The Lowcock’s Fuel Economizer was a type of Fuel Economizer designed to capture waste heat from Steam Boilers.
It was invented by Mr. Arthur Lowcock (1853-1941) and dates from around 1880. According to my Ancestry.com research, I am not related. The Fuel Economizer is registered under US Patent US287038 and dated October 23, 1883. The text of the patent can be found here.
An advertisement for Lowcock’s Fuel Economiser from around 1891 can be found below (click the image to expand/view). Arthur Lowcock’s address is listed as St Mary’s Gate, Manchester. Click the image to zoom.
In another image I found, dated around 1913, A Lowcock is listed as selling grey iron cast pipes and operating out of Shrewsbury, UK.
During a family holiday in the UK, we happened to be walking around Holland Park and came across a self-locking cover bearing Arthur Lowcock’s name. Photo below.
Arthur Lowcock, Third Paris World Fair
Thanks to the Internet Archive, I found a reference to Arthur Lowcock’s exhibiting at the Third Paris World Fair (Exposition Universelle) in 1878. Specifically, Lowcock & Barr, Agricultural Engineers, and Manufacturers; Salopian Iron Works, Coleham, Shrewsbury. Full text of the article can be found here.
I do find it interesting that Arthur Lowcock is listed as an Agricultural Engineer and that Henry Lowcock, the Plough Inventor, is also (effectively) an Agricultural Engineer. They lived quite some distance from each other, almost 3 hours by car today, so it’s hard to imagine they are related. If you know differently, please contact me.
The Blackpool Tower
An Arthur Lowcock is listed as a Director of the Blackpool Tower Company in 1891. A photograph with his signature was auctioned in 2015. I didn’t bid (didn’t even know about it at the time) but thanks to a kind reader of this website (who inherited the book) I do have photos from the book “Views of Blackpool Tower” which has some amazing photos of Blackpool Tower during construction and Arthur Lowcock’s signature!
I am fairly confident it is the same Arthur Lowcock, as an abridged prospectus in the “Railway News” of 1891, lists him as Arthur Lowcock of Arthur Lowcock Ltd of Shrewsbury and Manchester. A copy of the prospectus can be found here, thanks to Google’s scanning on out of copyright books. Arthur Lowcock’s address is given as Cloverfield, Whitchurch, Salop (Shropshire).
Lowcock Fuel Economizer USA
A random Google search turned up an ad referencing the Fuel Economizer in “Power and the Engineer: Volume 11” (November 1891) and an address of 8 Oliver St, Boston. A copy of the ad is published below.
It’s interesting that this USA ad is from 1891, as was the UK ad. This makes me think that 1891 was a peak year for this invention.
The Bulls Head, Manchester
I have only done superficial research on Arthur Lowcock. In the course of that research, I came across this blog post about Manchester Pubs. The blog post claims that the Bulls Head Pub in Manchester and the licensee was Maria Lowcock. Another blog claims Maria Lowcock was the originating licensee in 1786. The only relationship I have right now with Arthur is that they are both from Manchester.
Do you know more about Arthur Lowcock?
If you know more about Arthur Lowcock let me know. I don’t believe I am related, but always happy to learn more, so please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Lowcock Family History
If you would like to learn more about the Lowcock surname and family history, please visit the Lowcock History page.
You can learn more about Lowcock Genealogy, or specific Lowcock family member:
- Lowcock Plough: a type of turnwrest plough, invented by Henry Lowcock
- Lowcock’s Lemonade: a soft drink brand
- Lowcock Mill: a hydro-electric mill located in Linton, Yorkshire
- Lowcock Fuel Economiser: for fuel efficiency in steam engines
- Lowcock Razor: a straight razor, made by George Lowcock
- Lowcock Dairy: a Dairy located in Pendleton, UK.
- Lowcock Freemason: Bro. H. Lowcock, a Freemason
- Lowcock Hong Kong: Henry Lowcock, Sydney James Lowcock and the Lowcock name in Hong Kong
- Arthur Lowcock and Blackpool Tower: a director of the company that built Blackpool Tower
- Bill Lowcock: an Australian World War II veteran, I self-published his story to preserve it for future generations.
- CF Lowcock (Charles Frederick): A British painter from the Victorian/Edwardian era
- Joyce Lowcock: A playwright
- Lowcock War Memorial: pages dedicated to all those with the Lowcock surname who served.
If you are researching Lowcock Family History and can help – visit the help needed page. If you want to understand the distribution of the Lowcock surname in the UK, visit the Lowcock map page. Just interested in the images and photos? Visit the Lowcock Genealogy Pinterest page.
This page is maintained by Joshua Lowcock.