Francis Herbert Wenham

Francis Herbert Wenham (1824, Kensington – 1908)[1] was a British marine engineer who studied the problem of human flight and wrote a perceptive and influential academic paper, which he presented to the first meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society in London in 1866.

Wenham's trailblazing report, "Aerial Locomotion," was published in the Society's journal[2] and reprinted in widely distributed aeronautical publications in the 1890s, including Octave Chanute's "Progress In Flying Machines".

In 1866 he patented the design,[3] which became the basis for biplanes, triplanes and multiplanes that took to the air as gliders in the 1890s, and as airplanes in the early decades of the 20th century.

According to some sources John Stringfellow was influenced by Wenham's works or possibly even by his personal communication when creating his steam engine triplane model aircraft, which was demonstrated publicly at the international exhibition in the Crystal Palace in 1868.

[10] He also invented the Wenham gas lamp,[11] which enjoyed a decade or two of popularity before being displaced by electric incandescent lighting.