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Lawrence Hargrave portrait on the Monash University Engineering Faculty archive website – By Unknown Author –

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Lawrence Hargrave

Lawrence Hargrave was an Australian astronomer, explorer, inventor, aviation pioneer, and engineer. He was born on 29th January 1850 in Greenwich, England. Hargrave died at 65 years of age on 6th July 1915.

Hargrave was originally born in England but moved to Australia as a teenager together with his family. He remained in Australia for the rest of his life.

Hargrave is known mostly as a great inventor but he was also an accomplished voyager and traveler. His work on the Kite Box is said to be the foundation of early aviation.

Let us now look into some interesting facts about the life and career of Lawrence Hargrave.

1. He Was an Apprentice at The Australian Steam Navigation Company

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Northgate Built-in 1833-34 by Richard Lane – By Stanley Walker –

Hargrave was the second son of John Fletcher Hargrave. Fletcher later became the Attorney General of New South Wales. Hargrave was schooled at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmorland before they moved to Australia.

Lawrence relocated with his family to Australia in 1865 at 15 years of age. Hargrave was smart but failed his matriculation exam in 1867. Consequently, he accepted an engineering apprenticeship with the Australian Steam Navigation Company which was located in Sydney.

It was at the academy where Hargrave got the necessary experience in constructing theories and models.

2. Was a Sailor and Expeditioner In his 20s

In 1872, Hargrave went on his first voyage as an engineer. He sailed on the Maria to New Guinea but his ship got wrecked. He sailed again in 1875 to the Gulf of Papua as part of William John Macleay’s expedition.

Hargrave explored the hinterland of Port Moresby between October 1875 and January 1876. This was under Octavius Stone. In 1876, he was part of Luigi D’Albertis’ expedition of Fly River on SS Ellengowan.

3. He Retired At 33 Years of Age

Hargrave returned to Sydney from his expeditions in 1877. He immediately joined the Royal Society of New South Wales.

A year later, in 1878, he became an assistant astronomical observer in the Sydney Observatory. However, after five years in this position, Hargrave retired to conduct research work for the rest of his life.

4. Hargrave Did Not Patent Any of His Inventions

Throughout His career, Hargrave invented many devices and gadgets. However, Hargrave was special and different in that he did not patent any of his devices.

He needed the money but due to his ideals of scientific communication, he opted not to. According to Hargrave, Scientific communication was the key to promoting and progressing science and invention.

In 1991 He wrote; Workers must root out the idea [that] by keeping the results of their labors to themselves [,] a fortune will be assured to them. Patent fees are much-wasted money. The flying machine of the future will not be born fully fledged and capable of flight. Like everything else, it must be evolved gradually. The first difficulty is to get a thing that will fly at all. When this is made, a full description should be published as an aid to others. The excellence of design and workmanship will always defy competition.

5. His Greatest Creation Was the Box Kite

Hargrave and Swain demonstrate how the man-lift was achieved By Charles Bayliss –

On 12th November 1894, Hargrave successfully lifted himself off the ground using a train of four box kites. His property caretaker aided him.

Hargrave secured his kite line using a spring balance to two sandbags. He rose to 16 feet and he measured wind speeds of up to 21mph.

This experiment established his box kite as a stable aerial platform. The particulars of his engineering were applied in several devices in the coming years such as in meteorological observations and gliders.

Albert Santos-Dumont used his principles in 1906 for his first flight in his airplane. The box-kite airplane was the usual airplane type in Europe until 1909.

6. He Invented Other Devices Besides the Box-Kite

He is famous for the Box-Kite but Hargrave’s influence on science is far-reaching. Throughout his career, he conducted numerous experiments and built several models.

He communicated his results to the Royal Society of New South Wales through a series of papers. Some of his popular papers are the 1885, 1893, and 1895 papers.

Some of Hargrave’s other significant inventions were the curved airfoils and the rotary engine. The rotary engine was used to power some early flying machines up until 1920.

7. He Inspired Alexander Graham Bell

Portrait of Alexander Graham Bell – By Unknown Author –

Alexander Graham Bell claimed that the work and success of Hargrave inspired him. Alexander used tetrahedral kite designs in his experiments.

For those who are not familiar, Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish inventor who is credited as the creator of the first telephone.

8. Only Son Was Killed in Battle

Geoffrey was Hargrave’s only son. Geoffrey enlisted in the army during World War I and was killed in the line of duty during World War I.

He was killed during the Battle of Gallipoli on the Gallipoli peninsula. The battle lasted from 17th February 1915 to 9th January 1916.

9. Lawrence Has Been Honored and Memorialized for His Efforts

Lawrence Hargrave Memorial, Stanwell Tops NSW – By Maksym Kozlenko –

Like many pioneers, Lawrence Hargrave was not appreciated enough in his time alive. However, he received plenty of roses afterward. With a plethora of honors and memorials to his name, his influence has been appreciated.

For one, the Australian 20 dollar was engraved with Hargrave’s face alongside some of his gliders between 1966 and 1994. Two operas’ have used him as the subject; Fly in 1984 and 1988’s Lawrence Hargrave Flying Alone.

Kirkby Lonsdale, his former school in England named a technology building after him in 2017. He also has a memorial sculpture, Winged Figure by Bert Flugelman, located at the base of Mount Keira.

10. He Passed Away In 1915 due to Medical Issues

In 1915, Lawrence Hargrave was operated on for appendicitis. After surgery, he suffered peritonitis afterward and eventually died in July 1915.

Hargrave was buried in the Waverly Cemetery on the cliffs overlooking the ocean.