Chapter 8.4.1

Richard Thomas Bramhill - Inventor

By Alan Jack Bramhill

Richard Thomas Bramhill was born in 1874 in Leeds, England. Richard was an inventor. One of the items he invented and patented was a design to fix broken umbrella ribs. He called it the “The Gampclip”.

The “Gampclip" was probably dated and patented in the early 1920s since my Grandfather Richard Henry Bramhill emigrated to Canada in 1926 on the SS Montcalm along with my grandmother Alice, my father Alan Richard Bramhill (3 years old) and my Aunt Mary Bramhill (age 2).  Richard Thomas Bramhill gave my grandfather several packages of the “Gampclip” invention as souvenirs to remember him by.

“Gamp” is a British term meaning “large, unwieldy umbrella.” I’ve never heard that word used in Canada and I don’t think that is used in the US either.

Gampclip was a piece made of metal that could be put onto a broken umbrella rib so that the umbrella could continue to be used.

The following illustrations show Richard himself actually fitting the

Gampclip in place on an umbrella rib.

The “Gampclip" was patented in the early 1920s.

Richard Thomas Bramhill never got rich making this, but it did show his creativity. He tried lots of ways to get rich: operating a book store, selling life insurance and inventions, but times were tough and it was hard going.

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