported. Henry Alcock offered a £ 500 bonus to the first Australian manufacturer to produce a good quality pool towel. The prize money was never raised.

Alcock became famous, in 1864 the reigning " World Billiards Champion " at English Billiards , John Roberts Sr., visited Melbourne. It was reported that the Alcock's table he played during matches at the Albion Hotel, Roberts said of it: "I've never played a better table in my life".

Patents and inventions

• 1866: Invention of a turning, bending and molding machine. Advertisement in the Ballarat Star dated August 6, 1866.
• 1868: Invention and patenting of a dice throwing machine. In: The Cromwall Chronical, April 18, 1868. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
• 1881: Patent No. 237; Swap table (billiard and dining table). Advertisement in the South Australian Register dated October 4, 1881.
• 1881: Invention and patent for the improvement of gas-fired lights.
• 1902: Patent advertisement about a changing table (billiard and dining table). In: Evening News Sydney, August 9, 1902.
• 1902: HU Alcock's patent advertisement for a pull-out couch and a pool table. In: Freeman's Journal Sydney, September 20, 1902.

Awards

Gold (medals)

• Victorian International Exhibition 1878
• Melbourne International Exhibition 1880
• New Zealand International Exhibition 1882
• Jubilee of Victoria Exhibition 1884
• Melbourne Centennial Exhibition 1888
• Tasmanian Centennial Exhibition 1891-1892
• Ballarat Industrial Exhibition 1895-1896
• Queensland International Exhibition 1897
• Great Britain (London) Exhibition 1899
• Victorian Gold Jubilee Exhibition 1901-02

Silver (medals)

• Philadelphia (USA) Exhibition 1876
• Melbourne International Exhibition 1880
• New Zealand International Exhibition 1882
• Melbourne Centennial Exhibition 1888

Bronze (medals)

• Dublin International Exhibition 1865
• Philadelphia Exhibition 1876
• Sydney International Exhibition 1879
• Colonial and Indian Exhibition 1886
• Adelaide Jubilee Exhibition 1887

The company received two more bronze medals at the "Empire Exhibitions" in the 1920s.

Publications

• Henry Upton Alcock: Epitome of the Game of Billiards (alternative title: Alcock on Billiards) . Containing the modern European and American games, copiously illustrated with instructive diagrams, together with an appendix, comprising croquet, or lawn billiards (ladies' game), bagatelle, rivoli, etc. Ed .: William Maddock. George Robertson, Melbourne, pp. 199 (1863/1868).
• Henry Upton Alcock: Diary and Papers . 1852, p. 63 .
• Henry Upton Alcock: The Alcock book of billiards . With illustrations, diagrams, and original breaks, also rules of billiards (in all forms) brought to date of latest authorities. 5th edition. Sands & McDougall, Melbourne 1901, p. 210 .
• Henry Upton Alcock, John Roberts Jr .: Billiards and other games of the table . Ed .: Henry Upton Alcock. 5th edition. Alcock & Company, Melbourne 1877, p. 253 .

Web links

• Official website
• Engagement announcement of the youngest son Armandale In: The Portland Guardian dated July 22, 1901.
• Advertisement in The Argus newspaper of January 29, 1879 announcing his election to the local hospital committee.
• Illustrated report on pool table manufacture at Alcock & Co. in The Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil Melbourne, July 3, 1880. Retrieved July 13, 2013.

swell

1. ^ The World of Billiards September 1901.
2. ^ Keith Dunstan: Sports Cassell, Australia, 1973.
3. ↑ Andrew Ricketts: Walter Lindrum: Billiards Phenomenon. Clouston, 1982.
4. ^ The Age Newspaper, August 27, 1862.
5. ^ The Age Newspaper, July 10, 1885.
6. ^ The Argus Newspaper, March 25, 1865.
7. ^ The Argus Newspaper, March 29, 1865.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Alfred Upton Alcock biography on Australian Directory of Biograph.au. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Alcock's story ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. eye Alcocks.com.au. Retrieved July 13, 2013.  
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Billiard Table Making Report on Alcock's & Co. in The Argus Melbourne on September 9, 1926. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
4. ↑ Henry Upton Alcock biography ( memento of the original from April 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Alcocks.com.au. Retrieved July 13, 2013.  
5. ↑ Diary and Papers Diary that Alcock wrote on board the "Africa" ​​during his crossing from England to Australia. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
6. ↑ Diary and Papers HU Alcock (travel diary from November 30, 1852 – April 1853). Retrieved July 13, 2013.
7. ↑ Punch Pickings note relating to the sale of Upton Hall, October 25, 1895. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
8. ^ Birth notification of Henry Upton Jr. (born September 22, 1865) in "The Argus" on September 25, 1865.
9. ↑ Birth notification of a son (born September 20, 1867) in "The Argus" of September 27, 1867.
10. ^ Congratulations announcement from a son (born May 11, 1869) in "The Argus" of April 14, 1870.
11. ↑ Birth announcement of a son (* December 7th, 1872)
12. ^ Birth announcement of a daughter (born March 29, 1871) in "The Argus" of April 4, 1871.
13. ↑ Wedding message from Isabel Columbia, 3rd daughter in "The Argus" from September 16, 1916.
14. ^ Obituary in the Zeehan and Dudas Herald dated August 7, 1912. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
15. ↑ Death report in the Western Herald from August 10, 1912. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
16. ↑ Herbert Reah Harper. In: Journal of the IEE, Volume 2, Issue 24. via IET-Digital Library, December 1956, archived from the original on December 29, 2016 ; accessed on June 13, 2013 .  
17. ^ Melbourne's Pioneer Electrical Supply Company The Argus, May 31, 1941 edition
18. ^ Gary Vines: Cross Street Electrical Substation. Footcray. (PDF) BIOSIS Research, p. 11, chapter 5.2 , accessed on July 13, 2013 (English). 
19. ↑ Advertisement about the invention of a turning, bending and caving machine
20. ↑ Invention and patenting of a dice throwing machine
21. ↑ Patent No. 237; Swap table (billiard and dining table)
22. ↑ Invention and patent for the improvement of gas-fired lights
23. ↑ Patent notification about a changing table (billiard and dining table)
24. ↑ patent display of HU Alcock over a sofa and a pool table in: Freeman's Journal Sydney on 20 September 1,902th
25. ^ Advertisement about the publication of the 5th edition on August 31, 1901 in the Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
26. ^ Book review in The Register, Adelaide, September 30, 1901. Retrieved July 13, 2013.