Editing Joseph Swan

{{short description|British physicist and inventor (1828–1914)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific-prefix   = [[Sir]]
| name = Joseph Swan 
| image = Joseph Wilson Swan.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = Photograph of Swan, circa 1900
| birth_name = Joseph Wilson Swan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1828|10|31}}
| birth_place = [[Bishopwearmouth]], [[City of Sunderland|Sunderland]], [[Tyne And Wear]], [[England]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1914|05|27|1828|10|31}}
| death_place = [[Warlingham]], [[Surrey]], England
| nationality = [[British people|British]]
| field = [[Physics]], [[Chemistry]]
| known_for = [[Incandescent light bulb]]<br />Photographic process
| awards = [[Hughes Medal]] {{small|(1904)}}<br />[[Albert Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Albert Medal]] {{small|(1906)}}
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|size=100%}}
}}
'''Sir Joseph Wilson Swan''' [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (31 October 1828&nbsp;– 27 May 1914) was an English [[physicist]], chemist, and inventor. He is known as an independent early developer of a successful [[incandescent light bulb]], and is responsible for developing the first use of incandescent lights used to illuminate homes and public buildings, including the [[Savoy Theatre]], London, in 1881.<ref name="hendrickson">{{cite book|editor=Kenneth E. Hendrickson III|title=The Encyclopedia of the Industrial Revolution in World History|volume=3|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|date=2014|page=564|isbn=978-0810888876|oclc=869343342}}</ref><ref name=CassellsChronology>{{Cite book|last=Williams|first=Hywel|title=Cassell's Chronology of World History|url=https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will|url-access=registration|location=[[London]]|publisher=[[Weidenfeld & Nicolson]]|year=2005|isbn=0-304-35730-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cassellschronolo0000will/page/434 434–435]}}</ref>

In 1904, Swan was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] by [[Edward VII|King Edward VII]],<ref name="Shaw">{{Cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Wm. A. |title=The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of the Knights Bachelors |date=1971 |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Company |location=Baltimore |volume=2|page=419 |oclc=	247620448}}</ref> awarded the Royal Society's [[Hughes Medal]], and was made an honorary member of the [[Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain|Pharmaceutical Society]]. He had received the highest decoration in France, the [[Legion of Honour]], when he visited the [[International Exposition of Electricity|1881 International Exposition of Electricity, Paris]]. The exhibition included displays of his inventions, and the city was lit with his electric lighting.<ref name=RPSGB.org.uk>{{Cite web|title=Pharmacy&nbsp;— the mother of invention?&nbsp;— Sir Joseph Swan (1828–1914)|url=http://RPSGB.org.uk/informationresources/museum/exhibitions/themotherofinvention/swanphot.html|website=RPSGB.org.uk|publisher=[[Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain]] (RPSGB)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924214648/http://rpsgb.org.uk/informationresources/museum/exhibitions/themotherofinvention/swanphot.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 September 2006|access-date=11 January 2010|quote=Swan made groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of electric lighting and photography. He had already received the Legion of Honour when he visited an international exhibition in Paris in 1881. The exhibition included exhibits of his inventions, and the city was lit with electric light, thanks to Swan's invention.|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Early life==
Joseph Wilson Swan was born in 1828 at Pallion Hall in [[Pallion]], in the Parish of [[Bishopwearmouth]], [[City of Sunderland|Sunderland]], [[County Durham]]. His parents were John Swan and Isabella Cameron.<ref name= fsu>Davidson, Michael W., and The Florida State University. "Molecular Expressions. [http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/timeline/people/swan.html Science, optics and you. Pioneers in optics. Joseph Swan (1828–1914)]." Last modification 26 February 2004. Retrieved 16 November 2009</ref>

