Inventors | Untold Stories

Gestetner was born in Csorna, Hungary, and lived in Vienna before moving to London in the 1870s to capitalise on his idea of the stencil duplicator, which was groundbreaking in its day. He lived first at 67 Ferntower Road and, as his business prospered, moved to 124 Highbury New Park. He was a devout member of the nearby congregation at Poets Road.

Reuter, born Israel Beer Josaphat in Kassel, Germany, was the son of a rabbi; he changed his name on converting to Christianity in 1844. Moving to London in 1851, he lived initially at 23 Finsbury Square. His news service, with its promise to keep subscribers ahead of the game, was set to become the global success story that it remains today.

Samuda patented a scheme for an ‘atmospheric railway’ in the early days of the railway boom before becoming a shipping engineer and a politician later in life. He was born at 10 South Street (now Dominion Street) to a Sephardi family that had been in London for at least three generations.