Isaac Hawkins

Biography

Isaac Hawkins was the father of inventor John Isaac Hawkins and resided in Manchester, England. In 1800 he took out the English patent covering his son's upright piano invention, filing it ex parte and declaring that the invention had been 'communicated to me in confidence by my son, John Isaac Hawkins, residing in Philadelphia, North America.' The patent document, quoted by Spillane, describes the upright piano's construction in detail, including metallic elastic wire bass strings formed like a chain. No further biographical information about Isaac Hawkins is given. Isaac Hawkins was the father of inventor John Isaac Hawkins. In 1800, the same year his son took out U.S. patents for the 'portable grand pianoforte,' Isaac Hawkins secured the rights and privileges of a corresponding British patent.

Highlights

• Father of inventor John Isaac Hawkins; secured the rights and privileges of a British patent covering his son's piano invention in 1800
• Took out the English patent in 1800 for his son John Isaac Hawkins' upright piano invention, filed ex parte from Manchester, England

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 30, 81, 82.

Public domain.