Swan was apprenticed for six years to a [[Sunderland]] firm of pharmacists/[[Pharmacists|druggists]], ''Hudson and Osbaldiston''.<ref name= RPSGB.org.uk /> However, it is not known whether Swan completed his six-year apprenticeship, as both partners subsequently died.<ref name= RPSGB.org.uk /> He was said to have had an enquiring mind,<ref name=RPSGB.org.uk /> even as a child. He augmented his education with a fascination for his surroundings, the industry of the area, and reading at Sunderland Library.<ref name= RPSGB.org.uk /> He attended lectures at the Sunderland Atheneum.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kstc.co.uk/josephswan/home.html|title=Joseph Swan: Biography| first=Jon|last=Plumley|website=www.kstc.co.uk|access-date=10 January 2018| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170506143128/http://www.kstc.co.uk/josephswan/home.html|archive-date=6 May 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Swan subsequently joined Mawson's, a firm of manufacturing chemists in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], started in the year of Swan's birth by John Mawson<ref name= RPSGB.org.uk /> (9 September 1819&nbsp;– 17 December 1867), the husband of his sister, Elizabeth Swan (22 November 1822&nbsp;– 2 August 1905). In 1846, Swan was offered a partnership at Mawson's.<ref name=RPSGB.org.uk /> This company subsequently existed as ''Mawson, Swan, and Morgan'' until 1973, formerly located on Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne, near [[Grey's Monument]]. The premises, now occupied by fashion retailer END., can be identified by a line of [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]]-style electric [[Street light|street lamps]] in front of the store on Grey Street.

Swan lived at [[Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead]], a large house on Kells Lane North, where he conducted most of his experiments in the large [[Conservatory (greenhouse)|conservatory]].<ref>{{cite news| last= Newton |first=Douglas | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zNgPIKR8FK4C&pg=PA290 | title= Light and likeness | work=[[New Scientist]]| date= 26 October 1978 | accessdate= 30 December 2010}}</ref> The house was later converted into Beaconsfield School, a private fee-paying grant-aided co-educational grammar school.<ref name= BEAC>[https://books.google.com/books?id=mHAnAAAAMAAJ&q=Beaconsfield+School+joseph+swan Electrical times, Volume 145] p. 220. Retrieved 30 December 2010</ref> Students there could still find examples of Swan's original electrical fittings.<ref name= BEAC />

==Electric light==
[[File:carbonfilament.jpg|thumb|190px|Carbon filament lamp (E27 socket, 220 [[volt]]s, approx. 30 watts, left side: running with 100 volts)]]
In 1850, Swan began working on a light bulb using [[carbon]]ised paper filaments in an evacuated glass bulb. By 1860, he was able to demonstrate a working device, but the lack of a good vacuum, and of an adequate electric source, resulted in an inefficient light bulb with a short life.<ref name="timesobit">{{Cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=28 May 1914|title=Death Of Sir Joseph Swan|work=[[The Times]]|issue=40535|page=12|id={{Gale|CS202441404}}|url=https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1914-05-28/12/8.html|access-date=4 June 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In August 1863 he presented his own design for a [[vacuum pump]] to a meeting of the [[British Science Association|British Association for the Advancement of Science]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=British Association for the Advancement of Science|first=Notices and Abstracts of Miscellaneous Communications to the Sections|url=https://archive.org/details/reportofbritisha64brit|title=Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.|date=1863|publisher=John Murray|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/reportofbritisha64brit/page/26 26]|language=en|chapter=On a Mercurial Air-Pump by J. W. Swan.|oclc=1052544488}}</ref> The design used [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] falling through a tube to trap air from the system to be evacuated. Swan's design was similar in construction to the [[Sprengel pump]] and predates [[Hermann Sprengel|Herman Sprengel's]] research by two years. Furthermore, it is notable that Sprengel conducted his research while visiting London,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sprengel |first=Hermann |date=1865 |title=III. Researches on the vacuum |url={{google books|plainurl=yes|id=UKIwAAAAYAAJ|pg=PA9}} |journal=[[Journal of the Chemical Society]] |volume=18 |pages=9–21 }}</ref> and was probably aware of the annual reports of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Nonetheless, Joseph Swan and [[Thomas Edison]] are later reported to have used the Sprengel pump to evacuate their carbon [[filament lamp]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thompson|first=Silvanus P.|url=https://archive.org/details/developmentofmer00thom|title=The development of the mercurial air-pump|date=1888|publisher=E. & F.N. Spon|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/developmentofmer00thom/page/19 19]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Friedel|first1=Robert|last2=Israel|first2=Paul|year=2010|name-list-style=amp|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8U-Naf4DuzMC&pg=PA46|title=Edison's Electric Light: The Art of Invention|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press|edition=Revised|isbn=978-0-8018-9482-4|pages=56|access-date=2018-07-03}}</ref>

