FOUNTAIN, Guy R. 1898-1977. Engineer. Gave to the language the word ‘Tannoy’, which has become synonymous with public address systems. Born in Selby, Yorkshire, he came to London during World War One, and opened a workshop in Tulsemere Road, SE27, to make battery chargers for wireless sets and in which he used a rectifier of tantalum and lead alloy, hence the trademark ‘Tannoy’. He subsequently had factories in West Norwood. After his marriage in 1922 to Elsie Portwine (see entry for her father) the family lived at 25 Lancaster Road (now Lancaster Avenue) and afterwards at 112 College Road, which had been built by his father-in-law.
Patrick Spencer