question for Joe Roark

[jimwylie1]

Joe

Firstly I would like to say how much I enjoyed reading the various gems of lifting history that you have been posting on the GripBoard lately - thank you.

My question relates to the Inch Dumbbell.  I was wondering if you could compile a short who's who of those that have successfully lifted the Inch Dumbbell (or replica) from the ground in recent times.  Reading 'The Black log' (re: Tom's training with his replica Inch handle) got me thinking about who has successfully managed to lift the fabled bell.  A list of successful attempts may help me put this feat into perspective.

Thanks

[Roark]

jimwylie1,

Actually, I have not been keeping track of who has

one hand deadlifted the bell in recent times. I suspect

that if we all pool our awareness on this we can come

up with some names. I'll start paying attention, and see

what I have in my files thru the years.

There are men who can lift it, and almost casually- I

recall a post on this board where a friend of John Wood

picked up a replica without utmost effort.

Kim Wood told me of a young man who was bent over

forward OFF BALANCE, and picked up a replica; Kim

feared the young man would be injured, but he was

not, and the replica did not cause him any special

effort. Amazing.

A few of the Bengals players have deadlifted the

replica, which leads one to believe that other pro

NFL players could as well, and, of course, several

of the men who compete in Strongest Man competitions

could, and have, deadlifted the bell. It is certainly not

the other-worldly feat that Inch claimed it was in his

day, especially when huge men with large/long hands

are trying to lift it.

I continue to await the first news of whoever deadlifts

one in each hand and then takes a few steps in the

farmer's walk. That is a video I want to see.

By the way, thanks for the kind words about the

bits of history I post now and then.

[mobsterone]

Myself and Alan Radley wrote an article which has appeared elsewhere and listed all of those considered to have lifted the original. I'll see if I have it and I'll post it here.

The Hundred Year History of the Inch Dumbbell

The Thomas Inch “Challenge” dumbbell has a fascinating history.  Along with the Apollon Railway wheels, it is probably the most famous, if not the most discussed dumbbell ever manufactured. The inch dumbbell was first owned just over 100 years ago in 1896 by Thomas Inch of England who was at the time just 15 years of age. Thomas later went on to win the title of strongest man in England in the first properly ratified strongman contest in England, and also set several genuine world records in weight-lifting in a long weightlifting career spanning more than 40 years.

One of the major sources of Inch's fame today is the Inch challenge dumbbell. This bell probably has more history behind it than any other that has ever been made.  Lets hear its early  history  from Inch himself writing in Health and Strength in the 1930’s,  "It was at the age of fifteen that I came into possession of what came to be known as the "Inch Challenge Dumbbell". I had ordered a 100lb. bell from the local ironworks, and lifted this so easily that I ordered another one considerably heavier. The bell duly arrived, and instead of the inch diameter handle, which the hundred pounds had, I found an enormous thick grip, which made it impossible to lift the bell off the floor. I hurried round to the ironworks to see the manager and protest, but all I could get out of him was ‘Your common sense ought to tell you that if a 100lb bell has a handle one inch thick - a bell stones heavier must have a handle in proportion.’ I could see the humorous side, but I consoled myself with thinking that perhaps one day I would lift the bell and know that no one else would be able to do so! It was six solid years before I saw the bell rise off the floor to my intense satisfaction." And so the famous dumbbell – weight around 172 lbs, was mistakenly made with a very thick handle of just under 2.5 inches diameter (2 and three-eighths of an inch to be precise. SG).  

The great thickness of the handle meant it would take enormous gripping power to be able to successfully lift. Inch says on the subject "Of coarse no one could lift it off the ground, But I made up my mind that I would do so, and felt that when I succeeded I would have a feat on which I could safely offer money to anyone without much fear of losing it".  Inch continues, "It was Arthur Saxon's great ambition to lift the bell, but although he practised with it he never succeeded. Aston, when with me, had many a try, but I never saw it stir, though he has a large hand and good forearm development.”