In 1875, Swan returned to consider the problem of the light bulb with the aid of a better vacuum and a carbonised thread as a filament. The most significant feature of Swan's improved lamp was that there was little residual [[oxygen]] in the [[vacuum]] tube to ignite the filament, thus allowing the filament to glow almost white-hot without catching fire. However, his filament had low resistance, thus needing heavy copper wires to supply it.<ref name="si.edu">{{Cite web|url=http://americanhistory.si.edu/lighting/bios/swan.htm|title=Lighting A Revolution: Joseph W. Swan|website=americanhistory.si.edu|access-date=10 January 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Sir Joseph William Swan FRS (RSC National Chemical Landmark).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Plaque at 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle where Swan publicly demonstrated the electric light bulb in 1879]]
Swan first publicly demonstrated his incandescent carbon lamp at a lecture for the Newcastle upon Tyne Chemical Society on 18 December 1878. However, after burning with a bright light for some minutes in his laboratory, the lamp broke down owing to excessive current. On 17 January 1879 this lecture was successfully repeated with the lamp shown in actual operation; Swan had solved the problem of incandescent electric lighting by means of a vacuum lamp. On 3 February 1879 he publicly demonstrated a working lamp to an audience of over seven hundred people in the lecture theatre of the [[Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne]], [[William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong|Sir William Armstrong]] of [[Cragside]] presiding.<ref>{{cite news |title=Reward offered for oldest working light bulb in a British home |url=https://www.rsc.org/news-events/articles/2009/01-january/light-bulb/ |access-date=12 May 2025 |work=Royal Society of Chemistry}}</ref> Swan turned his attention to producing a better carbon filament, and the means of attaching its ends. He devised a method of treating cotton to produce "parchmentised thread", and obtained British Patent 4933 on 27 November 1880.<ref>Swan K. R. ''Sir Joseph Swan and the Invention of the incandescent electric lamp''. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1946 pp. 21–25</ref> From that time he began installing light bulbs in homes and landmarks in England.

[[File:Sir Joseph Swan blue plaque.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Plaque at [[Underhill, Gateshead]] commemorating Swan's invention and Underhill as the first house in the world to have electric lighting installed]]
His house, [[Underhill, Low Fell, Gateshead]], was the world's first to have working light bulbs installed.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Tale of tragedy behind the triumphs of Joseph Swan|url=http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/tale-tragedy-behind-triumphs-joseph-4424356|publisher=The Journal|date=11 December 2016|access-date=11 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220074804/http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/tale-tragedy-behind-triumphs-joseph-4424356|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Lit & Phil Library in Westgate Road, [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]], was the first public room lit by electric light during a lecture by Swan on 20 October 1880.<ref name=2litandPhil20110208>{{Cite news|last=Glover|first=Andrew|title=Alexander Armstrong in appeal to save Lit and Phil|quote=The society's lecture theatre was the first public room to be lit by electric light, during a lecture by Sir Joseph Swan on October 20, 1880.|newspaper=The Journal|date=8 February 2011|url=http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/08/alexander-armstrong-in-appeal-to-save-lit-and-phil-61634-28133303/|access-date=8 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215165559/http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/08/alexander-armstrong-in-appeal-to-save-lit-and-phil-61634-28133303/|archive-date=15 February 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/content/image_galleries/lit_and_phil_gallery.shtml?12 History in pictures – The Lit & Phil], [[BBC]]. Retrieved 8 August 2011</ref> In 1881 he founded his own company, The Swan Electric Light Company,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/lightbulb.htm |title=Ideafinder.com, ''Light Bulb History'', accessed 17 July 2012 |access-date=17 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804155102/http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/lightbulb.htm |archive-date=4 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and started commercial production.<ref>Chirnside, R.C. ''Sir Joseph Wilson Swan FRS'' Newcastle upon Tyne: Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne 1979</ref>

