Hello ODK members,

This post examines what I believe to be one of the earliest grass catchers fitted to Australian
rotary lawnmowers. It was an after-market catcher and it sold under the name Emu.

This was a patented invention. The Application was lodged in late 1956, Published in 1957,
and Accepted in late 1958. Given that most patents are applied for after manufacturing has commenced,
and given that the accompanying illustration looks like a Victa Rotomo base, it is very much possible
that the Emu catcher was being made and sold well before the application date.

My best guess is 1955. Here's the general idea:-
[Linked Image]

THE INVENTOR
The Applicant and actual inventor was Leslie Victor Deacon. Yes - there is some amusement
in that Deacon's middle name was the same as Mervyn Victor Richardson, the creator of the Victa mower.

I know nothing about the inventor beyond the belief that this catcher was a Queensland invention.
I say that because of three pieces of evidence. The first is an exact genealogy check; the second is
the location of the Patent Attorney; and the last is that one was advertised a couple of years ago,
on an auction site, and the location was Queensland.

A trace on the name revealed a genealogy of a person born in 1921, one of nine children,
born to Edward Deacon and Lily Seabrook. Leslie's Grandfather emigrated to Maryborough,
Queensland, from Brighton, Sussex, England.

The patent attorneys for Deacon were G.R. Cullen and company.
That company, Cullens, Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, founded in 1936, is still in business today,
with offices in ... Brisbane.

The Patent will be discussed in the next section.