Henry Ely Shacklock - The Shacklock Orion Coal Range

The Shacklock Orion Coal Range

In 1873 due to requests from his clients and dissatisfaction with his own imported range in his home Shacklock designed and built a prototype cast iron coal range. Shacklock built a ‘self setting’ stove with specially designed grates and flues that worked using lignite coal unlike the British and American kitset imports which were designed to run on bituminous coal. This design was a continually improved and modified product that warmed kitchens, heated water, baked scones and cooked porridge throughout thousands of New Zealand homes. Shacklock named his design the ‘Orion’ due to his interest in astronomy. Before he patented the range in 1882 he introduced many features to appeal to the potential customer. The curves and angles were designed for aesthetics as well as strength. The fire doors would stay open by themselves horizontally, the chimney and flue damper could be removed for cleaning and the door was also made with varying thicknesses to distribute the heat evenly. By the late 1880s, the Orion range grew to include many different models including double ovens and featuring a ‘destructor’ firebox that was advertised as a safe and hygienic way of disposing of kitchen waste.