Richard Hornsby ( Elsham in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

4 June 1790 – 6 January 1864) was an inventor and founder of a major agricultural machinery firm that developed

steam engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

. His firm also developed early diesels and

caterpillar track Continuous track or tracked treads are a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the w ...

s. He came from a farming family, the son of William Hornsby and his wife Sarah. Hornsby-Akroyd locomotive of RAR Woolwich

Formation of company

In 1805, at the age of fifteen, he started his apprenticeship for Havercroft Wheelwright in

Barnetby Barnetby le Wold is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England, located between Brigg and Immingham. The village is also near Barton-upon-Humber. Barnetby railway station serves the vill ...

(

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lincolnshire, England. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 167,446. T ...

). He came to

Grantham Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

in 1810 looking for work. He approached Richard Seaman, the village blacksmith of Barrowby. When working in Barrowby, he had the idea to put a set of wheels on an adjustable harrow. Seeing this inventiveness, Seaman offered him a partnership in his company. Seaman & Hornsby was started in 1812 with business partner and blacksmith, Richard Seaman, a fellow

methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. The firm became

Richard Hornsby & Sons Richard Hornsby & Sons was an engine and machinery manufacturer in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England from 1828 until 1918. The company was a pioneer in the manufacture of the Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine, oil engine develop ...

in 1828, when Seaman retired. The company made

plough A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...

s and

seed drill file:7263 Canterbury Agricultural College farm.jpg, Filling a feed-box of a seed drill, Lincoln University (New Zealand), Canterbury Agricultural College farm, 1948 A seed drill is a device used in agriculture that sowing, sows seeds for crops by ...

s. By 1840, the company made

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

s, which were used for

traction engine A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any ...

s in the 1850s. These were used for harvesting crops. After Hornsby's death, his firm built the first working (experimental) diesel engine in 1892; it went on to develop the

continuous track Continuous track or tracked treads are a system of vehicle propulsion used in tracked vehicles, running on a continuous band of treads or track plates driven by two or more wheels. The large surface area of the tracks distributes the w ...

for agricultural usage in 1905, which revolutionized land warfare.

Personal life and family

Five of his children were Richard (born 1827), Louisa, James (born 1836), Helen Mary Anne and William (born 1838). He died on 6 January 1864. His wife, Mary, died on 15 October 1866, aged 66. At the time of his death he had eight grandchildren. Two of his great-grand children would go to Eton. Although there is no monument to Richard Hornsby, one of his great-grandsons, Richard William Hornsby, is listed on the war memorial in Barrowby, after being killed in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in Greece. His family were quite wealthy, owning of land, as the Hornsby company was a world leader in engine manufacture, until 1918.

References

External links

R Hornsby & Sons vaporizing oil engine

A portrait

Christening entry on the IGI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hornsby, Richard 1790 births 1864 deaths People from Elsham, North Lincolnshire English Methodists Agricultural engineers 19th-century English businesspeople