Historical information

Percy Markham Ireland (1893-1976), a tramway rolling stock engineer with the MMTB and a Military engineer applied in 1920 for a patent for a "Trolley Pole safety appliance for electric trams and the like". He was successful in gaining a patent in a number of countries including the UK, France, Germany, Canada, the USA, and New Zealand. The associated documents show the differences in making patent applications in various countries. From research undertaken by the Museum it appears that while his patent applications were successful, his invention was never actually implemented on tramcars in Melbourne".

Collected by Noelle Jones as research for an article in the March 2023 issue of the Museum's magazine Bellcord, giving details of Mr Ireland's tramway and military career. He retired as the MMTB Rolling Stock Engineer in 1958 after 44 years of service.

Significance

Yields information about patents applied for by Percy Ireland in different countries.

Physical description

Set of digital patent documents for Australia, USA, UK, France, Germany and Canada.