Admin

George William Manby

By
Managing Real Estate Broker with Fathom Realty PB00068179

George William Manby was born in Denver, Norfolk, England back in 1765 to Matthew and Mary.  He was educated at the Free Grammar School in King’s Lynn.  He volunteered to fight in the American War of Independence at 17.  He was rejected due to his youth, instead he was sent to the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. 

In 1788, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Cambridgeshire Militia reaching the rank of captain before resigning in 1793.  He married the daughter of Reverend Preston but left her in 1801 after being shot by her lover moving to Clifton, Bristol.  In 1807, he witnessed a Royal Navy ship carrying French prisoners run aground killing 214 people including women and children.  With that embedded in his mind he invented a mortar call the Manby Mortar.  It fired a thin rope from shore into the rigging of a ship in distress.  It was a success, he died in 1854, he was just shy of his 89th birthday.

What you may not know about George is that he was also the inventor of the first modern fire extinguisher.  He was the first to advocate a national fire brigade.

NW Arkansas, come for a visit, stay for a lifetime.  

Posted by

 

NW Arkansas the home of WalMart, JB Hunt Trucking and Tyson Foods.

 

Come for a visit stay for a lifetime.  

 

URL http://www.sellnwa.com 

Comments(16)

Show All Comments Sort:
Raymond E. Camp
Ontario, NY

Good morning James,

He fought fire with fire!

Make yourself an awesome day.

Sep 22, 2021 04:21 AM
Nina Hollander, Broker
Coldwell Banker Realty - Charlotte, NC
Your Greater Charlotte Real Estate Broker

Good morning, James... it would never have occurred to me that the fire extinguisher goes that far back in time.

Sep 22, 2021 04:23 AM
Wayne Martin
Wayne M Martin - Oswego, IL
Real Estate Broker - Retired

Good morning James. Some are big tough guys and some are brainiacs. George was luckily in the later category way ahead of his time. Enjoy your day.

Sep 22, 2021 04:52 AM
Brian England
Ambrose Realty Management LLC - Gilbert, AZ
MBA, GRI, REALTOR® Real Estate in East Valley AZ

Fire extinguishers have proven to be quite useful over the years so that was a pretty good invention.

Sep 22, 2021 05:11 AM
Bob "RealMan" Timm
Ward County Notary Services - Minot, ND
Owner of Ward Co Notary Services retired RE Broker

He certainly has saved a lot of lives and property James Dray but I want to know more about him being shot by his wifes lover.... did he shot back? Did he divorce her or shoot her? Was the preachers daughter well known as the town Pump?

Sep 22, 2021 05:54 AM
Michael Jacobs
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena And Southern California 818.516.4393

Hello James - with all of the other information shared in this post, I still learned there was another Denver on the map.  Who knew?  Not me.   

Sep 22, 2021 06:25 AM
Grant Schneider
Performance Development Strategies - Armonk, NY
Your Coach Helping You Create Successful Outcomes

Good morning James - that certainly was a very important invention.  Invention out of necessity.

Sep 22, 2021 06:25 AM
Ron and Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants - Carpinteria, CA
Luxury Real Estate Branding, Marketing & Strategy

James,

What a story, and nothing like having your wife's lover shoot you.  That would give anyone motivation to leave!  LOL A

Sep 22, 2021 07:10 AM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

I had no idea the fire extinguisher went back that far. 

Sep 22, 2021 08:42 AM
Rocky Dickerson
Realty One Group - Las Vegas, NV
Superior Service!

Good afternoon James Dray Obviously, he is someone who's works has saved thousands of lives

Sep 22, 2021 01:22 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Retired Home Stager/Redesign

Hi James- well I guess he showed his wife's lover, didn't he!!!  No grass grew under his feet. 

Sep 22, 2021 01:51 PM
Roy Kelley
Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

Thank you very much, James, for sharing this story.

Take care, be safe and have an outstanding week.

Sep 22, 2021 02:18 PM
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

James, like Nina said -- amazing the fire extinguisher has been around for that long! 

Sep 22, 2021 02:35 PM
Dorte Engel
RE/MAX Leading Edge - Bowie, MD
ABC - Annapolis, Bowie, Crofton & rest of Maryland

Dear James,

Disasters at sea were a real scourge at that time. Pretty cool that he used his distress at the situation for making things that save lives. 

Sep 26, 2021 07:57 AM
Paul S. Henderson, REALTOR®, CRS
Fathom Realty Washington LLC - Tacoma, WA
South Puget Sound Washington Agent/Broker!

What a great life saving tool that George Manby invented. Thank you for sharing James 🙂

Oct 15, 2021 12:52 PM
John Juarez
The Medford Real Estate Team - Fremont, CA
ePRO, SRES, GRI, PMN

George William Manby was certainly a safety-minded person. His inventions, especially the fire extinguisher, have saved many lives.

Dec 13, 2021 09:24 AM