Wheatstone

Charles Wheatstone was born in 1802 into a musical instrument and publishing dynasty. His talents lay in inventing both musical and non-musical items. Early inventions:

• Flute Harmonique 1818
• Acoucrytophone 1822

He was a friend of Michael Faraday and they shared a love of science. Wheatstone was responsible for some of the advances in electricity which fascinated Faraday.

Charles and his brother William began marketing concertinas in 1836 although it was invented in 1829 and patented in 1830. In 1847 he met a Swiss engineer and accordion player, Louis Lachenal who supplied screws to the company. Lachenal joined the firm and became manager.

The patent for the English Concertina was for 14 years, and in 1844 Wheatstone lost the exclusive rights to manufacture. Many of those who worked for him such as Lachenal,  Chidley, Case, Scates et al, ceased the opportunity and started making their own concertinas with varying degrees of success.