Bickford Smith and Davey, Pendarves Street, Tuckingmill, Camborne

William Bickford (1774 - 1834) - Inventor William was born in Ashburton, Devon in January 1774 and then moved to Truro and later to Tuckingmill in Camborne, where he worked as a currier (dressing, finishing and colouring leather). He is best known for inventing of the safety fuse for igniting gunpowder used in mining. In 1831 he invented a machine to weave and thread two layers of jute yarn over a small tube of gunpowder, which would then be "varnished" with tar in order to make it waterproof. He developed a fuse which, would burn at a known rate of 30 seconds per foot length of the fuse. He started a factory in Tuckingmill with his son-in-law, George Smith, to produce the safety fuse. In the first year the company produced 45 miles of fuse. William died in 1834, just before the factory opened. The factory is now closed and has been replaced by industrial units. There is a plaque on the buildings commemorating Bickford and his invention. His grandson, William Bickford-Smith, became MP for Truro. In 1974, the Bickford-Smith family bought the Trevarno estate between Helston and Crowntown.

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