Hansom, Joseph Aloysius (1803-1882)

English architect and inventor. His works include the Birmingham town hall (1831), but he is remembered as the designer of the hansom cab (1834), a two-wheel carriage with a seat for the driver on the outside.

Hansom was the son of a joiner, to which trade he himself was at first apprenticed. Showing an aptitude for design, he became assistant to a York architect; afterwards he entered the profession himself and designed many important buildings, chiefly Roman Catholic churches.

He received only 300 pounds for his invention which was originally called the ‘patent safety cab’. He was also the founder of The Builder (1842).