[[File:Savoy Theatre (Westminster City Council).jpg|left|thumb|upright|Plaque at [[Savoy Theatre|the Savoy]] in London noting it as the first public building to be lit entirely by electricity in 1881]]
The [[Savoy Theatre|Savoy]], a state-of-the-art theatre in the [[City of Westminster]], London, was the first public building in the world lit entirely by electricity.<ref name=CassellsChronology /><ref name=Burgess>Burgess, Michael. "Richard D'Oyly Carte", ''The Savoyard'', January 1975, pp. 7–11</ref> Swan supplied about 1,200 incandescent lamps, powered by an {{convert|88.3|kW|hp|lk=on|adj=on|abbr=off}} generator on open land near the theatre.<ref name=Times>"The Savoy Theatre", ''[[The Times]]'', 3 October 1881</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Gooday|first=Graeme |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AakTAQAAIAAJ&q=swan+Iolanthe|title=Domesticating electricity: technology, uncertainty and gender, 1880–1914 |publisher=Pickering & Chatto|year=2008|page=107|access-date=30 November 2010|isbn=978-1851969753|oclc=222542339}}</ref> The builder of the Savoy, [[Richard D'Oyly Carte]], explained why he had introduced Swan's electric light: "The greatest drawbacks to the enjoyment of the theatrical performances are, undoubtedly, the foul air and heat which pervade all theatres. As everyone knows, each [[gas lighting|gas-burner]] consumes as much oxygen as many people, and causes great heat beside. The incandescent lamps consume no oxygen, and cause no perceptible heat."<ref>[http://www.lyricoperasandiego.org/resource_library/PeopleCarte.htm "Richard D'Oyly Carte"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413125856/http://www.lyricoperasandiego.org/resource_library/PeopleCarte.htm|date=13 April 2009}}, at the Lyric Opera San Diego website, June 2009</ref> The first generator proved too small to power the whole building, and though the entire front-of-house was electrically lit, the stage was lit by gas until 28 December 1881. At that performance, Carte stepped on stage and broke a glowing lightbulb before the audience to demonstrate the safety of Swan's new technology. On 29 December 1881, ''[[The Times]]'' described the electric lighting as visually superior to gaslight.<ref>[https://www.gsarchive.net/carte/savoy/electric.html Description of lightbulb experiment] in ''The Times'', 29 December 1881</ref>

The first private residence, other than the inventor's, lit by the new incandescent lamp was that of his friend, [[William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong|Sir William Armstrong]] at [[Cragside]], near [[Rothbury]], Northumberland. Swan personally supervised the installation there in December 1880. Swan had formed "The Swan Electric Light Company Ltd" with a factory at Benwell, Newcastle, and had established the first commercial manufacture of incandescent lightbulbs by the beginning of 1881.

Swan's carbon rod lamp and carbon filament lamp, while functional, were still relatively impractical owing to low resistance (needing very expensive thick copper wiring) and short running life.<ref name="si.edu" /><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2009/12/1218joseph-swan-electric-bulb/|title=Dec. 18, 1878: Let There Be Light&nbsp;— Electric Light|magazine=Wired |access-date=10 January 2018 |last1=Ganapati |first1=Priya }}</ref> While searching for a better filament for his light bulb, Swan inadvertently made another advance. In 1881, he developed and patented a process for squeezing [[nitrocellulose]] through holes to form conducting fibres. His newly established company (which by merger eventually became the Edison and Swan United Company) used Swan's [[cellulose]] filaments in their bulbs. The textile industry has also used this process.<ref name=fsu /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.timmonet.co.uk/html/body_joseph_swan.htm|title=Joseph Wilson Swan|publisher=Timmonetk|access-date=21 July 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Joseph Wilson Swan 2.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Swan in his laboratory (pre 1907), signed by Swan in 1910]]
The first ship to use Swan's invention was ''The City of Richmond'', owned by the Inman Line. She was fitted with incandescent lamps in June 1881. The [[Royal Navy]] also introduced them to its ships soon after; with [[HMS Inflexible (1876)|HMS ''Inflexible'']] having the new lamps installed in the same year.<ref name="kenneth_swan" /> An early employment in engineering was during the digging of the [[Severn Tunnel]], where the contractor [[Thomas A. Walker|Thomas Walker]] installed "20-candlepower lamps" in the temporary pilot tunnels.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Walker|first1=Thomas A|title=The Severn Tunnel Its Construction and Difficulties|url=https://archive.org/details/severntunnelits01walkgoog|date=1888|publisher=Richard Bentley and Son|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/severntunnelits01walkgoog/page/n131 73]}}</ref>

