In what are considered to be independent lines of inquiry, Swan's incandescent electric lamp was developed at the same time Thomas Edison was working on his incandescent lamp with Swan's first successful lamp and Edison's lamp both patented in 1879.
Edison's goal in developing his lamp was for it to be used as one part of a much larger system: a long-life high-resistance lamp that could be connected in parallel to work economically with the large-scale electric-lighting utility he was creating.
Swan's original lamp design, with its low resistance (the lamp could only be used in series) and short life span, was not suited for such an application.

Swan's strong patents in Great Britain led, in 1883, to the two competing companies merging to exploit both Swan's and Edison's inventions, with the establishment of the Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company.
Known commonly as "Ediswan", the company sold lamps made with a cellulose filament that Swan had invented in 1881, while the Edison Company continued using bamboo filaments outside of Britain.
In 1892, General Electric (GE) began exploiting Swan's patents to produce cellulose filaments, until they were replaced in 1904 by a GE developed "General Electric Metallized" (GEM) baked cellulose filaments.

In 1886, Ediswan moved production to a former jute mill at Ponders End, North London.
In 1916, Ediswan set up the UK's first radio thermionic valve factory at Ponders End.
This area, with nearby Brimsdown subsequently developed as a centre for the manufacture of thermionic valves, cathode ray tubes, etc.,
and nearby parts of Enfield became an important centre of the electronics industry for much of the 20th century.
Ediswan became part of British Thomson-Houston and Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) in the late 1920s.
In what are considered to be independent lines of inquiry, Swan's incandescent electric lamp was developed at the same time Thomas Edison was working on his incandescent lamp with Swan's first successful lamp and Edison's lamp both patented in 1879. Edison's goal in developing his lamp was for it to be used as one part of a much larger system: a long-life high-resistance lamp that could be connected in parallel to work economically with the large-scale electric-lighting utility he was creating. Swan's original lamp design, with its low resistance (the lamp could only be used in series) and short life span, was not suited for such an application.
Swan's strong patents in Great Britain led, in 1883, to the two competing companies merging to exploit both Swan's and Edison's inventions, with the establishment of the Edison & Swan United Electric Light Company. Known commonly as "Ediswan", the company sold lamps made with a cellulose filament that Swan had invented in 1881, while the Edison Company continued using bamboo filaments outside of Britain. In 1892, General Electric (GE) began exploiting Swan's patents to produce cellulose filaments, until they were replaced in 1904 by a GE developed "General Electric Metallized" (GEM) baked cellulose filaments.
In 1886, Ediswan moved production to a former jute mill at Ponders End, North London. In 1916, Ediswan set up the UK's first radio thermionic valve factory at Ponders End. This area, with nearby Brimsdown subsequently developed as a centre for the manufacture of thermionic valves, cathode ray tubes, etc., and nearby parts of Enfield became an important centre of the electronics industry for much of the 20th century. Ediswan became part of British Thomson-Houston and Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) in the late 1920s.
Joseph Swan