George Sharples was a successful businessman who installed the first telephone exchange in Preston.
Sharples was a jack-of-all-trades who could turn his hand to just about anything. He grew up in Preston above his father's butcher's shop, but he always had more on his mind than managing the family business.
He became a well-known and respected figure in Preston, working as a pharmaceutical and analytical chemist, electrician, optician, photographer, explosives expert, surgical appliance manufacturer and installer of lightning conductors.
However, he made his mark in 1880, when he installed the first exchange in his home town. This was only a year after the first exchange in London and put Preston well and truly at the forefront of progress.
Sharples lived to the ripe old age of 83, and at his death was revered as the oldest working tradesman in Preston - and probably England.
