Francis [‘Frank’] William Greengrass (1852-1911)
Francis William Greengrass
A hand tinted Carte de Visite
Source Not Known
Francis William Greengrass was born in Dover on 11 May 1852 to Charles and Lydia, nee Laws, Greengrass. Francis married Helen Grainger Whitewright in the Elham District during the first quarter of 1876. He was a whitesmith (a whitesmith finishes and polishes metals, particularly tin plate and galvanized iron) and during 1880 they lived in Folkestone but the 1881 Census shows the family in Charlton, Kent. Francis and Helen had six children::
| Child | Mother | Birth | Death |
| Francis William Greengrass | Helen Grainger | April 15, 1876 West Ashford, Kent | 1877 Hastings |
| Maria | Helen Grainger | July 03, 1877 Tonbridge, Kent | 1890 at 13 Adelphi Road Epsom |
| John | Helen Grainger | 1879 Folkestone | |
| Helen Margaret | Helen Grainger | December 24, 1880 19 Rossendale Road Folkestone |
October 25, 1965 Grant County, IN, USA |
| Lydia Elizabeth | Helen Grainger | November 26, 1882 Epsom |
1904 buried June 29, 1904 Woking |
| Mary Whitewright | Helen Grainger | September 17, 1884, Epsom | April 02, 1963, Punta Arenas Chile |
They then moved to Epsom where their second daughter, Lydia Elizabeth Greengrass, was registered in the quarter ended March 1883. Helen died the following year possibly due to complications of childbirth and her body was brought from the High Street to be buried in Epsom Cemetery on 24 September 1884.
Elizabeth Ann Greengrass (nee Coombs)
A hand tinted Carte de Visite
Source Not Known
Francis’ second marriage, to Elizabeth Anne Coombs, was registered in Kensington during the last quarter of 1888 and they had four children:
| Child | Mother | Birth | Death |
| Harriet Elizabeth | Elizabeth Ann | Jan 23, 1890, Epsom | 1968 Redhill, Surrey |
| Francis Edward | Elizabeth Ann | March 28, 1882, Epsom | 1976 |
| Ruth | Elizabeth Ann | March 01, 1894, Epsom | June 1953, Epsom |
| Charles Joseph | Elizabeth Ann | 1897, Epsom | 1959, Epsom |
In 1890 Francis’ 13-year-old daughter Maria died in Adelphi Road, Epsom and was buried on 19 October 1890 in the same plot as her mother.
By 1893 F W Greengrass is recorded in local directories as a plumber and gas-fitter trading from Cromwell Lodge, Church Street, Epsom.
He also had a business relationship with Stanley Reynolds Docking of Croydon. They patented ‘Improvements in Electric Accumulators’ on 20 July 1896. S. R. Docking, and H. R. Docking (trading as S. R. Docking & Co.), 62 Dingwall Road, Croydon, Surrey, were established in business manufacturing farming equipment, including milk churns. They are named patentees of the Easipore milk can and a combination nosebag with water bucket.
Patent No. 26,302 of 1896 was granted to Francis William Greengrass for improvements in, and relating to, self-propelled road vehicles.
Greengrass and Docking, Motor-car Builders of 62 Dingwall Road Croydon entered The Engineer Horseless Carriage Competition of 1897 in CLASS B [For the best mechanically propelled vehicle constructed to carry either one or two or three persons, the total weight, when fully loaded, not exceeding one ton, a prize of 250 guineas was to be given].
Francis William Greengrass, ‘a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Epsom, in the county of Surrey, England, … invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Appliances for Steam-Boilers, Steam Engines, &c.,’ patented 14 September 1897. This invention related to safety appliances for steam-boilers, steam-engines, and other steam apparatus, and particularly to that class thereof wherein a metallic diaphragm or similar device is used to close a pipe which is in communication with the steam-supply and is adapted to withstand a given pressure and to rupture when that pressure is exceeded. Patent assigned to Messrs. S Reynolds and H R[eynolds] Docking, Croydon.
On 9 December 1897, Greengrass was granted a patent in respect of ‘Saucepans for porridge &c. in which the materials are agitated by the steam produced in a steam jacket’.
By 1899 Francis had become an ‘Electric Apparatus Maker’ still on Church Street, Epsom.
Reportedly, during a factory visit,
“A machine drive belt broke, the arm of the machine swung free and hit him on the head with great force. For some time afterwards he seemed to be dying but gradually recovered. This severe brain injury was thought to be responsible for changes in behaviour and personality. He began to experience violent rages and second wife eventually had him committed to a mental hospital.”
She, Elizabeth Anne Greengrass, was living in Sutton during 1901 and Francis ended up in Netherne Asylum, Merstham, to die in 1911 from tuberculosis allegedly contracted there. He joined his first wife in Plot F 256 of Epsom Cemetery on 6 September 1911.
Greengrass & Docking. Motor-car Builders of 62 Dingwall Road, Croydon, have not been found listed after 1900. Major Stanley Reynolds Docking survived until 3 April 1959.
Brian Bouchard 2022
Some other Local Inventors
Francis William Greengrass joins the ranks of other local inventors such as:
- Leopold Joseph Green
- Robert Burn
- Johnson Hands
- James Lowe (1798 – 1866) and his daughter
Mrs Henrietta Vansittart (1833 – 1883)