Sampson Mordan

Sampson Mordan (c. 1790 – 9 April 1843) was a British silversmith and a co-inventor of the first patented mechanical pencil.

During his youth, he was an apprentice of the inventor and locksmith Joseph Bramah, who patented the first elastic ink reservoir for a fountain pen.

In 1822, Mordan and his co-inventor John Isaac Hawkins filed the first patent in Great Britain for a metal pencil with an internal mechanism for propelling the graphite "lead" shaft forward during use, as an improvement on the less complex leadholders that merely clutched the pencil lead to hold it into a single position.

Mordan bought out Hawkins and entered into a business partnership with Gabriel Riddle, an established stationer.

"S. Mordan & Co." continued to make silverware and brass postal scales until 1941, when their factory was destroyed by bombs during the London Blitz.