Thomas always claimed that the dumbbell had never been raised even an inch off the floor by anyone, and many, many strongmen tried. He later claimed that the number of lifters, gymnasts and strongmen who tried over a period of more than 40 years was over 20,000. Amazingly none succeeded!  Others who tried included Padoubny, Maurice Deriaz, and Harold Wood (British heavyweight boxing champion) and many others. Maurice in fact was the champion weightlifter of France and one hand clean and jerk 240 lbs and snatch 190 lbs, yet even with such strength and lifting skill even he was unable to move the bell! Another who tried to lift the challenge dumbbell was Lionel Strongfort who had been the first man in the world to clean and jerk 340 lbs.    There is no doubt that Inch deadlifted the dumbbell off the floor to a reasonable height on many hundreds of occasions throughout his life, or that he could still lift it in his sixties! In fact Inch claimed to be able to lift the dumbbell overhead with one hand, a truly magnificent feat of power.  There is little doubt that Thomas had the power to press (bent press style) such a weight overhead.   However there is some doubt over weather Inch himself (or anyone) has ever able to clean the weight to the shoulder single-handedly.  That Inch possessed tremendous powers in the gripping department can hardly be argued, or that this was the reason he was able to lift the bell where many others failed.   Inch as a matter of fact studied grip development all through his life, and in spite of a small hand and wrist managed to develop a fifteen-inch forearm (measured with the arm held perfectly straight out in front).  In addition to his challenge dumbbell, Inch held many world records in tests of gripping strength. He recommended the use of thick handled dumbbells and barbells in training for this purpose, and wrote a manual called "Developing the Grip and Forearm" which later became an absolute classic booklet on the subject.

The main exercise he recommended for forearm and grip was the lifting of thick handled dumbbell's with handle thickness of up to 2 ½ in. Over the years Inch wrote many articles on the subject of the challenge dumbbell. In fact he had 3, two of which were lighter in weight (one at 130 lbs and a second which weighed 153 pounds and also had a 2 inch + handle).    

In a 1941 issue of Superman magazine Inch boasted “During a period of over fourty years it has never once been lifted an inch off the ground, except by msyelf, and I may say that I had it some years before I moved it, and often despaired of ever succeeding, I made an open offer of 200 pounds cash (around 2000 pounds today), should anyone succeed in lifting it, and seeing the bell was taken all over England, was produced at scores of displays and championship matches, music halls etc, you may guess that there were many famous aspirants to be the first to lift the bell.”  Inch himself was filmed by the Pathe Frere Film company lifting the dumbbell when over 50 years of age. Inch also used to leave the great dumbbell in open view for up to 2 weeks at a time at Henglers Circus, again with a reward of 200 pounds to anyone who could lift it. At the and of a spell, Thomas would turn up, pick the bell up in one hand, and walk away with it!

The list of men who have failed to lift the dumbbell over the intervening years reads like a who’s who of weightlifting. The lifters who failed in their attempts included the likes of Worlds strongest man Arthur Saxon, Britains Strongest man Edward Aston, etc etc. The Inch challenge dumbbell remained safe as a challenge until October 26th 1956.  Up until that time, claimed Inch, no man ever moved the dumbbell even a fraction off the floor.  Then as described by David Gentle in the July 1999 issue of Milo magazine, David Webster held a widely publicised contest in Aberdeen at which 3 men successfully lifted the original dumbbell clear of the floor single-handedly.   These were in turn, the 165 lb Glasgow weightlifter John Gallagher who lifted the great dumbbell up to his waist. Second to lift the bell on that night was Dough Cameron, who also lifted it up to his waist. Finally, a huge man by the name of Henry Gray lifted the dumbbell as high as his chest.  Now the tally of men who had lifted the dumbbell was up to 4. It is interesting to note that when Inch himself first heard that Gray had lifted the dumbell as high as his chest he refused to believe it. Only when he was informed that more than 1200 people had witnessed the lift did he concede that Gray had indeed performed the great feat of strength. Interestingly Gray was said to have huge hands and still had no trouble lifting the bell. Many have speculated that the rather narrow handle of the dumbbell (at 4 inches) prevented men with large hands from succeeding with the challenge, and that Thomas deliberatly had the dumbbell manufactured with a narrow handle as it suited his ratehr small hands. This myth seems to add to the mystery of the dumbbell.  Arthur Saxon, in particular had huge hands, fingers and wrists, and many have speculated that this is the reason he failed to lift it. I myself however do not believe that having large hands is any impediment to lifting the dumbbell, as a recent challenger by the name of Steve Gardener has some of the largest hands I have ever seen and yet has not trouble lifting it! Others who have lifted it had larger hands than average including later challenger Eddie Ellwood. Another myth (going back to the 1930’s) regarding the dumbbell relates to a small hole in the centre of the handle, which was said by some to have been deliberatley engineered for Inch to insert a ring he used to have on his middle finger and so aid his gripping power.  This hole was however used during manufacture to vent gasses, and is not in any way related to the secret of lifting it.  There really is no secret to the dumbbell, as Inch himself said on many occasions, other than possesion of enormous gripping power.

