David Roberts (1859 – 22 April 1928) was the Chief Engineer and managing director of

Richard Hornsby & Sons Richard Hornsby & Sons was an engine and machinery manufacturer in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England from 1828 until 1918. The company was a pioneer in the manufacture of the oil engine developed by Herbert Akroyd Stuart, which was marketed un ...

in the early 1900s. His invention, the

caterpillar track Continuous track is 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 weight of the vehicle b ...

, was demonstrated to the army in 1907.

Chester

He grew up in

Great Boughton Great Boughton is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It includes the villages of Boughton Heath and Vicars Cross. It had a population of 2,627 according to the 20 ...

in the east of Chester, the son of David Roberts and his wife Anne, being trained as a hydraulic engineer, starting work for Hydraulic Engineering Company Ltd in 1873, staying with them for fifteen years, living in England and overseas. He worked for Sir WG Armstrong Mitchell & Company Ltd in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne from 1888, staying for eight years. For two and a half years he was manager of their Italian works at Pozzuoli, in the Province of Naples.

Grantham

He joined Hornsbys in 1895 as Chief Engineer, and Works Manager, having been knowledgeable of Hornsbys development of the compression-ignition

heavy oil engine The Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine, named after its inventor Herbert Akroyd Stuart and the manufacturer Richard Hornsby & Sons, was the first successful design of an internal combustion engine using heavy oil as a fuel. It was the first to use a se ...

and the worldwide engineering potential of it. He became general manager, then managing director in 1904 (until 1918). Whilst at Hornsbys, their manufacturing area grew from to . From 1918–20, he was Joint managing director of Ruston & Hornsby Ltd, retiring in 1920. He was Vice-President of Grantham Liberal Club on London Road. At Hornsbys, his inventions included improvements to the Water-tube boiler.

The Caterpillar Tractor

In 1903, the War Office offered a prize of £1000 to produce a tractor that could haul a load of 25

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s for without stopping for fuel or water. Hornsbys entered an 12-ton tractor, which was the only entrant to complete the , subsequently running on to before running out of fuel. Roberts, from this experience of the War Office competition, had the vision to design a vehicle for the British Army which would be able to traverse unstable ground. Vehicles such as Hornsby's 12-ton tractor would quickly be hindered by waterlogged surfaces with wheels sinking in mud. On 23 July 1904, his patent (No. 16,345) obviated this problem, with a vehicle where He submitted four other patents in later years, including No. 16,436 on 14 July 1909, which involved "Improvements in and connected with the Driving

Axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

s of Chain Track Tractors and Locomotives". In 1905, a Hornsby 20-hp 17-ton tractor was fitted with a chain track. In July 1905 and February 1906, it was demonstrated at Grantham to representatives from the War Office. In August 1906, the 1903 competition-winning tractor was fitted with chain tracks. On testing this vehicle in July 1907, the word ''

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

'' was first used to describe the machine (by British soldiers). In May 1908, this vehicle was demonstrated to King Edward VII and the Prince of Wales at Aldershot, who were introduced to David Roberts. Hornsbys bought a Rochet-Schneider car, powered by a petrol engine in 1906. It was fitted with a chain track and was trialled by the Army in November 1907 in Aldershot. The 4-ton vehicle achieved speeds of over difficult terrain. Hornsbys, in a rare moment of marketing ''savoir-faire'', commissioned a film of this vehicle to promote the virtues of the caterpillar track, which was to be shown at provincial and London cinemas in the summer of 1908. The film was first shown at the Empire Theatre of Varieties in

Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...

on 27 April 1908, on a device then known as a bioscope. It was often of more interest than the actual film being shown, and is apparently the first film made for commercial purposes. Roberts was looking at increasing the speed of tracked vehicles. Hornsbys bought a

Mercedes Mercedes may refer to: People * Mercedes (name), a Spanish feminine name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or last name Automobile-related * Mercedes (marque), the pre-1926 brand name of German automobile m ...

