Ernest Godward

Ernest Robert Godward (7 April 1869 – 2 December 1936) was an English born inventor and engineer who lived in New Zealand, England, and the United States. He created the spiral hairpin and a type of carburettor called a petrol economizer, which boosted engine performance and reduced fuel consumption.

Godward was born in Marylebone, London on 7 April 1869. He was the son of Henry Robert Godward, a fireman, and his wife, Sarah Ann Pattison.

When Godward was 12 he was sent to prep-school but ran away to sea reaching Japan where he worked on a cabling ship between Nagasaki and Vladivostok before he was returned home by the British Consul, Nicholas Hannen. On his return he was apprenticed to Shand, Mason and Company in London where he trained as a mechanic. Shand Mason were a firm of hydraulic engineers and steam powered fire engine manufacturers. Quitting Shand Mason he returned to the sea in 1884 as a ship's steward.

In 1886 Godward emigrated to New Zealand arriving at Port Chalmers aboard the 1310 ton Shaw, Savill & Albion Line sailing ship Nelson on 31 December. During his time in Dunedin he learned to play the banjo and formed a music group called the Star Variety Company. He worked in the cycle trade for Sam Stedman before shifting to Invercargill in 1893. There he became a partner in the Southland Cycle Works (later Godward and McKenzie) of Dee Street. Southland Cycle Works made Sparrowhawk cycles. In 1896 he married Marguerita Florence Celena Treweek and the couple had 10 children. Nine of their own plus a niece of Marguerita's.

Leaving the Southland Cycle Works in 1900 Godward embarked on inventing and manufacturing a wide range of everyday objects. Included among these were a non-slip egg-beater, a new post-hole borer, a new type of hair curler, a burglar-proof window and a hedge trimmer made from bicycle parts. He founded the Godward Spiral Pin and New Inventions Co Ltd which was a listed company on the New Zealand stock exchange.

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