Inventor of the child pram

[peterbar]

Some websites credit a New Yorker, Charles Burton, with inventing the childs pram / perambulator, in 1848.

I can't find anything out about him anywhere, can anyone tell me more about him?

Thanks.

[pamnez]

There is a small article about Charles Burton on Yahoo. I just put in 'Charles Burton. Perambulator'. I don't know if this will be enough information for you.

[kempie]

I suspect that searching the web will produce no more information on him than you already know since one of the few useful hits I received leads to your question from 9 months ago!

[Octavius]

In 1848, Charles Burton of New York City made the first baby carriage, but people strongly objected to the vehicles because they said the carriage operators hit too many pedestrians. Still convinced that he had a good idea, Burton opened a factory in England. He obtained orders for the baby carriages from Queen Isabella II of Spain, Queen Victoria of England, and the Pasha of Egypt. The United States had to wait another ten years before it got a carriage factory. His cousins F.A. and F.W. Whitney opened America�s first baby carriage factory in Massachusetts, and in that first year only 75 carriages were sold. Even after the success of baby carriages in England, Americans were still reluctant to buy baby carriages.

The early manufacturers of the 1840s were deeply indebted to Queen Victoria when she bought three ready-made carriages from Hitchings Baby Stores of Ludgate Hill.

[Octavius]

The cousins company F A Whitney Carriage Company started in 1852, there isn't much after that about Charles Burton. This carriage is from the F A Whitney Carriage company, Leominster, Ma. It is dated around 1862 and features a hidden storage area.

http://twosistersantiques.com/carridge.JPG