Joseph B. Fenby

Joseph Beverley Fenby[1] was an inventor in St Johns, Worcester, England. who designed a device called the “Electro-Magnetic Phonoscope”,. His concept detailed a system that would record a sequence of keyboard strokes onto paper tape. Although no model or workable device was ever made, it is often seen as a link to the concept of punched paper for player piano rolls (1880s), as well as Herman Hollerith's punch card tabulator (used in the 1890 census), a distant precursor to the modern computer.

Fenby is also known for other inventions, notably the "Fenby folding chair", patented in the United States in 1881 (U.S. Patent 244,216) and an associated camp stool (U.S. Patent 244,215). The chair became known as the Tripolina and inspired many similar designs.

He died in June 1903, in King's Norton, England, UK, aged 60.

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