His grandfather William Bickford had developed a method of making mining fuses using rope which was safer than previous methods and with Smith's father had established a factory at Tuckingmill, Cornwall.
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There was another factory St. Helen's Junction, Lancashire, and Smith was also chairman of Helston Railway.
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In 1831 William Bickford, an English merchant and a Methodist, originally from Ashburton, Devon, moved to the heart of the Cornish mining district near Camborne; where at Tuckingmill he developed the first practical and reliable means for igniting gunpowder when mining, the "Safety Fuze".