21 Facts About Frank Hornby

Frank Hornby was an English inventor, businessman and politician.

Frank Hornby was a visionary in toy development and manufacture, and although he had no formal engineering training, he was responsible for the invention and production of three of the most popular lines of toys based on engineering principles in the 20th century: Meccano, Hornby Model Railways and Dinky Toys.

Frank Hornby founded the British toy company Meccano Ltd in 1908, and launched a monthly publication, Meccano Magazine in 1916.

Frank Hornby entered politics in 1931 when he was elected as a Conservative MP for the Everton constituency.

Frank Hornby's legacy has persisted long after his death with enthusiasts all over the world still building Meccano models and collecting his toys.

The 150th anniversary of Frank Hornby's birth was celebrated in Liverpool and Brighton on 15 May 2013.

When his father died in 1899, his father's business was closed and Frank Hornby became a bookkeeper for David Hugh Elliot who ran a meat importing business in Liverpool.

Frank Hornby built models of bridges, trucks and cranes, although the pieces they were made from were not interchangeable.

The breakthrough came when Frank Hornby realised that if he could make separate, interchangeable parts that could be bolted together, any model could be built from the same components.

Frank Hornby started making metal strips by hand from copper sheets.

Still having to support his family on the small wage he earned, Frank Hornby did not have much time to market his invention.

Fortunately, his employer saw potential in what Frank Hornby was doing and offered him some vacant premises next to the office where he worked to pursue his ideas.

Frank Hornby now called his construction toy "Mechanics Made Easy" and after receiving a positive endorsement from professor Henry Selby Hele-Shaw, then Head of the Engineering Department at Liverpool University, Frank Hornby managed to secure contracts with outside manufacturers to supply the parts for his construction sets.

Frank Hornby secured a three-year lease on a workshop in Duke Street, by Dukes Terrace in the Rope Walks area of Liverpool, and with the help of a loan granted to Hornby and Elliot for machinery and wages, they were manufacturing their own parts by June 1907.

In September 1907, Frank Hornby registered his famous "Meccano" trade mark and used this name on all new sets.

In 1916, Frank Hornby launched a monthly publication, Meccano Magazine, which remained in circulation for over sixty years, and in 1930 he formed the Meccano Guild, an amalgamation of Meccano clubs from all over the world.

Frank Hornby owned a mansion Quarry Brook in Maghull, and was chauffeured to Binns Road every day by limousine.

Frank Hornby left the running of the company to his co-Directors and staff.

Frank Hornby died of a chronic heart condition complicated by diabetes in Maghull, near Liverpool, Lancashire, on 21 September 1936.

Frank Hornby is buried in the grounds of St Andrew's Church, Maghull.

The 150th anniversary of Frank Hornby's birth fell on 15 May 2013, and festivities were held by the National Museums Liverpool and the Frank Hornby Charitable Trust, Maghull, and by the Brighton Toy and Model Museum.