All modern day technology is thanks this Torbay resident

The stories behind Torbay's blue plaques by Ian Handford, chairman of Torbay Civic Society, this week looks to Newton Abbot, in partnership with Newton Abbot Civic Society - Oliver Heaviside:

A third blue plaque to Oliver Heaviside was erected at his penultimate home in Newton Abbot, courtesy of the Newton Abbot Civic Society in partnership with Torbay Civic Society.

This third blue plaque honouring Oliver in Devon was arranged after the Newton Abbot society reformed itself under a new chairmen Keith Stokes Smith, who then contacted me as chairman of Torbay of Torbay Civic Society, to ask for help in establishing a new blue plaque scheme for the town.

Our first plaque to this outstanding engineer/scientist and mathematician had been erected at the family home in Palace Avenue, Paignton - today Barclays Bank - which Oliver moved to in 1889.

Oliver was born in London in 1850 and would spend most of his working career travelling the world while always using London as his base before finally, at age 39, returning to what was now his parents home in Paignton.

He moved in and lived with his parents from June 1889 until both of them died when he moved on again this time to a house on Totnes Road, Newton Abbot.

By now, he had become a recluse and locals would often report seeing him out cycling while living in what can only be described as a self-imposed, hermit-like existence. He was so isolated that the postman, being aware of Oliver's deafness, even had to use a stone left on the front step, to bang loudly on the door when needing to get Oliver's attention.

The final move from Newton Abbot to Torquay came after Oliver decided he must be nearer his brother, which was why he bought Homefield Villa on Lower Warberry Road, where he remained the rest of his life.

It is sad but true that there were few family reunions and it was said Oliver, because of his deafness, was always the odd man out, 'rarely happy and generally unsociable'.

Neverthless, his first volume of massive research on electromagnetic theory was published in 1893 and the second volume in 1899. His third tome still dealing with electro-magneticism was finally published in 1912 while the fourth volume was not seen until after his death in 1925.

By then, Homefield was his permanent home and, indeed, it was where he died.

Today, Oliver Heaviside's name is more associated with his early theories on radio waves only to then discover they could deal with earth’s curvature - in what early scientists named as the 'The Kennelly-Heaviside Layer' by bouncing off the ionosphere.

These two men in joint recognition as Arthur Kennelly, of the Harvard University in America, and Oliver Heaviside, of the UK, came to similar conclusions although it was Oliver that went public.

Yet it would take until 1924, the year before his death, that the world would finally hear the scientific community acknowledge the men's predictions regarding the relationship between electro-magneticism and the Earth's gravitational pull as being intrinsically linked.

Today, of course, all of our modern day technology relies on that fact.

The mathematical prowess of Oliver Heaviside was phenomenal and, today, our world would be very different without that extremely early radio wave research.

Oliver was hampered throughout life through by deafness yet became an amazing mathematician and scientist who thankfully lived long enough to see honours bestowed by his contemporaries who named craters of the Moon and Mars in his name.

Maybe this explains why our area of Devon, in both Torbay and Newton Abbot, through its two local civic societies and one another institution erected no less than three blue plaques to honour him.

With members of our society, Pat and I attended the Totnes Road unveiling event, and even gave a little the history of Oliver. Meanwhile, long before our plaque or theirs was unveiled, an Institute of Engineers had themselves erected the first blue plaque at his home, Homefield.