So, you've always thought that Thomas Alva Edison invented the light bulb. Well, that's not exactly true. It's more accurate to say that Edison refined the light bulb. You see, two Canadians patented a design for an incandescent light bulb in 1874, preceding that of American inventor Thomas Edison by five years. The two Canadians, Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans, are generally unknown, and according the Canadian Encyclopedia, their early work on the light bulb in Toronto has "gone largely unrecognized," even though it was "an important development in the development of electric lighting."
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| Matthew Evans |
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| Henry Woodward |
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| Thomas A. Edison |
On July 24, 1874, Henry Woodward, a medical student, and his partner, Matthew Evans, a hotel keeper, filed a Canadian patent application for an electric light bulb. On August 3, the patent was granted. Their second patent, issued in the United States in 1876, was among those bought by Thomas Edison. It was Edison who refined their technology and created a long-lasting bulb. In 1879, his light bulb burned tor 40 hours.
Below is Woodward and Evans' Canadian patent. 
Woodward and Evans were neighbours in Toronto. They performed experiments using a battery and an induction coil. On a winter evening in 1873, the two men observed the light created by the spark at the connecting pin. According to one report, the light was bright enough for Evans to see the time on his watch, "If only we could confine that to a globe of some sort!" Woodward speculated. "It would revolutionize the world."
Woodward and Evans were neighbours in Toronto. They performed experiments using a battery and an induction coil. On a winter evening in 1873, the two men observed the light created by the spark at the connecting pin. According to one report, the light was bright enough for Evans to see the time on his watch, "If only we could confine that to a globe of some sort!" Woodward speculated. "It would revolutionize the world."
Woodward and Evans eventually developed a prototype incandescent bulb with a carbon rod filament, similar to previous experiments by Sir Joseph Swan (1828-1914), an English physicist, chemist and inventor. In 1860, Swan had developed a primitive electric light. However, due to a lack of a good vacuum and an inadequate electric source, the bulb had inefficient light and a short lifetime. In 1880, after the improvement of vacuum techniques, both Swan and Edison assembled practical light bulbs.
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| Sir Joseph Swan |
While their experiments contributed to the advancement of electric lighting, Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans fell into obscurity. They were unable to secure the money required to refine and mass produce their bulbs. The cost of materials was high and there was public skepticism about replacing oil lamps. After failing to find investors, they decided to sell their U.S patent rights to Thomas Edison for $5,000. When their project ended, Evans remarked that "the inventor never gets the reward of his labour."
SOURCES: Pinecone Diaries: Canada's Stories and History, "Shining a Light on Henry Woodward: Canada's Hidden Hero Who Beat Edison to the Lightbulb," by Craig Rourke, January 10, 2025; The Canadian Encyclopedia; Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia
- Joanne
