There are many people, both inventors and visionaries, who have contributed first to the creation of a diving helmet and later to the creation of a diving suit which was designed in the process of further development of diving equipment. All their efforts were put into the development of diving and increasing the safety of divers.

   Augustus Siebe was born in Pruisen in 1788. He was an engineer and worked as an artillery officer in the army. After the battle at Waterloo he emigrated to England to settle in London as a precision engineer. He turned out to be at the right place at the right time. The economy was at her top in the middle of the 19th century. In 1828 Siebe got a patent on a rotating water pump. Sales numbers were formidable and Siebe had his first financial success. He moved to London. His company went very well.

   Charles and John Deane came from a large but poor family. Both had experience at sea, John as a sailor and Charles as a caulker.
During his time at sea and working at shipyards he must have seen many fires on board ships. He must have been well aware of the problem of dense smoke, preventing escape and rescue. In 1824, Charles field a patent for "An apparatus to be worn by persons entering rooms or other places filled with smoke or other vapor, for the purpose of extinguishing fire or extricating persons or property therein". In other words: Charles invented a smoke helmet.

   In those days diving bells were used for salvage and rescue operations. Needless to say that those could not in all cases be used with the appropriate accuracy. Charles and John were both involved in bell operations and felt that there should be a more successful way to apply bell technology. They realized that the smoke helmet could operate in just the same way as the diving bell. After several tests in the canal with a canvas smoke helmet, they felt it could work. They contacted Augustus Siebe, who was an engineer and had a machine shop in London. He produced a helmet to their specifications in 1834.

   With this helmet the Deane brothers made numerous test dives. They discovered the positive buoyancy, due to the lack of weight of the hat and added weights. They discovered that the air exhaust was a vital part of the helmet. They drilled holes in the breastplate to encourage the exhaust but then found the bubbles obstructed the divers' view. The holes were then filled up again with lead plugs. When leaning forward, the water would rise so high inside the helmet that the divers' mouth and nose would be underwater. They attached a short jacket to the helmet and air exhausted at the divers' waist. This was a lot safer. The first diving helmet was born! And inventor Charles Deane made a lot of successful salvage dives in his hat. He dived on many famous wrecks like the Royal George and the Mary Rose.

   Their second, improved, style helmet was also produced by Augustus Siebe. Now there was only one riveted edge to attach the helmet to the short jacket. No need anymore for holes and lead plugs in the breastplate! Notice that the lights are now vertical. About 20 of these helmets were produced.

   Many divers used the Deane equipment. One of them was a young and clever engineer, George Edwards. After using the Deane gear for over a year in 1838, he suggested safety improvements.
His idea was to dress the diver in a full dress (instead of a short jacket) and clamp this dress, by means of 20 bolts, to the breastplate. Thus, the helmet could never flood again, even if the diver would stand on his head. The only thing Edwards wanted to reach was to improve safety underwater. For this reason he gave Siebe the full and free use of his diving dress design in 1838. Edwards did not take out a patent.

   In 1839, Siebe produced the first diving helmet and dress, based on Edwards' design. He used 12 equally spaced bolts to clamp the full dress to the breastplate. This was a huge success.
In 1840, the helmet was used by the Royal Navy on the wreck of the Royal George. The diving team, lead by Colonel Pasley, was very satisfied with Siebe's helmet. More than they were with Deane's helmet.
Pasley too suggested some improvements to the helmet. He suggested to separate the bonnet and the breastplate by means of an interrupted thread facility. Siebe took over the advise and thus the basic design for all later diving helmets was born.

- The first open dress - Air could circulate free through helmet and dress
- The first closed dress - Everything was sealed of. There was no risk of filling up
  with water.

   Since then, hundreds of companies have produced and are still producing various diving apparatus and equipment. What all these companies have in common is the fact that all their production is based on the efforts and innovative ideas of Parsely, Edwards, the Dean brothers and Siebe, namely the people who are responsible for the development of diving.