A FAMILY reunion is to take place as part of Marlborough's 800th anniversary celebrations to commemorate inventors who have largely been forgotten in the town.

Most people know that Richard Trevithick invented the first steam engine to run on rails and that Alexander Bell invented the telephone.

However, apart from a few Marlburians who have read up on their town history, few people know that four of the country's greatest inventors were Marlborough brothers.

Walter Hancock invented the first steam road carriage; Thomas Hancock invented the process by which rubber could be used, and subsequently went into business with the waterproof coat maker Mackintosh; Charles Hancock was an animal painter who invented the submarine telegraph, and John Hancock made rubber medical components and the very first rubber hose pipe.

A fifth brother, William, was one of the country's leading cabinet makers following in his father's footsteps. Some of his work can be found in Buckingham Palace.

The family lived in the High Street, and the two most famous brothers, Walter and Thomas, are commemorated by a blue plaque on the front of Numbers 2 and 3, the properties opposite the town hall, which were rebuilt after the devastating fire five years ago.

Frank James, a great-great-great nephew of the brothers, moved to Marlborough in 1974 and lived in the town for about six years running the Era bookshop, named after Walter Hancock's first steam carriage. He was responsible for the development of Hughenden Yard.

He has always believed that one of Walter Hancock's steam road engines called The Era survived but is possibly hidden underground and forgotten.

But a life-sized replica of the another of Walter Hancock's engines, The Enterprise, will be in Marlborough next week when Hancock descendants from as far away as Australia, Canada and the USA return to the town for the celebrations.

Mr James said: "This will be the first ever reunion of this branch of the Hancock family as far as I am aware."

Tomorrow, his brother, Prof Tom James from Cheltenham, will be giving a talk about his famous forebears, How One Marlborough Family Changed the World.

The public will be welcome to attend this Hancock memorial lecture in St Peter's Church, 6pm for 6.30pm, but the allocation of seats will be on a first-come first-served basis.

Although it is known that the brothers' parents lived in the High Street, the exact location of their home and their father James' cabinet workshop is not known.

Mr James said he had always been disappointed that his innovative ancestors were not better known like other famous inventors from the past. In particular he is particularly disappointed that Walter Hancock is not widely recognised for his achievement.

He said: "Walter Hancock's steam carriages were the forerunner of the modern car.

"He designed them to run on the roads not on rails so they really were the very first cars."

In 1838 Walter Hancock designed a steam car that would travel at 30mph, decades before the first internal combustion engine was invented.

All the brothers eventually left Marlborough although their family had lived in the town for at least 200 years.

Mr James said: "The title of my brother's lecture How One Family Changed the World sums up what the brothers did."