Robert Salmon (1763 – 6 October 1821), was an architect and inventor of agricultural implements. He was employed on the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...

's estate in

Woburn, Bedfordshire Woburn (, meaning twisted or crooked stream) is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about southeast of the centre of Milton Keynes, and about south of junction 13 of the M1 motorway. At the 2011 census, it had a po ...

, England, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Early career

Salmon was born in 1763 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, the youngest son of William Salmon, a carpenter and builder. At an early age he entered the service of an attorney named Grey, residing near

Leicester Fields 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 Leicest ...

, who aided him in his education. He soon displayed remarkable mechanical ability, and, being fond of music, made for himself a violin and other musical instruments. A few years later, he obtained the appointment of

clerk of works A clerk of works or clerk of the works (CoW) is employed by an architect or a client on a construction site. The role is primarily to represent the interests of the client in regard to ensuring that the quality of both materials and workmanship are ...

under the architect Henry Holland, and was engaged in the rebuilding of

Carlton House, London Carlton House was a mansion in Westminster, best known as the town residence of King George IV. It faced the south side of Pall Mall, and its gardens abutted St James's Park in the St James's district of London. The location of the house, no ...

. In 1790 he was employed under Holland at

Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the family seat of the Duke of Bedford. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, ...

in Bedfordshire, where he attracted the notice of

Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford (23 July 1765 – 2 March 1802) was an English aristocrat and Whig politician, responsible for much of the development of central Bloomsbury. Life Francis Russell, eldest son of Francis Russell, Marquess of ...

, and became the Duke's resident architect and mechanic in 1794.

At Woburn

Salmon effected many reforms in the management of the Duke's property. From 1795 he designed Park Farm, Speedwell Farm and many other buildings on the Russell estates. The Duke was interested in the agrarian revolution of the day: Park Farm, designed in 1795, of which the first set of buildings were completed in 1797, was regarded as a model farm, using the latest machinery and techniques. The Duke started in Woburn annual exhibitions of sheep-shearing, and during these events Salmon's work in improving agricultural implements attracted much attention. In 1797 the

Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

awarded him thirty guineas for a chaff-cutting engine, which was the parent of later chaffcutters. In 1801 Salmon exhibited his "Bedfordshire Drill", which became the model for succeeding drills. In 1803 he showed a new design of plough. In 1804 he brought out a "scuffler", or

cultivator A cultivator is a piece of agricultural equipment used for secondary tillage. One sense of the name refers to frames with ''teeth'' (also called ''shanks'') that pierce the soil as they are dragged through it linearly. It also refers to ...

, and two years later he exhibited a self-raking

reaping machine A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in R ...

, which was described in 1808 in '' Bell's Weekly Messenger''. In 1814 Salmon patented the first

haymaking Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...

machine. He received at various times silver medals from the Society of Arts for surgical instruments, a canal lock, a weighing machine, a humane mantrap, and a system of earthwalls.

John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, (6 July 1766 – 20 October 1839), known as Lord John Russell until 1802, was a British Whig politician who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was the fathe ...

(who succeeded his brother the 5th Duke in 1802) conferred on Salmon the stewardship of his

Chenies Chenies is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the border with Hertfordshire, east of Amersham and north of Chorleywood. History Until the 13th century, the village name was Isenhampstead. There were two ...

estate, so that he might improve the system of plantation. He paid great attention to the proper method of pruning forest trees, for which he invented an apparatus, and made experiments to determine the best method of seasoning timber.

Retirement

In September 1821, in failing health, Salmon retired to Lambeth. He died within a month of his retirement, while on a visit to Woburn, on 6 October 1821. He was buried two days later in Woburn Church, where the 6th Duke of Bedford placed a tablet commemorating his "unwearied zeal and disinterested integrity".

References

Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmon, Robert 1763 births 1821 deaths People from Stratford-upon-Avon 19th-century British inventors People from Woburn, Bedfordshire