Later the dumbbell fell into the hands of the dark side of the Force! in the shape of Darth Vader, or David Prowse, former heavyweight weightlifting champion of Great Britain. Mr Universe Bill Richardson (world record holder on many weightlifting stunts) counts as the next successful challenger with the original Inch weight, becoming the 5th man to lift the original dumbbell during the 1980’s. Next we jump forward to the year 1988, where we find Eddie Ellwood (NABBA MR Universe) attempting to become the 6th man to lift the dumbbell at the 7th Oscar Heidenstam Physical Culture awards in England. He succeeds (with some difficulty), lifting the dumbbell onto a telephone directory - but is unable to lift it off again!  Over the years the standard 2-3 inch thick telephone directory seems to have become the required height any challenger has to reach to be approved as a conqueror of the dumbbell.  The following year a certain a proud challenger failed in his first attempt to lift the challenge dumbbell, that man being your humble author (although he could have sworn that the weight fluttered slightly off the floor!). This was of course the year that both Eddie and Bill did several non-consecutive reps as reported in the OHF dinner report of 1999

Jumping forward to the next years dinner in March 18th 2000, we see this very same challenger (your author) arrive early to the 9th Oscar Heidenstam Foundation dinner and shuffle around near the great dumbbell nervously for a few minutes. After an entire year of training with thick handled dumbbells, I felt very confident that I had the forearm power to lift the Inch dumbbell of the floor.  Then after a short chat with Steve Gardener and hearing him boast that he also aimed to lift the great weight that evening, I felt a noticable rush of adrenaline. I suddenly jumped onto the small stage on which the dumbbell rested,  (in a full dinner suit as the OH awards evening is quite a glittering and “posh” occasion) - and begin chalking up my hands - before most of the guests had even arrived!  I then placed my right had around the dumbbell and lifted it off the floor by a few inches before rapidly releasing it! What a great feeling - I had lifted the weight - but only a couple of people had been watching my attempt. I heard a murmur go around the crowd of 6-7 people then present, and before long Malcolm Whyatt – founder and secretary of the OH Foundation, and David Gentle - PC Historian - and the Video documentor were ready to watch me have another go. So I lifted the weight again clear of the floor with my right hand  - this time to a good   4-5 inches height.  So by my reckoning I had become only the 7th man in history to ever lift the original challenge dumbbell off the floor single-handedly. Next Steve Gardener stepped forward for his try at the bell, and looking at the confidence and determination he showed on his face - I just knew he was going to lift it - that and the fact that he had just told me that lifting at home he had lifted around 190 lbs on a similar thickness handle.  Steve then lifted the dumbbell to waist height before slowly lowering the great dumbbell to the ground!  He had become the 8th man to lift the dumbbell, but before the night was out another would step forward and test his mettle against the challenge. The new challengers name was Chris James of Wales, and although he could not quite (although he very definitely got the great weight fluttering of the floor by a few cm) get the dumbbell off the floor with one hand, he managed to clean the weight with both hands before single-handedly jerking the weight overhead. Although this warrants mention here as a great feat of strength, Chris doesn’t (yet – as I am sure he will do it) get into the list of successful challengers.  

Before we end our current update on the history of the Inch dumbbell, we should note that several replicas have now been manufactured. Although we have not included these lifts in our record, some of the men who have lifted these are worthy of a mention here. The first man to manufacture a replica was Australian grip master Bruce White, who successfully lifted the replica weight in the early 1990’s. Then in 1992 Bill Kazmier pressed this same replica weight overhead single-handedly. Note here that even though it was said that he could dead-lift the dumbbell clear of the floor using one hand, the author believes that the feet of pressing / jerking the weight overhead is the easier part of the lift, as opposed to lifting it of the floor with one hand. The feat of cleaning the Inch weight, has, to the authors' knowledge never been accomplished, and remains an open challenge to modern strongmen.  Another who has lifted a replica is grip master Richard Sorin, who sells exact replicas of the Inch Dumbbell, and has successfully lifted a replica up to waist level.  To sum up my analysis, I reckon the current tally of men who have conquered the weight - or a replica - stands at 11.  Of coarse others may have the strength to lift the dumbbell, but until they test themselves on the original (or a replica) they cannot know for sure. I have a feeling that many would get a strong sense of exhilaration, as I did myself, in testing their gripping power on the dumbbell. Somehow, placing ones mitt in the very same spot as such lifting greats as Inch, Saxon etc, gives a special thrill. I feel sure that when you try, you will get hooked like I did on the idea of succeeding where so many great men failed.

