The entry in the Dictionary of National Biography states "his claim to remembrance rests on his efforts to diminish the loss of life from explosions in collieries.
[1] A paper 'On the Means of procuring a Steady Light in Coal Mines without the Danger of Explosion' was read before the Royal Society on 20 May the following year.
[1] Such early machines were large and cumbersome but Clanny ultimately succeeded in reducing the weight of the lamp to 34 ounces (964 grams).
His lamp and other improvements were ultimately recognised by his contemporaries, including northern coal owners who presented him with a purse of gold together with a silver salver at the Athenæum, Sunderland, on 3 February 1848.
[1] George Stephenson acknowledged a debt to Clanny's researches and Humphry Davy invented his version of a lamp very soon after a visit to Sunderland in August 1815.