Swan was one of the early developers of the electric [[safety lamp]] for miners, exhibiting his first in Newcastle upon Tyne at the [[North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers]] on 14 May 1881.<ref>Swan. J.W. [https://archive.org/details/transactions30nort#page/n295 Swan's electric light] ''Transactions, North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers'' 30, 1881, 149–159</ref> This required a wired supply, so the following year, he presented one with a battery<ref>Swan, J.W. [https://archive.org/stream/transactions31nort#page/116 On an electric safety lamp, with portable secondary battery] ''Transactions, North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers'' 31 1881-2, 117–9</ref> and other improved versions followed.<ref>Swan, J.W. [https://archive.org/stream/transactions36nort#page/n63 On an improved electric safety lamp for miners] ''Transactions, North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers'' 36 1886-7, 3–11</ref> By 1886, a lamp with better light output than a flame safety lamp was in production by the Edison-Swan Company.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/transactions36nort#page/54 Discussion on electric lamps] ''Transactions, North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers'' 36 1886-7 55 – 59</ref> However, it suffered from problems of reliability and was not a success. It took development by others over the next 20 years or so before effective electric lamps were in common use.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=A. V.|last2=Tarkenter|first2=R. P.|title=Electrical technology in mining: the dawn of a new age|location=London|publisher=Peter Peregrinus Ltd|year=1993|isbn=978-0863411991|oclc=28220773}}</ref>

==Conjunction with Edison==
[[File:This poster is from the Swan Collection of Tyne & Wear Museums, held at the Discovery Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne. (9672405368).jpg|thumb|Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company, otherwise known as "Ediswan"]]
In what are considered to be independent lines of inquiry, Swan's incandescent electric lamp was developed at the same time that [[Thomas Edison]] was working on his incandescent lamp,<ref name="auto">Maury Klein, The Power Makers: Steam, Electricity, and the Men Who Invented Modern America, Bloomsbury Publishing USA&nbsp;— 2010, Chapter 9&nbsp;— The Cowbird, The Plugger, and the Dreamer</ref> with Swan's first successful lamp and Edison's lamp both patented in 1880.<ref name="hendrickson" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-08 |title=Thomas Edison's Patent Application for the Light Bulb (1880) |url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/thomas-edisons-patent-application-for-the-light-bulb |access-date=2023-06-04 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref> Edison's goal in developing his lamp was for it to be used as one part of a much larger system: a long-life high-resistance lamp that could be connected in [[Series and parallel circuits#Parallel circuits|parallel]] to work economically with the large-scale electric-lighting utility he was creating.<ref>David O. Whitten, Bessie Emrick Whitten, Handbook of American Business History: Manufacturing, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990, pages 315-316</ref><ref name="auto" /> Swan's original lamp design, with its low resistance (the lamp could be used only in [[Series and parallel circuits#Series circuits|series]]) and short life span, was not suited for such an application.<ref name="auto" />
Swan's strong patents in Great Britain led, in 1883, to the two competing companies merging to exploit both Swan's and Edison's inventions,<ref name="kenneth_swan" /> with the establishment of the [[Edison and Swan Electric Light Company|Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company]]. Known commonly as "Ediswan", the company sold lamps made with a cellulose filament that Swan had invented in 1881, while the Edison Company continued using [[bamboo]] filaments outside of Britain. In 1892, [[General Electric]] (GE) began exploiting Swan's patents to produce cellulose filaments, until they were replaced in 1904 by a GE developed "General Electric Metallized" (GEM) baked cellulose filaments.<ref>[http://www.edisontechcenter.org/incandescent.html Incandescent Lamps, History of the Incandescent Light (1802&nbsp;— today)], EdisonTechCenter.org {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314112308/http://www.edisontechcenter.org/incandescent.html|date=14 March 2013}}</ref>

