Curated category
English inventors
- Daniel BournDaniel Bourn filed a patent application in 1748 for a carding machine that used rotating cylinders. This specific mechanism replaced older hand-cranking…
- James HargreavesJames Hargreaves was born at Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire. He stood about five-foot ten and was described as a stout, broad man.
- Lewis PaulLewis Paul died in 1759, but his story began much earlier with a family steeped in medicine and faith. His father served as the physician to Lord…
- Robert Kay (inventor)Robert Kay entered the world in 1728 within the town of Bury, Lancashire. His parents were John Kay and Ann Holt. The family lived as shuttlemakers in their…
- John RoebuckJohn Roebuck was born in Sheffield, where his father ran a prosperous manufacturing business. He attended Sheffield Grammar School before studying at Dr.
- Isaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton said his mother told him he was so small at birth that he could have fit inside a quart mug. He was born prematurely on Christmas Day, the…
- John Kay (flying shuttle)John Kay entered the world on the 17th of June 1704 in the Lancashire hamlet of Walmersley. His father Robert owned the Park estate there before dying before…
- Richard Roberts (engineer)Richard Roberts was born on the 22nd of April 1789 at Llanymynech, Powys. This village sat directly on the border between England and Wales.
- Henry MaudslayHenry Maudslay was born on the 22nd of August 1771 in an alley off Beresford Square at Woolwich. His father worked as a wheelwright for the Royal Engineers…
- Samuel CromptonSamuel Crompton was born at 10 Firwood Fold in Bolton, Lancashire on the 3rd of December 1753. His father George worked as a caretaker at Hall i' th' Wood…
- Henry FourdrinierHenry Fourdrinier entered the world on the 11th of February 1766. He was born into a family deeply embedded in the paper trade.
- Robert HookeRobert Hooke was born on the 18th of July 1635 in Freshwater, Isle of Wight. His father John Hooke served as a curate at All Saints' Church and his mother…
- Alan TuringAlan Turing once chained his tea mug to a radiator pipe at Bletchley Park so it could not be stolen. In the first week of every June he cycled to the office…
- Josiah WedgwoodOn the 12th of July 1730, Josiah Wedgwood was born into a family of potters in Burslem. The village had several related families working clay near St John's…
- Joseph BramahJoseph Bramah was born on the 13th of April 1748 in South Yorkshire. He grew up as the second son of a farmer named Joseph Bramma and his wife Mary Denton.
- Edmund CartwrightEdmund Cartwright entered the world on the 24th of April 1743 at Marnham in Nottinghamshire. He was the fourth son born to William Cartwright and his wife…
- Joseph WhitworthJohn Street in Stockport, Cheshire, marked the birthplace of Joseph Whitworth on the 21st of December 1803. The site now holds a blue plaque on the back wall…
- Matthew MurrayMatthew Murray was born in Newcastle upon Tyne during 1765. He left school at the age of fourteen to begin an apprenticeship as a blacksmith or whitesmith.
- Edmond HalleyEdmond Halley was born in Haggerston, Middlesex, during the year 1656. His father Edmond Halley Sr. worked as a wealthy soap-maker in London and came from a…
- John Wilkinson (industrialist)John Wilkinson entered the world in Little Clifton, Cumberland, during 1728. His father Isaac worked as a potfounder at the local blast furnace.
- Clement ClerkeSir Clement Clerke died in 1693, leaving behind a legacy of industrial innovation despite his personal financial ruin. He was the third son of George Clerke…