LIFE

1911 CENSUS OF ENGLAND & WALES (27 Tavistock Drive, Nottingham, ENGLAND):
William Ernest CLIFTON (31y ; b. Nottingham, Notts.) solicitor - employer
Margaret Mary CLIFTON(20y ; b. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - British subject by parentage; resident)
no children

William Ernest Clifton and Bertie Oaksford, 111 Hatton Garden, London. Improvements in phonographs, graphophones, or like sound-recording and reproducing instruments. 23.850 of 1901. (in: The Photographic dealer and D. & P. trade review ...: Volumes 10-11 (Photographic Dealer Ltd., 1901)

WILLIAM ERNEST CLIFTON, Nottingham, England. Internal-Combustion Engine. Filed Mar. 28, 1904. Patented June 13, 1905. Serial No. 200378. This invention relates to internal-combustion engines, and refers more particularly to improvements ... (in: Digest of United States patents of air, caloric, gas, and oil ... : Volume 4 by James Titus Allen (1906)

... Sachkenntnis zur Erzielung guter und verbesserter Resultate besitzt, der wage sich auch an die Erprobung anderslautender Vorschriften. Im British Journal 1908, S. 149, macht William E. Clifton die Mitteilung, dass er mit Erfolg ...



Margaret M. CLIFTON (28y)
+ Marjory CLIFTON (7y/6m)
SS "VAUBAN"
dep.: Liverpool, 28 May 1919
arr.: New York, 8 June 1919
Husband: William E. CLIFTON, St Peters Chambers, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, ENGLAND
Father: Mr. CLARKE, 3908 N 30th Street, Tacoma, Washington, USA



PATENTS GRANTED TO WILLIAM ERNEST CLIFTON:
1. 289552 SOUND DIAPHRAGM (1929)
2. 360862 CINEMATOGRAPH FILM STRIP (1935-1936)
3. 289703 APPARATUS FOR REPRODUCING OR RECORDING SOUND WAVES (1928)
4. 284381 SOUND PROJECTOR (1927)
5. 248684 SOUND-RECORDING AND SOUND-REPRODUCING INSTRUMENT (1924)
6. 249335 SOUND-RECORDING AND SOUND REPRODUCING INSTRUMENT (1924)
7. 226821 CONSTRUCTION OF CONCRETE FLOORS AND ROOFS (1921-1922)
8. 230249 PHONOGRAPH DIAPHRAGM
9. 227106 DIAPHRAGM FOR SOUND RECORDING INSTRUMENTS (1921)
10. 221988 CONCRETE SLAB BUILDING (1921)
11. 220440 SOUND RECORDING AND REPRODUCING INSTRUMENT (1921)
12. 220439 SOUND RECORDING INSTRUMENT (1921)
(source: Canadian Intellectual Property Office (cipo.ic.gc.ca))

Positive identification was achieved by comparing Clifton's signature under the 1911 England and Wales Census sheet with that under Patent (2) #360862 (under CLAIMS).
Also at the top of Patent (4) #284382 it says: William Ernest Clifton of 50 New Bond Street, London W.1, solicitor (1927).
50 New Bond Street, London W.1 was the address of The Chappell Piano Co., Ltd..

The Clifton-Ewart Construction Co. Ltd. (William Ernest Clifton with John Sturton Ewart: Patents (7) & (10))

New Talking Machine Patents No. 1,524,689. Diaphragm for sound-recording and sound reproducing instruments. Wm. E. Clifton, Nottingham, England. (in: Presto of 31 Oct 1925, p. 22)
MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).

"Several enquiries have reached us from readers who wish, for one reason or another, to have their voices recorded. The Cliftophone people (The Chappell Piano Co., Ltd., 50, New Bond Street, W. 1) are willing to make all the necessary arrangements; but it is still an expensive business, about 7 guineas for a lOinch record and six copies." (source: Gramophone of Feb 1924)

Cliftophone and Records Limited, deferred ordinary shares of 1 shilling, 1928, red, AVF. Registered 1928 to acquire the business of Cliftophone Limited. Manufacturers of gramophone and gramophone records. Court order to wind up 1929 (see online picture of share).

When a big corporation like the Chappell Piano Co., Ltd., which is known and esteemed throughout the whole world, become sole sales concessionaires for a new invention, it is a sure guarantee of its excellence. This is what has happened in the case of the Cliftophone. The inventor of this very fine machine is a gentleman named Clifton, of great scientific attainments, who has devoted many years to the study of sound reproduction. After much labour, he has evolved a gramophone which may be looked upon as the very last word in talking machines. As might be expected from the work which has been bestowed upon.it, the Cliftophone exhibits certain valuable improvements. These have been achieved by means of alterations in the accessories rather than through changes in the actual machine. The sound-box is of a novel construction, being fitted with a compensating lever as the connection between the diaphragm and the stylus-bar, thus dispensing with that tendency to work loose and give a disagreeable rattle, which is the fault of some of the ordinary sound-boxes. In the Cliftophone sound-box there is absolutely no possibility of this loosening. Again, the " Twin Reed" composite diaphragm is an innovation which emerges triumphantly from all tests. It has been the result of countless experiments and, as a consequence, has reached the highest pinnacle of perfection in regard to the properties of diaphragms. Another remarkable feature of the Cliftophone is the tone-arm, with its continuation, the reproducing chamber. In this it has been the object of the inventor to make the reproduction truly realistic, and to that end he has introduced a special " articulation " or hinge for the tone-arm, which entirely prevents any "shake" or loss of motion, yet compels it to offer absolutely rigid resistance to the "drag" of the needle. Thus the whole of the music may be heard without the slightest loss. The tone chambers, too, have been so designed as to secure the melodious and rhythmical development of the music emitted by the sound-box until it reaches the ear of the listener. From unsolicited testimonials it would appear that the Cliftophone has succeeded in overcoming the prejudices of hardened gramophone haters and in drawing forth the admiration of the most scientific sound specialists. (from: The Talking Machine Industry. Published by SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, LTD.) online