In 1886, Ediswan moved production to a former [[jute]] mill at [[Ponders End]], North London.<ref>Pam, D. (1977),''The New Enfield: Stories of Enfield Edmonton and Southgate, a Jubilee History'', London Borough of Enfield Libraries, Arts & Entertainment Dept</ref> In 1916, Ediswan set up the UK's first radio [[Vacuum tube|thermionic valve]] factory at Ponders End. This area, with nearby [[Brimsdown Industrial Estate|Brimsdown]] subsequently developed as a centre for the manufacture of thermionic valves, [[cathode-ray tube]]s, etc., and nearby parts of [[London Borough of Enfield|Enfield]] became an important centre of the [[electronics]] industry for much of the 20th century. Ediswan became part of [[British Thomson-Houston]] and [[Associated Electrical Industries]] (AEI) in the late 1920s.<ref>Lewis J.(2001), ''London's Lea Valley: more secrets revealed'', Phillimore, {{ISBN|1-86077-190-4}}</ref>

==Photography==
When working with wet photographic plates, Swan noticed that heat increased the sensitivity of the silver bromide emulsion. By 1871, he had devised a method of using dry plates, and substituting [[nitrocellulose]] plastic for glass plates, thus initiating the age of convenience in photography.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite news |title=Joseph Swan |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Wilson-Swan |access-date=12 May 2025 |work=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> Eight years later, he patented [[Photographic paper#Bromide papers|bromide paper]], developments of which are still used for black-and-white photographic prints.<ref name="Britannica"/>

In 1864, Swan patented the transfer process for making [[carbon print]]s, a permanent photographic process. By adding the transfer step, Swan was able to easily make photographs with a full tonal range.

==Honours==
[[File:Sir Josepth Swan Plaque Newcastle upon Tyne.jpg|thumb|Stone tablet of Swan in Pilgrim Street, [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], on the former Electricity Board building]]

In 1904, Swan was [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]], awarded the Royal Society's [[Hughes Medal]], and made an honorary member of the [[Pharmaceutical Society]].<ref name="Shaw2">{{Cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Wm. A. |title=The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of the Knights Bachelors |date=1971 |publisher=Genealogical Publishing Company |location=Baltimore |volume=2|page=419|oclc=247620448}}</ref> He had received the highest decoration in France, the [[Legion of Honour]], in recognition for his invention of the electric light bulb after showing it in an exhibition in Paris in 1881.<ref>{{cite news |title=Swan (Sir Joseph) Archive |url=https://specialcollections.ncl.ac.uk/swan-08-01 |access-date=12 May 2025 |work=Special Collections & Archives: Newcastle University}}</ref> In 1906, he received the [[Albert Medal (Royal Society of Arts)|Albert medal]] of the Royal Society of Arts.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Covington |first=Edward J. |title=Sir Joseph Wilson Swan |url=http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Documents/People%20-%20Swan%20JW.htm |access-date=3 June 2023 |website=LampTech: Museum of Electric Lamp Technology}}</ref>

In 1894, Swan was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (FRS),<ref>{{Cite web|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=1894 |title=Swan, Sir Joseph Wilson: certificate of election to the Royal Society |website=Royal Society Archives |publisher=[[Royal Society]] |id=EC/1894/20 |url=https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=EC%2f1894%2f20&pos=14 |access-date=11 April 2021}}</ref> and in 1898 he was elected president of the [[Institution of Electrical Engineers]]; at the time, Swan was one of its three honorary members, the other two being [[Lord Kelvin]] and [[Henry Wilde (engineer)|Henry Wilde]].<ref name="timesobit" /> In 1901, he was awarded the honorary degree of [[Doctor of Science]] (D.Sc.) from [[Durham University]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times|title=University intelligence|date=30 September 1901|page=4|issue=36573}}</ref> He also served as president of the [[Society of Chemical Industry]] from 1900-1901,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.soci.org/about-us/history/sci-presidents | title=SCI Presidents }}</ref> and in 1903 he was chosen first president of the [[Faraday Society]].<ref name="timesobit" />  