References

1) Gentle, David. The Thomas Inch Dumbbell: Still a Challenge in 1999, Milo Volume 7 no 1.

2) Inch, Thomas, The Famous Inch Challenge Dumb-bell. 1941, Superman May 1941.

[jimwylie1]

Joe

Currently the gym I train at has one plate loading inch replica.  I intend to purchase my own plate loading replica so I can train towards this two handed feat.  I'll let you know how I get along upon delivery of the handle.

[Roark]

Jimwylie!,

Yes, please keep us posted on the progress, as

it 'inches' along.

Mobsterone. Good article. But there are a couple of

points about which Inch's constant story-changing

has caused some confusion. Without getting into specific references here (my file on Inch is 150+ pages)

it appears to me that juggling all Inch's various

versions of the bell, that this much is certain:

1. The 172 is not the bell he acquired at age 15- he

probably got it circa 1906. It was either the 140 or

the 153 that he acquired at age 15. One place he

mentions that after acquiring the thick handled bell

as he got stronger and heavier, he had heavier

versions made. Since 172 is the heaviest we know of,

I assume he started with the 140, then the 153, then

the 172. Cannot put a fix on when the 75 pounder

entered the picture.

2. Some men did in fact clear the floor with the 172,

Inch at one place acknowledges this, but it is the

sole reference to it, and he never mentions it again.

3. Saxon, in my opinion, never attempted the 172,

in spite of what Inch said after Arthur died, and only

after Arthur died.

4. When Inch took the bell to Hengler's Circus for

Padoubny to try, I have a hunch, just a hunch, that

it was on the single day when Apollon had dropped

out of the wrestling tournament due to a dispute

over a match with Padoubny. Inch said he left the

bell at Hengler's for a day. Another place he said he

left it for two weeks. So, either, there were two occasions when he left it for Padoubny to try (unlikely

since Padoubny could do nothing with it on the first

day, and had no continued chance to train on it) or

Inch chose the period of time when Apollon had

dropped out of the contest- and before Apollon

returned to it, deliberately, knowing that Apollon

would have toyed with the 172 since he had toyed

with a 2.36" diameter bell of 226 lbs!

The more I read about Inch, the more convinced I

am that he was very misleading about the history

of the 172 bell.

Never has it come to my awareness HOW Inch got

the 172 to his shoulder. I have never seen a description

of how he did it, only that it must be in the manner he

prescribed. Then decades later, when other men were

deadlifting it, he did not congratulate them as he had

always indicated he would, he challenged their accomp-

lishment as a mere deadlift and said the issue was one

hand all the way from the floor to overhead, something

we lack a photo of him doing, something we lack a

written description of him doing on any occasion when

it was certain that the 172 was the one of the four

lookalike bells being lifted.

If it turns out that he mislead the iron community all these decades, how disrepectful to history he was.

[mobsterone]

Thanks for the comments. It has to be said that the article was written some time ago, that the info was based upon the two references and that neither myself or Alan were aware of the stuff written here.

[Roark]

Mobsterone,

Nor was I aware of the material until I started

comparing Inch's statements to each other etc.

No doubt we all simply trusted the man to be

honest about his accomplishments, which, it appears,

he was not. The IGC would not, I hope, certify his

claims based on what we now know.

Frankly, that is one of the things I like about the

grip board, apparent honesty coupled with a lack

of wild claims. Often we read about someone being

1/8" away from closing a gripper, when they could

easily claimed to have closed it. Honorable.

[mobsterone]

I have another article which arrived today. As and when its typed up I'll post it. In the mean time have you come up with a definitive answer (perhaps one I can include in my mag ).

