{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}} {{Use British English|date=August 2017}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Magnus Volk | honorific_suffix = | image = File:Magnus Volk (Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove, copyright BY-SA).jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Magnus Volk, copyright Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove. | native_name = | native_name_lang = | citizenship = | birth_name = | birth_date = 19 October 1851 | birth_place = Brighton, Sussex, United Kingdom | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1937|5|20|1851|10|19}} | death_place = Brighton, Sussex, United Kingdom | resting_place = St. Wulfran's Church, Ovingdean, Sussex | resting_place_coordinates = | education = | spouse = Anna Volk (Banfield) | parents = Magnus Volk, <br />Sarah Volk (Maynard) | children = Magnus Herman Volk, <br />George Herbert Volk,<br /> Cecil Volk,<br /> Gordon Volk, <br />Edgar Volk, <br />Conrad Volk,<br /> Muriel May Volk | module = {{Infobox engineering career | discipline = Electrical, Mechanical | institutions = Imperial Institute | practice_name = | employer = | significant_projects = Volk's Electric Railway, <br />Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway | significant_design = | significant_advance = | significant_awards = Order of Osmali }} | signature = | signature_alt = }}
'''Magnus Volk''' FII (1851–1937) was a British-German inventor and pioneering electrical engineer.
He is most notable for having built Volk's Electric Railway, the world's oldest operating electric railway.<ref name="Jackson">{{cite book|last1=Jackson|first1=Alan|title=Volk's Railways Brighton|date=1993|publisher=Plateway Press|isbn=1-871980-18-6}}</ref>
==Career==
Aside from the Volk's Electric Railway, he also built the unique but short-lived Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway, together with its unusual ''Daddy Long Legs'' vehicle.<ref>See Lee, Charles E., "Magnus Volk and His Railways," The Railway Magazine (UK), April 1942, at 116-17.</ref> He also built another short-lived line, similar to the VER, in the pleasure grounds at Aston Hall, Birmingham.<ref name="Jackson"/>
In 1887 he attracted attention in Brighton by building a three-wheeled electric carriage powered by an Immisch motor. In 1888 he built another electric car, this time a four-wheeled carriage which was made to the order of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire,<ref>Georgano, G.N. ''Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930''. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985).</ref> for which he was awarded an Order of Osmali, presented to Magnus by the Sultan in person whilst in Constantinople.<ref name="Volk, Conrad 1971">Volk, Conrad. ''Magnus Volk of Brighton''. (London: Phillimore, 1971).</ref>
thumb|Magnus Volk on his electric dog cart, 1897
Other projects of Magnus included inventing a fire-alarm system, early successful attempts at electricity in the home, telecommunications and installing electricity to the Royal Pavilion for the first time.<ref name="Volk, Conrad 1971"/>
thumb|right|A proof of concept model of the ''Daddy Long Legs'' built by Magnus Volk. thumb|right|The Volk's Electric Railway still bears Magnus Volk's name
==Personal life==
Magnus Volk was the son of a German clockmaker and was born on 19 October 1851 in Brighton. He lived at 38 Dyke Road in Brighton. On 8 April 1879, he married Anna Banfield in Burgess Hill. George Herbert Volk, his second son, is noted as a pioneer builder of seaplanes, whilst another son, Conrad Volk, wrote a biography of his father.<ref name="Volk, Conrad 1971"/> His descendants include the musician Joe Volk and the journalist Scott Campbell.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.geni.com/people/Magnus-Volk-Jr/6000000008405349429 |title=Magnus Volk |access-date=2024-01-31}}</ref>
Magnus Volk died in Brighton on 20 May 1937, and is buried at St Wulfran's churchyard in Ovingdean near Brighton.<ref name="Dale207">{{cite book |last=Dale |first=Antony |title=Brighton Churches |year=1989 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=0-415-00863-8 |page=207 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== * Conrad Volk: ''Magnus Volk of Brighton''. London & Chichester: Phillimore, 1971.
==External links== {{Commons category|Magnus Volk}} * [http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/category_id__348_path__0p117p157p.aspx Magnus Volk] in ''My Brighton and Hove'' site * {{YouTube|eU_PMGX6tso|Volks Pioneer Animation}} of 'Daddy Longlegs' seashore electric railway
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Volk, Magnus}} Category:1851 births Category:1937 deaths Category:British electrical engineers Category:British railway civil engineers Category:British rail transport pioneers Category:Engineers from Brighton