Charles Wicksteed (engineer)

Charles Wicksteed (1847–1931) was a British engineer, businessman, and entrepreneur. He is best known as an inventor of playground equipment and as the founder of Wicksteed Park.

Bryn Hafod - Wicksteed's house in Kettering

Biography
Monument to Wicksteed's dog, Jerry

Wicksteed was born in Leeds in 1847. His father was Charles Wicksteed, a Unitarian minister and his mother was Jane Lupton. His parents met when Charles Senior arrived in Leeds in 1835 to lead Mill Hill Chapel, at the heart of that industrial city, and two years later they married. The Lupton family was long-established there, and the Wicksteeds' children were born into a prosperous, socially active, politically involved dynasty, including educationalists, philanthropists, factory owners, and businessmen. In 1841 Charles Senior's sister Elizabeth married Jane's brother Arthur (c. 1817-1881), also a Unitarian minister; Uncle Arthur was, according to a family history, "The Achilles of the Leeds Complete Suffrage Association"[1] - in other words, a tragic champion of the fight for universal suffrage.

Wicksteed was one of nine children. Sisters included Janet, who wrote a memoir under the name of Mrs Arthur Lewis. Brothers included Philip (Henry), the economist and Unitarian theologian, and (Joseph) Hartley, president of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers,[2] whose daughter Mary Cicely married married the Australian surgeon Sir Alan Newton.[3] They had the maverick MP and mining engineer Arnold Lupton as their first cousin.

At the age of 16, Wicksteed accepted an apprenticeship at locomotive manufacturer Kitson & Hewitson.[4] When he was 21, Wicksteed founded Charles Wicksteed and Co., Ltd., a steam plow contracting business. Initially based in Norfolk, he moved operations to Kettering in 1872.[5] In 1876, he established an engineering workshop called The Stamford Road Works. The firm was successful, and he sold his plowing business in 1894.[4]

In 1907, Wicksteed's firm developed an automobile transmission. Although considered a noteworthy invention, it was a commercial failure. Wicksteed then pivoted to power tools, including hydraulic hacksaw and circular saw machines.[6] These inventions were highly successful and subsequently mass produced.[4]

During World War I, Wicksteed principally manufactured munitions, gauges, and gears for the war effort. After the war, he decided to give back to the community. He began development of what would eventually become Wicksteed Park.[4] He designed the layout of the park himself, which includes a 25-acre man-made lake, racing track, and railway.[7] Wicksteed Park opened in 1921, and Wicksteed began manufacturing playground equipment. He is considered the inventor of the witch's hat or ocean wave (removed from playgrounds by the mid-1980s as a hazard),[8] and also of the modern playground slide and swing. In 2013, a prototype swing of his was unearthed near Wicksteed Park dating back to the early 1920s. It is believed to be the UK's oldest working swing.[9] Wicksteed's company Wicksteed Leisure Limited is still manufacturing play equipment.[8][10]

References
  1. Lupton, C.A. , The Lupton Family in Leeds, Wm. Harrison and Son 1965, page 55
  2. "Past presidents". Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  3. Newton, Sir Hibbert Alan Stephen (1887–1949) by Benjamin K. Rank. Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, (MUP), 1988
  4. "About Charles Wicksteed". Wicksteed Park. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  5. "Charles Wicksteed". The Engineer: 351. March 27, 1931.
  6. "Obituary". Engineering. March 27, 1931.
  7. "Charles Wicksteed". 1931 Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Obituaries. 120. 1931.
  8. "Witch's Hat playground ride returns to Wicksteed Park". BBC News. 27 June 2019.
  9. "Wicksteed Park appeal uncovers 'oldest swing' nearby". BBC News. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  10. "The Wicksteed heritage". Wicksteed. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
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