[Tom Black]

Everyone might remember that I had proposed that the IGC eventually make a list of those who have lifted the Inch dumbbell or equivalent.  This will be the second major project after the Crush Master list.  I’ve been thinking about the certification for this, as well as grand fathering.   I thought obviously that a picture would be a requirement for grand fathering and then I came to the realization that the IGC probably would be unable to grand father Thomas Inch using this very basic requirement!  The next possible criteria for grand fathering would be a witness.  Certainly there must still be some alive today, and David Webster comes to mind.  I anticipate different levels of the lift as follows:

1.Cleared from floor (both bells off the ground, even slightly).

2.Lifted to mid-point.

3.Deadlifted to lockout.

4.Cleaned and whatever (Jerk, Push Pressed, Pressed).

5.Snatched!

6.Other (Like farmer’s hold or farmers walk with Inch Dumbbells.

7. Any weight above the Inch on an equivalent handle, and possibly a ranking list above the Inch weight.

The list would include the name and a description of what was accomplished along the lines of above.

[jimwylie1]

Tom

This is a sensible idea.  It sounds like it would be a #### of a lot easier to administer that the Crush Master list as it's just a case of lifting the weight in the required fashion or not lifting it .  

How's training with your handle going?

(Edited by jimwylie1 at 11:58 am on Oct. 30, 2001)

[Guest Luke Reimer]

I like your idea of having and Inch Dumbbell list reflecting different degrees of difficulty. I think this would foster slightly more interesting competition that if we just went for higher and higher break-from-the-floor numbers on a plate loader (we can of course do that too, as you said).

[The Mac]

I quite like the idea of having different records for different levels of feats. I've always thought that the few lifts recognised by the "major" lifting organisations (IWF & IPF) has stifled competition.

As for Inch, I think I've posted before that I doubt he could have ever lifted the 172lb dumbell. Perhaps I'll amend that slightly. If Inch could lift the 172lb dumbell, then I doubt the one tried by the other 20,000+ people was the same one. Either way, I don't think it's a question that can ever be reasonably answered at this stage, unless Joe gets hold of some more resources :-)

By the way, I would to add my thanks to Joe for the info he provides. Such a guardian of our sport's history should be applauded.

Chris McCarthy

(Edited by The Mac at 2:20 am on Nov. 2, 2001)

[EricMilfeld]

An informative read from the early days of the board. 

[Hubgeezer]

1 hour ago, EricMilfeld said:

An informative read from the early days of the board. 

Yes it is...

I have a question that no one has seemed to be able to answer regarding the ownership of the original bell. 

I believe it went from Thomas Inch to the Reg Park Company. And, the last transaction was between David Prowse (British actor who played Darth Vader in the first three Star Wars movies) and Kim Wood, who has owned it for close to 20 years now. Who did David Prowse acquire it from? I feel especially stupid asking this question, because I am one of the few people who ever had a face-to-face conversation with David Prowse about the original. A group of us had dinner together the night before the 2008 AOBS Dinner. I was directly across from David, and thought, hell, he doesn't want to talk about Star Wars, so I asked him about the Inch. When I asked, he said he paid "50 Quid" for it, talked about it being jammed inside a crate and not being able to spin, so he had no trouble picking it up while it was in the box. But I got the feeling that the Inch was not particularly special, well-known, etc. at the time he got it, because I was under the impression he purchased it from some nobody. And Reg Park certainly was not a Nobody! Did anyone besides Inch, Park, Prowse, and Wood ever own it? I have been told by someone who should know that those are the only parties, but Prowse's story seemed so obscure, I find it hard to believe it came from Reg Park...

[EricMilfeld]

12 minutes ago, Hubgeezer said:

Yes it is...

I have a question that no one has seemed to be able to answer regarding the ownership of the original bell. 

I believe it went from Thomas Inch to the Reg Park Company. And, the last transaction was between David Prowse (British actor who played Darth Vader in the first three Star Wars movies) and Kim Wood, who has owned it for close to 20 years now. Who did David Prowse acquire it from? I feel especially stupid asking this question, because I am one of the few people who ever had a face-to-face conversation with David Prowse about the original. A group of us had dinner together the night before the 2008 AOBS Dinner. I was directly across from David, and thought, hell, he doesn't want to talk about Star Wars, so I asked him about the Inch. When I asked, he said he paid "50 Quid" for it, talked about it being jammed inside a crate and not being able to spin, so he had no trouble picking it up while it was in the box. But I got the feeling that the Inch was not particularly special, well-known, etc. at the time he got it, because I was under the impression he purchased it from some nobody. And Reg Park certainly was not a Nobody! Did anyone besides Inch, Park, Prowse, and Wood ever own it? I have been told by someone who should know that those are the only parties, but Prowse's story seemed so obscure, I find it hard to believe it came from Reg Park...

