History

Books · articles · archives

Historical bibliography

Sources used to document the Siebe family, the chronology of diving engineering, and the exhibition-medal archive.

01

Family tree

Biographical, family and census evidence for Augustus, Henry, Mary and William Gorman.

  1. 01Primary record

    The London Gazette, no. 23812, 29 December 1871, p. 5885, patent notice no. 3441.

    Official notice naming Henry Herapath Siebe, William Augustus Gorman and Thomas Christy Junior in the patent for vessels intended to raise sunken ships or other bodies.

    Open source
  2. 02Book or article

    Siebe, Henry. The Conquest of the Sea: A Book about Divers and Diving. London: Chatto and Windus, 1874; preface dated December 1873.

    Henry Siebe’s own book and a primary source for contemporary diving practice. Modern catalogue records sometimes attach unrelated co-authors; the 1874 edition is cited here under Henry Siebe alone.

    Open source
  3. 03Museum or archive

    Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History. “Augustus Siebe.”

    Compiled reference for Siebe’s family, workshop, 1823 Vulcan Medal, Deane collaboration and retirement. Dates are checked against museum and primary records where possible.

    Open source
  4. 04Museum or archive

    Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History. “Henry Herepath Siebe.”

    Reference for Henry’s London life, bankruptcy, 1871 patent and retirement. The site retains the conflicting 1885 and 1887 death years rather than treating either as settled.

    Open source
  5. 05Museum or archive

    Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History. “William Augustus Gorman.”

    Compiled biographical and census reference for William, Mary and their daughters. It does not confirm a son Augustus Gorman or a role for him at the firm.

    Open source
  6. 06Museum or archive

    Science Museum Group Collection. “Augustus Siebe” (person record cp48664).

    Institutional biography covering the workshop, Deane collaboration, 1851 exhibition, family succession and Siebe’s death in 1872.

    Open source
  7. 07Book or article

    Burchett, Michael, and Robert Burchett. “An Updated Short History of the British Diving Apparatus Manufacturers, Part 1: The Siebe Gorman Company.” The International Journal of Diving History.

    Historical Diving Society study used for the manufacturer’s personnel and company chronology; it is not treated as proof for every medal attribution.

    Open source

02

Siebe chronology

Patents, publications, workshop history and the collaborative development of diving apparatus.

  1. 01Primary record

    The London Gazette, no. 23812, 29 December 1871, p. 5885, patent notice no. 3441.

    Official notice naming Henry Herapath Siebe, William Augustus Gorman and Thomas Christy Junior in the patent for vessels intended to raise sunken ships or other bodies.

    Open source
  2. 02Book or article

    Siebe, Henry. The Conquest of the Sea: A Book about Divers and Diving. London: Chatto and Windus, 1874; preface dated December 1873.

    Henry Siebe’s own book and a primary source for contemporary diving practice. Modern catalogue records sometimes attach unrelated co-authors; the 1874 edition is cited here under Henry Siebe alone.

    Open source
  3. 03Primary record

    Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition, 1851 — Augustus Siebe, Class V and Class VII entries.

    Contemporary exhibitor listing for Siebe’s diving apparatus. It establishes exhibits, but does not by itself prove the ownership or provenance of any medal pictured here.

    Open source
  4. 04Museum or archive

    Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History. “Augustus Siebe.”

    Compiled reference for Siebe’s family, workshop, 1823 Vulcan Medal, Deane collaboration and retirement. Dates are checked against museum and primary records where possible.

    Open source
  5. 05Museum or archive

    Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History. “Henry Herepath Siebe.”

    Reference for Henry’s London life, bankruptcy, 1871 patent and retirement. The site retains the conflicting 1885 and 1887 death years rather than treating either as settled.

    Open source
  6. 06Museum or archive

    Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History. “William Augustus Gorman.”

    Compiled biographical and census reference for William, Mary and their daughters. It does not confirm a son Augustus Gorman or a role for him at the firm.

    Open source
  7. 07Museum or archive

    Science Museum Group Collection. “Augustus Siebe” (person record cp48664).

    Institutional biography covering the workshop, Deane collaboration, 1851 exhibition, family succession and Siebe’s death in 1872.

    Open source
  8. 08Museum or archive

    Science Museum Group Collection. “First closed diving helmet and breastplate” (object co40614).

