It is to this gentleman that we will forever be indebted for providing us with the beloved cable car. Born in London in 1836 and later adopted his uncle's sirname. He trained as a mechanic and moved to San Francisco in 1852 where he started a company that made wire rope. After working in the mines for a number of years, and developing a "protype" of small cars on cables used in mining, in 1873 he tested the first cable car for people, allowing the development of our hills.