In 1945, the London Power Company commemorated Swan by naming a new 1,554 [[Gross register tonnage|GRT]] [[Coastal trading vessel|coastal]] [[Collier (ship)|collier]] SS ''Sir Joseph Swan''.<ref name="kenneth_swan">Sir Josepth Swan and the Invention of the Incandescent Electric Lamp by Kenneth R. Swan 1948</ref><ref name=Burntisland>{{Cite web|url=http://www.burntisland.net/ships-list-anderson.htm|title=Ships built by the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company Ltd: arranged by date of launch|last=Anderson|first=James B|editor-last=Sommerville|editor-first=Iain|year=2008|work=Welcome to Burntisland|publisher=Iain Sommerville|access-date=16 June 2011}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Swan married firstly Frances "Fanny" White, third daughter of William White, of [[Liverpool]], at [[Camberwell]] Chapel, [[London]], on 31 July 1862.<ref>{{Cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Marriages|date=12 August 1862|work=[[The Journal (Newcastle upon Tyne newspaper)|Newcastle Journal]]|page=3|via=British Newspaper Archive|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000242/18620812/046/0003|access-date=11 April 2020|url-access=subscription}}</ref> They had three surviving children: Cameron, Mary Edmonds, and Joseph Henry. Frances died on 9 January 1868<ref>{{Cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=11 January 1868|title=Deaths|work=Newcastle Guardian and Tyne Mercury|page=8|via=British Newspaper Archive|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000366/18680111/058/0008|access-date=11 April 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and he married secondly Hannah White, the younger sister of Frances, at [[Neuchâtel]], Switzerland, on 3 October 1871.<ref>{{Cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Marriages|date=13 October 1871|work=Newcastle Courant|page=8|via=British Newspaper Archive|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000085/18711013/030/0008|access-date=11 April 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref> They had five children: Hilda, Frances Isobel, Kenneth Rayden, Percival, and Dorothy. Sir Kenneth Rayden Swan was a [[Queen's Counsel|QC]] and an acknowledged authority on patent law.<ref>{{Cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=20 October 1973|title=Obituary. Sir Kenneth Swan. Authority on Patents Law|work=[[The Times]]|issue=58913|page=18|id={{Gale|CS322140495}}|url=https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1973-10-15/19/25.html|access-date=4 June 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Frances Isobel was the mother of Christopher Morcom, [[Alan Turing]]'s close friend at [[Sherborne School]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 March 2025 |title=Christopher Morcom (1911-1930) |url=https://oldshirburnian.org.uk/christopher-morcom-1911-1930/ |website=The Old Shirburnian Society}}</ref> After her son's death from complications of [[bovine tuberculosis]] in 1930, she and Turing began exchanging letters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hodges |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Hodges |title=Alan Turing: The Enigma |title-link=Alan Turing: The Enigma |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-691-15564-7 |pages=87}}</ref>

Swan died in 1914 at his home in Overhill, [[Warlingham]], Surrey.<ref name="timesobit" /> The funeral took place at All Saints' Church, Warlingham, on 30 May 1914, with interment taking place in the churchyard.<ref>{{Cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=1 June 1914 |title=The Late Sir Joseph W. Swan|work=[[The Journal (Newcastle upon Tyne newspaper)|Newcastle Journal]]|page=2|via=British Newspaper Archive|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000242/19140601/007/0002|access-date=11 April 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Mourners included representatives of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, the [[Institution of Mechanical Engineers]], and the Royal Society.<ref>{{Cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=1 June 1914|title=Funerals. Sir J. W. Swan|work=[[The Times]]|issue=40538|page=11|id={{Gale|CS185402049}}|url=https://www.thetimes.com/archive/article/1914-06-01/11/6.html|access-date=4 June 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book|last1=Swan|first1=M. E.|last2=Swan|first2=K. R.|year=1929|title=Sir Joseph Wilson Swan FRS: inventor and scientist|location=[[London]]|publisher=[[Ernest Benn]], reprinted with an appendix, [[Newcastle upon Tyne]]: Oriel Press, 1968|isbn=978-0853620488|ref=none}}
*{{Cite book|last1=Clouth|first1=D. E.|year=1979|title=Joseph Swan 1828–1914: A pictorial account of a North Eastern scientist's life and work|location=[[Gateshead]]|publisher=[[Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead|Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council]], Dept of Education|isbn=978-0905977072|ref=none}}

==External links==
*[http://www.tyneandweararchives.org.uk Tyne & Wear Archives Service] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405111556/http://www.tyneandweararchives.org.uk/ |date=5 April 2007 }} Joseph Swan collection
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Swan, Sir Joseph Wilson|short=x}}
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Swan, Joseph Wilson|year=1905|ref=none}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, Joseph}}
[[Category:1828 births]]
[[Category:1914 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Sunderland]]
[[Category:19th-century English people]]
[[Category:English inventors]]
[[Category:English chemists]]
[[Category:English physicists]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:British recipients of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:People associated with electricity]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]