    Object record connecting maker Augustus Siebe, designer John Deane and George Edwards’s earlier design. It supports a collaborative account, not a single unsupported invention date.

    Open source
  9. 09Book or article

    Burchett, Michael, and Robert Burchett. “An Updated Short History of the British Diving Apparatus Manufacturers, Part 1: The Siebe Gorman Company.” The International Journal of Diving History.

    Historical Diving Society study used for the manufacturer’s personnel and company chronology; it is not treated as proof for every medal attribution.

    Open source

03

Medals & exhibitions

Official catalogues, museum object records and specialist numismatic references from 1823 to 1894.

  1. 01Primary record

    Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition, 1851 — Augustus Siebe, Class V and Class VII entries.

    Contemporary exhibitor listing for Siebe’s diving apparatus. It establishes exhibits, but does not by itself prove the ownership or provenance of any medal pictured here.

    Open source
  2. 02Museum or archive

    Science Museum Group Collection. “Augustus Siebe” (person record cp48664).

    Institutional biography covering the workshop, Deane collaboration, 1851 exhibition, family succession and Siebe’s death in 1872.

    Open source
  3. 03Book or article

    Burchett, Michael, and Robert Burchett. “An Updated Short History of the British Diving Apparatus Manufacturers, Part 1: The Siebe Gorman Company.” The International Journal of Diving History.

    Historical Diving Society study used for the manufacturer’s personnel and company chronology; it is not treated as proof for every medal attribution.

    Open source
  4. 04Primary record

    Blaxland, Gregory. “Wine from New South Wales.” Transactions of the Society Instituted at London, vol. 46, 1827.

    Digitised primary publication of Blaxland’s account of New South Wales wine in the Society’s Transactions. It documents the award history behind his 1823 silver medal; this is not Augustus Siebe’s separate Vulcan Medal of the same year.

    Open source
  5. 05Museum or archive

    Royal Museums Greenwich, Denny Collection. Exhibition prize-medal records MED2789, MED2787, MED2795 and MED2797.

    Museum records for London 1862, Vienna 1873, Sydney 1879 and Edinburgh 1890, supporting dates, materials, inscriptions and medallist attributions.

    Open source
  6. 06Museum or archive

    Victoria and Albert Museum. “Prize medal, 1862 London International Exhibition,” Leonard Charles Wyon (O311815).

    Catalogue record for the 1862 London prize-medal design, iconography and inscription.

    Open source
  7. 07Museum or archive

    Germanisches Nationalmuseum. “Wien, Weltausstellung, Preismedaille ‘Dem Verdienste’ 1873” (Med13897).

    Museum record for the Vienna medal by Josef Tautenhayn and Karl Schwenzer; it also cites Augustin’s specialist catalogue.

    Open source
  8. 08Museum or archive

    Smithsonian National Museum of American History. “Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 Award Medal.”

    Institutional record for Henry Mitchell’s Philadelphia Centennial award medal, including its legend and issue context.

    Open source
  9. 09Museum or archive

    Powerhouse Collection. “International Fisheries Exhibition medal and case, 1883” (N18088).

    Confirms Leonard Charles Wyon’s obverse, Lewis Foreman Day’s reverse and manufacture by John Pinches.

    Open source
  10. 10Museum or archive

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art. “To Commemorate the Paris International Exposition of 1878,” Jules-Clément Chaplain.

    Museum catalogue record supporting the Chaplain attribution for the Paris 1878 medal type.

    Open source
  11. 11Book or article

    Augustin, Ines. Die Medaillen und Plaketten der großen Weltausstellungen 1851–1904. Vienna, 1985.

    Specialist reference covering the world’s-fair medal series across the central period of this archive; linked through the Germanisches Nationalmuseum catalogue citation.

    Open source
  12. 12Book or article

    Forrer, Leonard. Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, Coin-, Gem-, and Seal-Engravers. 8 vols. London, 1904–1930.

    Standard biographical reference for medallists, used here especially for Lewis F. Day and exhibition-medal designer credits.

    Open source

Reading the evidence

Reader-supplied family material is identified as such and is not listed as independent publication. Henry Siebe’s death year, the reported son Augustus Gorman, the exact date of the closed helmet, and the provenance of some photographed medals remain qualified wherever the surviving sources conflict or fall short.

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