car and fitted it with chained tracks with wooden wheels to test a desert environment. Tests with this vehicle on Skegness beach in 1908–09 achieved speeds of ; such speeds with a caterpillar-tracked vehicle would not be surpassed until World War II. In 1910, Hornsbys sold four caterpillar tractors to the War Office—driving the first from Grantham to Aldershot. The tractors were used for towing artillery. Unfortunately, the officers in the Royal Artillery were not enamoured with the vehicle, finding it noisy and slow. One officer wrote, "The team of eight horses in my opinion is far superior under every condition." Hornsbys thought civilian applications of the caterpillar track would be popular, but they only ended up selling one vehicle. Holt Manufacturing and C.L. Best Tractor Co. (the originator was Daniel Best) of the USA recognised its potential and sold many tracked vehicles; their vehicles were steered by a front wheel, unlike modern tanks. Hornsbys, with no incentives from military orders, did not see the same glowing future for the type of vehicle. They sold the patent to Holt, and only a year later, the British Army ordered 442 of Holt's caterpillar tracked vehicles made under licence by

Ruston Ruston may refer to: Place names ;United States * Ruston, Louisiana * Ruston, Washington ;United Kingdom * East Ruston, Norfolk, England * Ruston, North Yorkshire, England * Ruston Parva, East Riding of Yorkshire, England Companies * Ruston (engi ...

in Lincoln.

Family

He married Elizabeth Gertrude Anderson (born 1860 in Kingston upon Hull) in 1885, daughter of banker in Hull. They had four sons and a daughter: David (born c. 1887), William (born c. 1888, known as Willie) (both born in Chester), Marion (born c. 1890 in Pozzuoli, Italy), Kenneth (born 1891 in Gosforth, became managing director of th
James Coultas
agricultural engineering company in Grantham) and Cyril (born c. 1893 in Newcastle). In Newcastle, they lived at Elswick. In Grantham, they lived at 64 London Road. He died on 22 April 1928, aged 69, at his home "Beaconfield" on Beacon Lane in Grantham (the house is now th
NHS
Beaconfield Psychiatric Clinic). He was made a Freeman of the City of Chester. He was buried in Grantham Cemetery on 25 April 1928.

References

* Grantham Journal Obituary, April 1928. * The Times, 29 April 1908, Page 5

External links

Biography in September 1985 "Steam Traction" article

Patents

US Patent 1135621
dated 13 April 1915, for a Golf and like Club (with Kenneth Roberts, his son)
US Patent 1124061
dated 5 January 1915, for a Vaporizer for Internal Combustion Engines
US Patent 983646
dated 11 February 1911 for a Vaporizer for Internal Combustion Engines (with John William Young)
US Patent 979888
dated 27 December 1910, for a Governor for Internal-Combustion Engines (with Alfred Rowe Bellamy and Charles James)
US Patent 975283
dated 8 November 1910, for a Mechanism for Transmitting Reciprocating Motion
US Patent 972024
dated 4 October 1910, for an Internal Combustion Engine (with Charles James)
US Patent 930798
dated 10 August 1909, for a portable track for motor vehicles (with Charles James)
US Patent 916601
dated 30 March 1909, for a Traction Engine (caterpillar tractor, with Charles James)
US Patent 910232
dated 19 January 1909, for a Steering device for Motor Vehicles (with Charles James)
US Patent 904086
dated 17 November 1908, for an Internal Combustion Engine
US Patent 798705
dated 5 September 1905, for a Steam Superheater
US Patent 742356
dated 27 October 1903, for a Machine Tool
US Patent 725875
dated 21 April 1903, for improvements to Water Tube Boilers
US Patent 689491
dated 24 December 1901, for a Steam Generator (with William Hornsby and Charles James)
US Patent 680593
dated 13 August 1901, for a Steam Generator (with William Hornsby). {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, David English inventors English engineers People from Chester People from Gosforth Engineers from Tyne and Wear 1928 deaths 1859 births