Left: Geordie lamp by George Stephenson, center: Clanny lamp by William Reid Clanny, right: Davy lamp by Humphry Davy
In addition to Davy, others were also working on the development of safety lamps at the same time, including George Stephenson and William Reid Clanny.
George Stephenson (June 9, 1781 – August 12, 1848) was a British engineer, best known for his groundbreaking contributions to the development of the steam locomotive. Stephenson worked in the Killingworth coal mine, where he encountered the problems and dangers that open flames could cause in mining. In 1815, at the same time as Davy, he developed the Stephenson lamp, also known as the Geordie lamp. Unlike the Davy lamp, Stephenson used a glass cylinder to protect the flame from ignition sources in the mine environment. For added protection, the glass cover was equipped with a "coat" made of perforated metal. Overall, the Stephenson lamp provided a better light output compared to the Davy lamp (Hubig 1983: 16/17). Stephenson introduced his lamp within three weeks of Davy's (Gales 1993: 20).
William Reid Clanny (1776 – January 10, 1850) was an Irish doctor and the inventor of the Clanny safety lamp. In his role as a doctor, he published a report in 1813 lamenting the death of 202 miners who perished in 6 explosions between 1805 and 1812 in Durham/Northumberland. However, his involvement went further. In 1811, he began developing his first lamp design, where a candle was surrounded by glass. Air was forced through a bellows into a water container and then sucked out through another water-filled container. However, this "mining lamp" was still too heavy and impractical for use in mines. Clanny later became known for improving the Davy lamp. Since the mesh cap of the Davy lamp completely enclosed the flame, reducing the light output, miners often made holes in the mesh to increase the light, which reduced the safety of the lamp. In Clanny's design, he placed a glass cylinder around the flame, with the mesh cap placed above it. This ensured safety while still providing the necessary light output for mining (Hubig 1983: 14/15 & 30/31).
Since these inventions took place almost simultaneously, a dispute arose in 1816 between Davy and Stephenson over who was the first. However, this question was never definitively answered. It is notable that Clanny, Stephenson, and Davy unanimously refused to apply for patents for their inventions, something that was quite common at the time (Hubig 1983: 19).
(Gales, B.P.A.: Delfstoffen, Machine- en Scheepsbouw. Mijnbouw, Machinebouw. Scheepsbouw. In: Geschiedenis van de techniek in Nederland. De wording van een moderne samenleving 1800-1890. Deel IV. Delfstoffen, machine- en scheepsbouw. Stoom. Chemie. Telegrafie en telefonie, 1993, p. 20)
(Hubig, Peter: 160 Jahre Wetterlampen, Essen, 1983, pp. 14-19, 30/31)