What has Royal Tunbridge Wells Kent got to do with the founding of the IET? Quite a lot, actually. The IET was originally called the Society of Telegraph Engineers and was founded in 1871; it became the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1880 and then the IET in 2006.
The first President of the STE was Sir Charles William Siemens, who lived in Tunbridge Wells from 1874 until his death in 1883. Among Siemens group of esteemed friends was Sir David Lionel Salomons (1851 – 1925).
Salomons lived on the family’s estate at Broomhill Tunbridge Wells and from an early age was interested in science and mechanics. After he had finished his Natural Sciences degree at Cambridge he started a series of popular scientific lectures for the general public in Tunbridge Wells. These included demonstrations of electrical experiments, his chief enthusiasm.
Salomons worked with a number of electrical pioneers and leading scientists of the day, including Lord Kelvin, Sir Charles Wheatstone; who were regular visitors to Broomhill. Salomons had joined the Society of Telegraph Engineers in 1875 and according to the National Archives Collection, it was on his suggestion that the Institution was formed from the old Society. Salomons took a leading part in the IEE for many years, and served in the positions of honorary treasurer and vice-president. The Photo shows the house at Broomhill Tunbridge Wells and the museum there is open to the public.