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History
Born 1832; educated at Merchant Taylor's School 1840-1847. Unable to attend university due to his father's small income, he joined the Electric Telegraph Company 1847, founded by Sir William Fothergill Cooke 1845; was in charge of the Birmingham telegraph station by 1851. He joined the Magnetic Telegraph Company (an amalgamation), in 1852, of which his brother became the manager. For this company he laid many telegraph lines between and within London, Manchester, Liverpool, and other cities, showing much initiative in organizing the mechanical work that was needed; also laid a six-wire cable between Port Patrick, Scotland, and Donaghadee, Ireland. This was only the third sea cable laid, and the first in deep water. With Cyrus Field and John Brett he founded the Atlantic Telegraph Company in 1856 which aimed to lay a telegraph cable between Ireland and Newfoundland; this was finally achieved 5 August 1858 and Bright was knighted a month later. However, this cable failed shortly afterwards, and Bright turned his attention to improving the insulation of submarine cables. Resigned from the Magnetic Telegraph Company 1860; founded an independent consultancy with Josiah Latimer Clark, with whom he invented a bituminous cable insulation. Laid a telegraph cable to India 1862; made a further attempt to lay a transatlantic cable using Brunel's steamship Great Eastern 1865. The cable broke during laying, but a second attempt was successful 1866 and cable was retrieved and repaired 1865. Bright laid other cables in the Mediterranean and the West Indies, and with his brother invented a system of neighbourhood fire alarms and an automatic fire alarm system. Bright was an important figure in the movement for electrical standards. Liberal MP for Greenwich 1865-1868; President of the IEE 1886-1887; assisted with the preparations for the Paris Exhibition of 1881. Died 1888.