John Joseph Merlin he wheeled about himself, with great facility to any part of the room." At an event held by Teresa Cornelys in Carlisle House, Soho Square, Merlin appeared somewhat disastrously on roller skates of his own invention. By April 1783 Merlin was putting his musical instruments and his automatons on display at his own museum. Advertisements invited readers to visit his Museum of Musical Instruments and Mechanical Inventions at No. 2, Princes Street, Hanover Square, London. Well-off Londoners could meet their friends at Merlin's Mechanical Museum in the afternoon or evening, pay to see the exhibits, and drink tea or coffee
Joseph Hudson (inventor) Joseph Hudson (inventor) Joseph Hudson (1848–1930) was an inventor in Birmingham, England during the late 19th century and the founder of J Hudson & Co in 1870, later to become the world largest whistle manufacturer . Hudson entered a competition held by the Metropolitan police force in London in 1883 to design a better way of attracting people's attention. He won a contract to supply the police with their new devices, a small but loud 'whistle'. Prior to this time the police force had to rely on hand rattles and whistles were only thought of as musical instruments or toys.