Tilley lamp explained

The Tilley lamp is a kerosene pressure lamp.

History

In 1813, John Tilley invented the hydro-pneumatic blowpipe.^[1] In 1818, William Henry Tilley, gas fitters, was manufacturing gas lamps in Stoke Newington, and, in the 1830s, in Shoreditch.

In 1846, Abraham Pineo Gesner invented coal oil, a substitute for whale oil for lighting, distilled from coal. Kerosene, made from petroleum, later became a popular lighting fuel. In 1853, most versions of the kerosene lamp were invented by Polish inventor and pharmacist Ignacy Łukasiewicz, in Lviv.^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} It was a significant improvement over lamps designed to burn vegetable or sperm oil.

On 23 September 1885, Carl Auer von Welsbach received a patent on the gas flame heated incandescent mantle light.^[6]

In 1914, the Coleman Lantern, a similar pressure lamp was introduced by the US Coleman Company.^{[7] [8] [9]}

In 1915, during World War I, the Tilley company moved to Brent Street in Hendon, and began developing a kerosene pressure lamp.^[10]

In 1919, Tilley High-Pressure Gas Company started using kerosene as a fuel for lamps.^[11]

In the 1920s, Tilley company got a contract to supply lamps to railways, and made domestic lamps.^[10]

During World War II, Armed Forces purchased quantities of lamps, thus many sailors, soldiers and airmen used a Tilley Lamp.^[10]

After World War II, demand for Tilley Lamps drove expansion to a second factory, in Cricklewood, then a third, merged, single factory in Colindale.^[10]

The company moved to Northern Ireland in the early 1960s, finally settling in Belfast. It moved back to England in 2000.

Competing lamps

• Aladdin Industries^[12]
• Bat lamps^[13]
• Bialaddin lamps^[14]
• Coleman Company
• Fama lamps^[15]
• Optimus lamps^[16]
• Petromax
• Primus stove
• Solar lamps^[17]
• Vapalux
• Veritas lamps^[18]

See also

• Davy lamp
• Naphtha flare

Further reading

• Jim Dick, A History of Tilley Lamps

External links

• Principles of Tilley lamp operation
• Tilley lamp resource fansite

Notes and References

1. Tilley . John . LIX. Description of a hydro-pneumatic blow-pipe for the use of chemists, enamellers, assayers, and glass-blowers . The Philosophical Magazine . April 1814 . 43 . 192 . 280–284 . 10.1080/14786441408638024.
2. Web site: The Petroleum Trail. https://web.archive.org/web/20090828103133/http://www.beskidniski.org.pl/szlaki/naftowy/szlak_naftowy.htm . 2009-08-28 .
3. Encyclopedia: Lukasiewicz, Ignacy . Encyclopedia of World Biography . Encyclopedia.com.
4. Web site: Pharmacist Introduces Kerosene Lamp, Saves Whales . History Channel.
5. Web site: Ignacy Łukasiewicz (1822–1882) – Polish pharmacist and Prometheus . polska.pl . Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
6. Web site: Breidenstein . Jürgen . Principle of Petromax: Kerosene Pressure Lantern Principles of Operation . STUGA-CABAÑA . 10 November 2022 . Witten.
7. Web site: Coleman US lanterns 1914 – 1920 . The Terrence Marsh Lantern Gallery . 10 November 2022 . en . 25 January 2018.
8. Web site: Bebb . Frank . How to date your Coleman® Lamp, Lantern and Stove . The Old Town Coleman Center . 10 November 2022 . English.
9. Web site: Our Story . Coleman . 10 November 2022.
10. Web site: Tilley History . Tilley Lamps . 10 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120209065841/http://www.tilleylamps.co.uk/index.php?&pages=2-tilleyhist . 9 February 2012.
11. Web site: Tilley Lamp Co . . 10 November 2022.
12. Web site: Aladdin . Classic Pressure Lamps & Heaters.
13. Web site: BAT . Classic Pressure Lamps & Heaters . 10 November 2022.
14. Web site: Bialaddin . Classic Pressure Lamps & Heaters . 10 November 2022.
15. Web site: Fama . Classic Pressure Lamps & Heaters.
16. Web site: Optimus . Classic Pressure Lamps & Heaters . 10 November 2022.
17. Web site: Solar . Classic Pressure Lamps & Heaters . 10 November 2022.
18. Web site: Veritas . Classic Pressure Lamps & Heaters . 10 November 2022.