Montague Andrew Elijah Redgrave (July 31, 1844 – 1934) was an English-American game designer who bridged the gap between table

Bagatelle Bagatelle (from the Château de Bagatelle) is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls (set at nine in the 19th century) past wooden pins (which act as obstacles) into holes that are guarded by wooden ...

and

Pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

through his popular "Parlor Table Bagatelle" game. The game was first released around 1871 and possibly went on to influence the creation of the Caille Bros. "Log Cabin" (released around 1902). Redgrave was born in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, the son of William Redgrave and Sarah Curtis Newberry.''England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975'' He immigrated to New Jersey, where he worked as a grocery manufacturer. In 1871, he patented the first game that resembles modern pinball, calling it "Improvements in Bagatelles." His design introduced the spring-loaded plunger for launching the pinball. He died in 1934 in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. As ...

References

1844 births 1934 deaths Date of death missing British game designers British emigrants to the United States {{England-bio-stub