Sarah Guppy information

Sarah Guppy
Sarah Guppy
	Stencil by Stewy from a portrait by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Born	Sarah Maria Beach; 5 November 1770; Birmingham, England
Died	24 August 1852 (aged 81); Clifton, Bristol, England
Nationality	English
Spouses	Samuel Guppy, m.1795, d.1830; Richard Eyre Coote, m. 1837;
Children	Samuel Guppy, Jr. (1795–1875), Thomas Richard (1797–1882), Sarah Maria Ann (1801– ), Mary Elizabeth (1806–1841), Robert (1808– ), Grace (1809–1838).
	Engineering career
Discipline	Inventor
Significant design	A tea or coffee urn that also cooked eggs, the fire hood, a candlestick that made candles burn longer
Significant advance	Improvements in ship caulking and barnacle prevention

Sarah Guppy, née Beach (5 November 1770 – 24 August 1852) was an English inventor and the first woman to patent a bridge, in 1811. She developed a range of other domestic and marine products.^[1]

Following the publication of an erroneous entry in the ONDB in 2016, now corrected^[2] Guppy has in recent times been incorrectly credited with the design of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge. She patented her ideas for a chain bridge in 1811 (before the announcement of the first competition for a bridge across the Avon Gorge) but this design was never realised.^[3] Brunel’s winning design for a bridge across the Avon Gorge differed from Guppy's patent in several significant ways: it had a deck suspended from flat wrought iron bar links rather than resting on top of chains like Guppy's; and it did not feature riverbed foundations (a key component of Guppy's design) as it was constructed on rock, 75 metres above high tide where the piers were not at risk of damage from water erosion.^[4]

Sarah Guppy was very selfless in her invention process, and cared more for the greater good of the public than for her own personal gain or credit. For example, while she contributed significantly to the design of Thomas Telford’s Menai Bridge, Sarah waived the fees for Telford’s use of her ideas (Higgitt, 2016). She contributed the majority to this bridge design, however personal profit was not the priority (Higgitt, 2016). ^[5]

^ Dresser, Madge (April 2016). "Guppy, Sarah (bap. 1770, d. 1852". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/109112. Retrieved 31 May 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". www.oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
^ Cork, Tristan (27 May 2016). "Recognition at last for the mum-of-six who designed Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge - not Brunel". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
^ "Did Sarah Guppy Design the Clifton Suspension Bridge?". Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
^ "Revealing lives of women in science & technology: the case of Sarah Guppy | Rebekah Higgitt". the Guardian. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2022.

[1] Dresser, Madge (April 2016). "Guppy, Sarah (bap. 1770, d. 1852". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/109112. Retrieved 31 May 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[2] "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". www.oxforddnb.com. Retrieved 3 April 2019.

[Cork-3] Cork, Tristan (27 May 2016). "Recognition at last for the mum-of-six who designed Bristol's Clifton Suspension Bridge - not Brunel". Bristol Post. Archived from the original on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.

[4] "Did Sarah Guppy Design the Clifton Suspension Bridge?". Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust. Retrieved 25 June 2018.

[5] "Revealing lives of women in science & technology: the case of Sarah Guppy | Rebekah Higgitt". the Guardian. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2022.

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Sarah Guppy
Stencil by Stewy from a portrait by Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Born	Sarah Maria Beach 5 November 1770 Birmingham, England
Died	24 August 1852 (aged 81) Clifton, Bristol, England
Nationality	English
Spouses	Samuel Guppy, m.1795, d.1830 Richard Eyre Coote, m. 1837
Children	Samuel Guppy, Jr. (1795–1875), Thomas Richard (1797–1882), Sarah Maria Ann (1801– ), Mary Elizabeth (1806–1841), Robert (1808– ), Grace (1809–1838).
Engineering career
Discipline	Inventor
Significant design	A tea or coffee urn that also cooked eggs, the fire hood, a candlestick that made candles burn longer
Significant advance	Improvements in ship caulking and barnacle prevention