Have you ever posed that question to Joe Roark?

[burkhardmacht]

19 minutes ago, Hubgeezer said:

Yes it is...

I have a question that no one has seemed to be able to answer regarding the ownership of the original bell. 

I believe it went from Thomas Inch to the Reg Park Company. And, the last transaction was between David Prowse (British actor who played Darth Vader in the first three Star Wars movies) and Kim Wood, who has owned it for close to 20 years now. Who did David Prowse acquire it from? I feel especially stupid asking this question, because I am one of the few people who ever had a face-to-face conversation with David Prowse about the original. A group of us had dinner together the night before the 2008 AOBS Dinner. I was directly across from David, and thought, hell, he doesn't want to talk about Star Wars, so I asked him about the Inch. When I asked, he said he paid "50 Quid" for it, talked about it being jammed inside a crate and not being able to spin, so he had no trouble picking it up while it was in the box. But I got the feeling that the Inch was not particularly special, well-known, etc. at the time he got it, because I was under the impression he purchased it from some nobody. And Reg Park certainly was not a Nobody! Did anyone besides Inch, Park, Prowse, and Wood ever own it? I have been told by someone who should know that those are the only parties, but Prowse's story seemed so obscure, I find it hard to believe it came from Reg Park...

Thanks for sharing!

I know that David Horne has the exact info about who owned it (also for how long I believe). If I'm correct the third owner was Bert Lightfood. Better ask David - he knows it for sure!

 

BTW: This is a really interesting read! Especially after watching so many videos of so many crazy things done with InchDB replicas.... FWs, clean and presses, hot potatoes.... just crazy....

Edited December 12, 2018 by burkhardmacht

[Hubgeezer]

4 hours ago, burkhardmacht said:

Thanks for sharing!

I know that David Horne has the exact info about who owned it (also for how long I believe). If I'm correct the third owner was Bert Lightfood. Better ask David - he knows it for sure!

 

BTW: This is a really interesting read! Especially after watching so many videos of so many crazy things done with InchDB replicas.... FWs, clean and presses, hot potatoes.... just crazy....

Wow, David Horne. Had not even thought of that. By the way, a few years back on the IronMind Forum, I had posted a few more details than what I did here. Steve Gardener then pointed out that in David's old "Iron Grip Magazine", he had some reporting about when Prowse said he acquired it. He told David Horne, in 1998 I believe, that he acquired it in 1968. in 2008, over dinner, he told me "around 1971". I suspect the former date is probably more accurate, being 10 years earlier, Mr. Prowse being 10 years younger, David Horne interviewing him as opposed to some fellow (me) asking about it over dinner.

 

Thanks for the tip.

[burkhardmacht]

5 hours ago, Hubgeezer said:

Wow, David Horne. Had not even thought of that. By the way, a few years back on the IronMind Forum, I had posted a few more details than what I did here. Steve Gardener then pointed out that in David's old "Iron Grip Magazine", he had some reporting about when Prowse said he acquired it. He told David Horne, in 1998 I believe, that he acquired it in 1968. in 2008, over dinner, he told me "around 1971". I suspect the former date is probably more accurate, being 10 years earlier, Mr. Prowse being 10 years younger, David Horne interviewing him as opposed to some fellow (me) asking about it over dinner.

 

Thanks for the tip.

Owners of the original 78kg Inch Dumbbell:

Thomas Inch 1906-1950

Reg Park: 1950-1966

H.S. Lightfoot: 1966-1968

Dave Prowse : 1968-2000

Kim Wood: 2000 until now

I found an old note of  mine. I'm pretty sure I have this info from David Horne - I believe I asked him via pm.

Edited December 13, 2018 by burkhardmacht

[Hubgeezer]

13 hours ago, burkhardmacht said:

Owners of the original 78kg Inch Dumbbell:

Thomas Inch 1906-1950

Reg Park: 1950-1966

H.S. Lightfoot: 1966-1968

Dave Prowse : 1968-2000

Kim Wood: 2000 until now

I found an old note of  mine. I'm pretty sure I have this info from David Horne - I believe I asked him via pm.

Very good. This may be the only recap of its kind on the world wide web. Thank You!!