17 - Alexandre DE STAPPERS (1) (1780-1851) [1]
Chevalier Alexandre DE STAPPERS was of noble Belgian origin [2], born in Sint-Truiden and residing in Tromcourt (south of Charleroi), where he possessed a large domain [3]. He was Inspecteur des eaux et forêts in Belgium and later (around mid-1830s) he moved with his family to Luxembourg in his function as inspecteur des eaux et forêts. Two of his daughters married Prussian Officers in Luxembourg and his wife Charlotte de HEUSCH died in Luxembourg in 1845.
He is the author of two books published in 1827, respectively 1829 with the titles:
- Mémoire agricole, financier, politique et commercial, (tendant a prouver que les biens dont la Banque de Bruxelles a été mise en possession, n'ont jamais cessé d'appartenir à la nation, et qu'il est indispensablement de conserver intact le sol forestier).
- Mémoire sur le desséchement du Lac de Haarlem et sa conversion en forêt (dédié aux Amis de l'agriculture et de l'industrie nationale).
In 1828 he obtained a patent in France [4] for a “pompe monstre”, the complete title of the patent being:
Moteur hydraulique applicable à toute force motrice, appelé “vifer, ou courant d'eau artificiel”, au moyen duquel une première quantité d'eau fournie est continuellement élevée et restituée par un balancier mu par des hommes ou des animaux marchant dans des tambours sans axe.
France did not examine patents for their technical merits and granted them “sans garantir en rien ni la priorité, ni le mérite de l’invention” (formulation also used in the patents granted under the Dutch Patent Law of 1817, although patent applications were examined in the Royaume des Pays Bas!)
However, the publication of DE STAPPERS’ patent in the Official Journal mentions the following footnote:
Le Comité consultatif, dans son avis sur la demande de ce brevet, dit: L’auteur fonde les prétendus avantages de son moteur sur des erreurs de physique et de mécanique que l’expérience lui fera sans doute reconnaître.
On 27 November 1827 DE STAPPERS obtained a corresponding patent in the Royaume des Pays-Bas, presumably applying through the Belgian administration.
It is interesting to note that at least one person, namely Col. W. A. BAKE [5], took an active interest in DE STAPPERS’ invention around 1830; he actually saw it working and reported on it. Initially suspicious of the proposed novel pump, he concluded that it was a useful device which could possibly be used for pumping water over a small height difference :
Zijne pomp is namelijk, door eenvoudigheid van inrigting, en door onkostbaarheid van zamenstelling, aanprijsselijk. Daar, waar groote hoeveelheden waters tot geringe hoogten moeten opgevoerd worden, zal de aanwending van dit werktuig zeer voordeelig kunnen wezen, mits de snelheid der beweging gering zij, en dat het peil der waterverzameling niet aanmerkelijk verandere, dat is, niet veel lager worde. Maar het meer voortreffelijke der machine, is gelegen in het zeer geringe verspil van kracht tot het overwinnen van wrijving.
Another source [6] reports that DE STAPPERS, around 1830, forced his way in to meet the Dutch King with his proposal to use his pump to empty the lake of Haarlem (Haarlemermeer). This proposal is extensively described in DE STAPPERS’ booklet mentioned above.
The Belgian secession crisis brought a provisional end to DE STAPPERS’ Dutch project and he moved from Belgium to Luxembourg.
De Stappers in Luxembourg
In 1838, at the age of 58, ancien inspecteur des eaux et forêts, DE STAPPERS applied in Luxembourg for a brevet de perfectionnement for his invention of a
Machine hydraulique
The patent was to cover the territories of the Royaume des Pays-Bas and the Grand-Duché de Luxembourg and DE STAPPERS invoked the earlier French patent of 1828 [6] as the basis for his application. The French patent, however, had already lapsed in 1833 after a 5 year term.
The administrative file does not provide any information on the outcome of the application, but the Mémorial of the time does not mention any granted patent either. The application was presumably rejected as DE STAPPERS made an attempt to import a patent that had already lapsed in its country of origin.
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[1] FamilySearch database (GQB7-KGH), Family Tree (Geneanet)
[2] La Noblesse belge, Annuaire de 1897
[4] FR patent, cote BA2937
[5]Tijdschrift ter bevordering van nijverheid, 1837, pages 513-522
[6] Cordula Rooijendijk, Waterwolven, Atlas Contact (2009)
(22/02/2021)
