Edward Riley

Biography

Edward Riley patented the shifting transposition-action idea in London in 1801. Spillane records this patent as supposedly the earliest published instance of the transposition-action principle in England, noting that the Erard firm later claimed credit for introducing the same feature to the grand piano, a claim this earlier record calls into question. Edward Riley was well known in the New York music trade before 1840, according to Spillane. His two daughters married the piano makers William Hall and John Firth respectively, making the two men -- otherwise business partners and War of 1812 comrades -- relatives by marriage. Spillane provides no further biographical detail about Riley himself.

Highlights

• Patented the transposition-action idea in London in 1801, believed to be the earliest published record of the principle in England.
• Well known in the New York music trade before 1840
• Father of two daughters who married William Hall and John Firth respectively

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 26, 156.

Public domain.