{"id":1382,"date":"2025-10-24T16:19:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T16:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/?page_id=1382"},"modified":"2026-05-29T07:44:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:44:52","slug":"on-line-exhibition-chapter-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/on-line-exhibition-chapter-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Imagine a world with no matches"},"content":{"rendered":"

Period covered : pre-1826<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today it is difficult to imagine a world where matches did not exist, where they hadn’t been invented yet. Most of us have a box or two of matches in the kitchen drawer but if you wanted to light the fire or a candle or the barbeque it would be quite inconvenient without them. Maybe using a cheap plastic lighter, or maybe a taper from the gas cooker, but think just how awkward life would be if we couldn\u2019t put our hand on a simple box of matches.<\/p>\n

There was a time 200 years ago when the simple common or garden match as we know it today just did not exist.<\/p>\n

Three historic examples of where a simple match would have made life so much easier, if only it had existed<\/h2>\n
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The Discovery of the Gunpowder Plot and the Taking of Guy Fawkes (c. 1823) by Henry Perronet Briggs. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Going back to the 5th<\/sup> of November 1605, a group of English Roman Catholics led by Robert Catesby intended to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, in an attempt to change the laws about religious practices.<\/p>\n

We know that Guy Fawkes was caught with 36 barrels of gunpowder, but how did he intend to light them? We\u2019re not sure, but we do know that he wasn\u2019t carrying a box of matches in his pocket. In that damp cellar it would have been a challenge to light some tinder and perhaps the Gunpowder Plot<\/strong><\/a> might have been very different if Guy Fawkes had had a box of matches.<\/p>\n

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Launch of English fireships against the Spanish Armada, 7 August 1588, National Maritime Museum, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even further back in time, on 29th<\/sup> July 1588 the Spanish naval fleet was sighted off the Lizard in Cornwall. It was essential to convey this news to London quickly, which was achieved by lighting a set of beacons which had been constructed along the south coast. Thankfully the beacons were lit, news reached London and the Spanish Armada<\/strong><\/a> was repelled, but there must have been some anxious moments trying to light the beacons without the benefit of a box of matches.<\/p>\n

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The opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, by John Dobbin. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More recently, on 27th<\/sup> September 1825 the recently formed Stockton and Darlington Railway Company<\/strong><\/a> had sold around 300 tickets for the world\u2019s very first passenger train ride, an exciting and historic occasion. The engine pulling the train was \u201cLocomotion No. 1\u201d, a 6.6 tonne locomotive incorporating a centre-flue high-pressure (50 psi) boiler which generated steam to turn the wheels and propel the train forward. The boiler clearly needed to be heated to create the steam, and records show that it was lit with the aid of a ‘navvy’s burning (magnifying) glass’, which must have been time consuming and a challenge if there was no sun. This was just one year before John Walker invented the Friction Match and changed the course of history.<\/p>\n

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Guy Fawkes brand Bengal matches, trademark registered 7 April 1892, Alan Downer collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Footnote – Guy Fawkes<\/h2>\n

Sixty six years to the day after John Walker sold his first box of Friction Matches the firm of G Greiner and Company registered the Guy Fawkes brand of Bengal Matches with Application Number 164,069 on 7 April 1892. The label illustrated is a cut-panel from a customer own brand skillet.<\/p>\n

Also, in 1903 Miller Christy<\/strong><\/a> wrote about \u201cTinder Boxes\u201d in the Burlington Magazine, and included a few words regarding Guy Fawkes :<\/span><\/p>\n