The Patent Meteor Casting Reel invented by Percy Wadham and Percy Scott of the Dreadnought Casting Reel Company.
Percy Wadham & Percy Scott patented the Meteor reel suitable for various types of angling in 1909.
The Dreadnought Casting Reel Co. Isle of Wight manufactured and marketed the reel. So far, experts have identified 14 variations of the reel, and this one is number 3. It is stamped with PATENT APPLIED FOR, which would date the reel to 1908. Many people need to learn what Wadham & Scott had to do with Dingley and Hardy Brothers.
Hardy Brothers threatened to take legal action against Wadham & Scott as they believed the pair had infringed their patent 28413 of 1896. Dingley was generally accepted to have invented the Silex reel at Hardy’s. On the Meteor, Wadham & Scott used a lever to put the reel into free spool and added a brake. This infringed the Silex reel patent.
The claim was tenuous at best, but Wadham & Scott was obviously threatened by one of the world’s largest and most litigious companies and buckled. Eventually, an agreement was arranged, and they were allowed to use the 1896 patent, provided they paid 6d for every reel made. Hence, the number stamping on the foot of the Meteor reel. In return, Hardy would use patents 18212 and 28413 on their reels, particularly the new reel they were working on, the Silex No2.
The Silex No 2 had the principle of the check being disengaged by the same lever that operated the brake. They paid Wadham & Scott 6d for every Silex No2 made. We know Dingley was being paid 6d for every Silex No 1 made. Could Dingley’s departure from Hardy Bros and starting alone be because his future earnings were curtailed?