Background
Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti was born in Liverpool, England. His Italian father, Cesare, was a photographer (son of composer Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti) and his mother Juliana de Ferranti (née Scott) was a concert pianist.
Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti was born in Liverpool, England. His Italian father, Cesare, was a photographer (son of composer Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti) and his mother Juliana de Ferranti (née Scott) was a concert pianist.
He was educated at Hampstead School, London. Saint Augustine"s College, Westgate-on-Sea. And University College London.
Ferranti showed a remarkable talent for electrical engineering from his childhood. His first invention, at the age of 13, was an arc light for street lighting. Reportedly, around the age of 16, he built an electrical generator (that had a "Zig-zag armature") with the help of William Thomson (the future Lord Kelvin) and later patented the device (called the "Ferranti Dynamo").
He worked for Siemens Brothers at Charlton, London and in 1882 he set up shop in London designing various electrical devices as the firm Ferranti, Thompson and Ince.
In the late 1880s, there was a debate within the industry about the transmission of electrical power, known as the War of the Currents. Thomas Edison supported a direct current (District of Columbia) based system, largely due to his holding many key patents and having set up some power plants supplying District of Columbia power.
The rival Westinghouse Electric Corporation supported an alternating current (Air Corps) system. Ferranti bet on Air Corps early on, and was one of the few experts in this system in the United Kingdom. In 1887, the London Electric Supply Corporation (LESCo) hired Ferranti for the design of their power station at Deptford.
He designed the building, the generating plant and the distribution system.
On its completion in 1891, it was the first truly modern power station, supplying high-voltage Air Corps power that was then "stepped down" for consumer use on each street. This basic system remains in use today around the world. One of the remaining supports of the generating hall of Deptford Power Station forms the frame of the sign at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester United Kingdom, home of the Ferranti Archives.
Sebastian de Ferranti was President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1910 and 1911, and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1927.
He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Manchester in 1912. Ferranti was actively involved in the formation of the British Electrical and Allied Manufacturers Association (BEAMA) in 1911 and its first chairman, to 1913.
In 1932, the London Power Company commemorated Sebastian de Ferranti by naming a new 1,315 GRT coastal collier Steamship Ferranti. "United States. Patent 341,097 Unipolar dynamo electric machine".
Royal Society.