The History of the Wheelchair

Wheel yourself through the history of the wheelchair with us, from the crude transport used in time of Ancient Egypt to the injured mining engineer who invented the first commercial wheelchair - and try and guess who gets our award for wheelchair cruelty though the ages...

The First Wheelchair

No one really knows when the first wheelchair was invented, although there are plenty who are willing to hazard a guess. What is interesting is that wheelchairs weren’t always invented for the right reason – especially where the Romans were concerned.

Apart from anything, when the first wheelchair was built depends on your definition of a wheelchair. Certainly the advanced technology required - wheels and chairs – has been around for 6000 years, while any wooden chairs almost certainly wouldn’t last that long.

Some believe it was the ancient Egyptians who were the first to use wheelchairs. These were, however, simple handcarts used to push people around – nothing like the sophisticated chairs of today.

The Greeks could have been the ones to invent wheelchairs, but they were more inclined to recline on wheelbeds – at least according to engravings on an ancient vase dating back to 535. These were for use by children rather than adults.

The Chinese also invented chariot-like wheelchairs around this time, although they were pulled rather than pushed. However, they were for making important people look even more important while being pulled by unimportant people, rather than to help disabled people.

Later, though, they felt guilty, and developed the wheelbarrow to push sick people to the fountain of youth. (The wheelbarrow worked but apparently the fountain didn’t!)

The Chinese continued to lead the way for centuries – the first ever engraving of a wheelchair, showing a man sitting in a chair with three wheels, dates back to in the sixth century.

Cruel Romans

The Romans, as one could imagine, were not inclined to equal rights for disabled people. Instead they treated disabled people almost as bad as a certain US deputy in Florida (see end of article).

The Romans invented wheelchairs not to extend people’s mobility, but so that they could push disabled to the fields to work.

They weren’t all bad, though. Both Greek and Roman physicians prescribed transport for the sick. (Presumably to the lions’ cages!)

From Spain to the UK

Wheelchair history draws a blank for a long time after this, although there must have been some around. They pop up again in Spain, when Philip II had a wheelchair complete with foot rests made, enabling him to enjoy a daily wheel around the gardens.

By 1655 the Brits were starting to come in on the act, when a young disabled watchmaker called Stephen Farfler built a three wheeled vehicle to transport himself.

This was the first self-propelled wheelchair – although it looked very different from today’s wheelchairs. It had a box like design, and to propel himself along Stephen turned a lever attached to the front wheel.

Baths, Spas and Wheelchairs

The next major step forward took place in Bath with the imaginatively named Bath chair. This was invented in 1783, and proved popular with invalids traveling to Bath for its famed waters and spa.

These wheelchairs came in a number of different guises – they could be open or shut, and pushed or pulled – sometimes by a donkey. However, in one respect they were a step back from Farlers’s invention – none of them were self propelled.

Dirty Hands

Self-propelled wheelchairs were coming though, and by the nineteenth century wheelchair users were propelling themselves by pushing at the outer rim of the wheelchair. Of course, this meant getting their hands dirty. They would have to wait until 1881 until they could get to a friend’s house without getting covered in mud.

This was when “push rims” were added to wheelchairs – smaller rim attached to the main wheels of the chair.

Wheelchairs continued to develop, becoming more lightweight and adding wire spoke wheels and adjustable seat backs. In fact, these self propelled wheelchairs became the inspiration for another invention – the tricycle.

But wheelchairs themselves were about to take a big step forward.

Electric Chairs, Motorized Chairs - and a Higher Civilization

The first electric chair was unfortunately not designed to help people. Invented in 1890 in the US, it was designed to kill criminals through the application of electric shock. The purpose was apparently humanitarian. Still, despite murdering tens of dogs in experimentation they still managed to cock up the first execution.

After they eventually managed to kill the convict, the inventor of the electric chair declared:

"We live in a higher civilization from this day on."

Happily, in Britain engineers were working on a chair with a different purpose in mind, and the first motorized wheelchair was invented in 1916. However, as they were heavy and expensive, most users stuck with manual wheelchairs for the time being.

An Injured Friend

Three short years after the invention of the first motorized chair a mining engineer was caught in a cave-in that broke his back. He was then confined to the large, hard non-folding wheelchairs of the time.

One of the people he would complain to was his close friend and mechanical engineer, Harry Jennings.

In 1933, in his garage, Jenkings invented a light weight steel wheelchair for his friend. The wheelchair was collapsible and could fit into the boot of a car.

The pair saw the potential of the invention, and the company they set up became the first mass-manufacturer of wheelchairs: Ernest and Jenning’s international.

And the award for wheelchair cruelty goes to...

The Romans were pretty mean to mobility-challenged people. However, you don't have to go back through history to find wheelchair cruelty. In January 2008 a deputy from the same country that introduced electric chairs was filmed dumping a paraplegic man from his wheelchair. Presumably, the deputy has lived in a higher civilization from that day on...

Thanks to the The Museum of Disability History for the image used above.

Also see: The History of the Power Chair

Note: The image used in this article was generously provided by the excellent Museum of Disability.