Edwin Holmes (American)

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Edwin Holmes was an American inventor. He is credited with inventing the burglar alarm, at his factory in Boston, Massachusetts, having begun to sell them in 1858. His son Edwin T. Holmes I took over the company after his death. There is a biography on him called A Wonderful Fifty Years written by his son. Mr. Edwin Holmes got the patent rights of Pope’s invention and moved his business to New York in search of new and bigger market for the home alarm systems. But initially, people were skeptical about using electricity for alarms.

The use of electricity for street lights in 1880 changed the entire scenario with people started accepting electrical models. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company bought the Holmes Burglar business in 1905 with linking it to emergency call systems for inviting police and fire fighting personnel. After World War II, many inventions were brought in home alarm systems. It became less expensive and more versatile for use in 1980s and by the middle of 1990s the system has become a standard feature. Then wireless system came. In the most advanced technology, the use of motion detectors, surveillance equipments and electronic tracking devices are being used.