Henry Sutton (inventor)

Henry Sutton (4 September 1855, Ballarat, Victoria – 28 July 1912) was an Australian designer, engineer, and inventor credited with contributions to early developments in electricity, aviation, wireless communication, photography and telephony.

Henry Sutton, the second of the eleven children of Richard Henry Sutton (1831 – 1876), and Mary Sutton (1835 – 1894), née Johnson, was born in a tent on the Ballarat goldfields on 4 September 1855. He had three brothers, with whom he was associated in the Sutton Brothers musical business originally centred on Ballarat, and two sisters. He married Elizabeth Ellen Wyatt (1860–1901) in 1881, and Annie May Tatti (1884-), on 17 September 1902, who bore four and two sons, respectively.

Up to the age of ten, Sutton was schooled by his mother, then attended a state school, and then Gracefield college between 1869 and 1872. Sutton was self taught in the field of science, having read all the available books in library of the Ballarat Mechanics' lnstitute by the age of 14.

Sutton trained as a draftsman at the Ballarat School of Design where he won a silver medal and 30 other prizes for drawing.

Sutton studied at the Ballarat School of Mines.

Sutton lectured at the Ballarat School of Mines from 1883 to 1886. In 1883, as a consequence of his work on batteries, Sutton was admitted as an associate of the Society of Telegraph Engineers and of Electricians. M. Louis Adolphe Cochery minister of Post and Telegraph Office in France invited Sutton to membership of the Société Internationale des Electriciens. Sutton was also offered membership of Electrical societies from America, Belgium and Russia. In 1890 prior to leaving for England, a farewell dinner was held by the citizens of Ballarat, where Sutton was presented with an Illuminated address.

Sutton registered Sutton's Process Syndicate in November 1891 at an address in London to exploit his Suttontype printing process. The process was not considered particularly innovative and it was reported to be unreliable. He abandoned the business to return to Australia.

In 1892, he was introduced to Nikola Tesla by Lord Rayleigh and William Preece.