I know many believe that it was an American, Lewis. C. Norton who invented the first door check and many places on the internet will uphold this by telling the story of how Lewis was employed by the Bishop at Boston Trinity Church to invent a device to stop the slamming of swing doors in the vestibule (17 June 1881). However this is not the truth it was in fact an English Father and Son team by the name of William Ovenden Snr and William Ovenden Jnr in April 1864.
If you turn to page 111 in the Patents for Inventions of Specifications relating to Hinges, Hinge Joints, and Door Springs at the bottom of the page you will find an entry entitled 'A.D. 1964, April 15 - No 948 Ovenden, William, the elder, and Ovenden, William, the younger - Certain mechanical arrangements to be applied to doors and casement windows to prevent slamming or "clapping."' It goes on to describe the very first hydraulic and pneumatic door check (as can be read below), beating Mr Norton by 17 years. Below is the entry -
If you turn to page 111 in the Patents for Inventions of Specifications relating to Hinges, Hinge Joints, and Door Springs at the bottom of the page you will find an entry entitled 'A.D. 1964, April 15 - No 948 Ovenden, William, the elder, and Ovenden, William, the younger - Certain mechanical arrangements to be applied to doors and casement windows to prevent slamming or "clapping."' It goes on to describe the very first hydraulic and pneumatic door check (as can be read below), beating Mr Norton by 17 years. Below is the entry -
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