The Great Exhibition of The Works of Industry of All Nations, London, 1851

The Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, 1851

Variously known as the Great Exhibition, the Hyde Park Exhibition, and the Crystal Palace Exhibition, this mammoth international event took place in Hyde Park, London, England, from May 1st to October 15th in the year 1851.  Organized by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, its goal was to showcase the fruits of the industrial revolution in the Western World (particularly Britain), as well as to showcase the artistic and cultural accomplishments of 19th century Britain, her colonies, and Europe.  A spectacular exhibit hall made of iron and glass, the Crystal Palace, was custom-built for the great event. The Exhibition was a huge success, attracting six million visitors and thirteen thousand exhibits from a variety of countries, including Canada.  Among the visitors were Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the rest of the British royal family, and celebrities such as Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, Lewis Carroll, and George Eliot.  Among the exhibitors representing Canada was Calvin Palmer Ladd, inventor, iron-worker, and my husband's great-great-great grandfather.

View of the Interior of the Canadian Division at the Great Exhibition of 1851. 

"Canada" in Dickenson's Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851",
from the originals painted for H.R.H. Prince Albert 

Now, you'd think that it would be a fairly simple task, here in Canada, to discover a lot of information about our participation in this famous event.  You'd be wrong.  The National Archives has some engravings (see above), a few medals and some correspondence to and from Lord Elgin, who seems to have been involved in an organizational capacity.  But where are the photographs?  Where are the committee minutes?  Where is the record of the triumphal return?  There's so much I want to know.

Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition, p. 968.
"151A.  Ladd, C.P., Montreal.  Patent balance-scales to weigh 20 cwt.; various chopping-axes".

A search at the Quebec archives tipped me off to the fact that Quebec had chosen its contributions by hosting an industrial exhibition of its own, on October 17th, 1850.  Monetary prizes were offered for items in a variety of categories, and the goods of the first prize winners would be considered for display at the Crystal Palace.  A guide-book for this event mentions Ladd (he is given the title "C.P. Ladd, Esq.") among the Executive Committee organizing the expedition to London.  Ladd was rubbing shoulders on this project with the likes of Georges Etienne Cartier,  one of the fathers of Confederation.  Apart from Cartier and the Hon. E. P. Tache, it's a very Anglo list.

List of Prizes for the Provincial Industrial Exhibition:  to be held at Montreal on
Thursday, the 17th October, 1850, with a view to the collection and selection
of articles, the production of Canada, for transmission to the Great Exhibition
of the Industry of All Nations, to be held in London, in 1851. 

Ladd was definitely the inventive one in the family.  He seemed to specialize in improving implements which were already in use.  Here are some of Ladd's patents, in no particular order.  The first is for an improved lamp wick:

An improved lamp-wick.  US Patent # 123,917.  Feb. 20, 1872.

This next one is for an improved felting-machine.  I'm in awe of the complexity of the design:

An Improved Felting-Machine.  U.S. Patent # 110,574.  Dec. 27, 1870. 

A heddle frame for looms.  (According to Wikipedia, a heddle is made of cord or wire suspended on the shaft of the loom, and is used to "separate the warp threads for the passage of the weft".)

Heddle for Looms.  U.S. Patent # 407,078.  July 16, 1889.

Canadian patents include the weighing-machine, or scales (these may have been the scales Ladd took with him to exhibit in London):

And my own personal favourite, the Canadian sarcophagus (or "metallic burial case"). Here Ladd is patenting a coffin design.  It looks quite form-fitting.

In Montreal, Ladd was mostly known for the manufacture of stoves.  The McCord Museum has two illustrations of his products.  They are both marked as patented designs, but I haven't yet found these particular patents.  Looking up old patents isn't as straightforward as you might think.

Catalogue Illustration of a C.P. Ladds Stove, 1850-1885, 19th century
Ink on paper on supporting paper, wood engraving, John Henry Walker. 

Catalogue Illustration of a C.P. Ladd's Stove, 1850-1885, 19th century
Ink on paper on supporting paper, wood engraving, John Henry Walker.  

Here are a few advertisements for Ladd's Montreal companies (originally called City Foundry, later called Ladd & Ellsworth).  These are taken from the Montreal Business Directory, 1849-50 (pg. 30)  and MacKay's Montreal Directory  (p. 276).

I'd love to know if Ladd was inspired by his trip to the Great Exhibition.  He must have met a great many other inventors and manufacturers--wouldn't it be wonderful to have a diary or letters from this time in his life?  There is an unconfimed report on a Ladd family website that Calvin received a medal from Prince Albert during his participation in this event.  A number of medals were given out, so it's very possible.  At some point I'll try to get Ladd's will to see if he left it to anyone in his estate.