John Deane (inventor)

A long leather hose attached to the rear of the helmet was to be used to supply air, the original concept being that it would be pumped using a double bellows.

After several private trials in the Thames they were having difficulty bringing the invention to the serious attention of the admiralty until they approached the Governor of the Greenwich Hospital, Admiral Sir Richard Goodwin Keats.

The Admiralty had little option but to attend, and shortly thereafter official trials were undertaken at the Sheerness dockyard, and patents were obtained.

In 1829, the Deane brothers sailed from Whitstable for trials of their new underwater apparatus, establishing the diving industry in the town.

In 1830 John and his diving partner, George Bell, salvaged the cannons from the wreck of the Guernsey Lily.

He married Sarah Ann Browning at St Alphege Church, Whitstable, in October 1856 on his return from the Crimean War.