Francis Maceroni

Infobox Person
name = Francis Maceroni

---

image_size = 165px
caption =
birth_name =
birth_date = 1788
birth_place = Manchester
death_date = 1846
death_place =
death_cause =
resting_place =
resting_place_coordinates =
residence =
nationality = British
other_names =
known_for =
education =
alma_mater =
employer =
occupation =
home_town =
title =
salary =
networth =
height =
weight =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party =
boards =
religion =
spouse = Elizabeth Ann Williams-Wynne
partner =
children = Emelia, Guillia, Lucy, Cecilia, and Laura
parents = Peter Augustus Macirone
relatives =


website =
footnotes = Colonel Francis Maceroni (sometimes known as "Count Maceroni"), born Francis Macirone (1788–1846), was a soldier, balloonist (as recorded by Sophie Blanchard), author [cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Results for 'Francis Maceroni' | work = | publisher = WorldCat | date = | url = http://worldcat.org/search?q=Francis+Maceroni | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2008-03-21] , and inventor.

"Maceroni" was the original version of his family name, the variant spelling of Macirone having been adopted by his grandfather to distance himself from an unsavoury relation. Francis opted to resume the original spelling, but is sometimes listed with the variant spelling. [cite book | last = Maceroni | first = Francis | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Memoirs of the life and adventures of Colonel Maceroni | publisher = J. Macrone | date = 1838 | location = London | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = ]

Early life

Born the son of Peter Augustus Macirone, an Italian merchant and former school teacher living in England, Maceroni became a Colonel of Cavalry and served as aide de camp to Joachim Murat, the King of Naples during the Napoleonic Wars (later writing his biography [cite book | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Interesting Facts Relating to the Fall and Death of Joachim Murat, King of Naples | publisher = Ridgways | date = 1817 | location = London | pages = | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4V9BAAAAIAAJ | doi = | id = | isbn = ] ) and fought with the Spanish insurgents in 1822-23 during the civil war.

Maceroni's steam carriage

In 1825 while living in Manchester, he became interested in the work of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney and attached himself to Gurney's Regent's Park workshop on the recommendation of Sir Anthony Carlisle, ostensibly to work on his own inventions. He stayed six months and became involved enough in Gurney's work - he witnessed one of the early carriage contracts - that he persuaded several friends to invest in the enterprise.

After a time in Constantinople, helping the Turks fight the Russians, he returned to London in 1831 and joined forces with Gurney's former employee, carpenter John Squire. In 1833 the two had constructed their own steam carriage. It was a straightforward vehicle that carried up to fourteen passengers, developed 30 horsepower at 14 mph and ascended hills with ease. The carriage ran for hire for some weeks between Paddington and Edgware with no serious mechanical problems and in 1834 after a new toll relief bill was passed by the House of Commons, Maceroni built a new and larger carriage. But the bill failed in the House of Lords and Maceroni fell into financial difficulties. To meet the terms of the Belgian and French patents he had negotiated earlier, he shipped his two remaining carriages to Brussels and Paris in the care of the Italian speculator Colonel d'Asda. D'Asda drove the carriages around to great publicity for several months then sold them and disappeared with the money. In 1835 Maceroni published a book on road steam power and tried to raise new capital, but a railway investment panic in 1837 doomed his chances and in 1841 the disclosure of serious mismanagement ended with the seizure of all his assets. [cite book | last = Porter | first = Dale H. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Life and Times of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney | publisher = Lehigh University Press | date = 1998 | location = | pages = pp. 118 - 119 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0934223505]

Maceroni lived in England for much of his life, and published his memoirs in 1838.

Notes

References

*