Frederick Marriott

Who was Frederick Marriott?

Frederick Marriott was a publisher, early promoter of aviation and creator of the Avitor Hermes Jr., the first unmanned aircraft to fly by its own power in the United States. He was described as "an English gentlemen, of eccentric habits, much shrewdness and enterprise, and entire originality" by the publisher of the newspaper Northern Indianian on March 19, 1874. Marriott is credited for inventing the term "aeroplane," and intended to build an air transport system that would bring people from New York to California without the perils of the normal voyage of the 19th century. The company he formed in 1866 was named the Aerial Steam Navigation Company.