Michael Loam (1 November 1797 – 14 July 1871) was an English engineer who introduced the first

man engine A man engine is a mechanism of reciprocating ladders and stationary platforms installed in mines to assist the miners' journeys to and from the working levels. It was invented in Germany in the 19th century and was a prominent feature of tin an ...

(a device to carry men up and down the shaft of a mine) into the UK. In 1834, concerned for the health of miners and for the loss in profits incurred by their long, slow climbs by ladders, the

Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society (commonly known as The Poly) is an educational, cultural and scientific charity, as well as a local arts and cinema venue, based in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The Society exists to promot ...

announced a prize for the design of a better system of transporting miners in and out of the deep mines in the county. Michael Loam won this prize in 1841 for his man engine, despite evidence that it was already in use in the Hartz Mountains in Germany. Inspired by the German designs and constructed of a series of moving platforms, the first man engine was installed in 1842 at

Tresavean Mine Tresavean is a hamlet in the parish of Lanner, Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. ...

—one of the deepest in Cornwall at the time. Its adoption was encouraged by the mine's owner, John Rogers. Loam was trained as an engineer at Wheal Abraham by

Arthur Woolf Arthur Woolf (1766, Camborne, Cornwall – 16 October 1837, Guernsey) was a Cornish engineer, most famous for inventing a high-pressure compound steam engine. As such he made an outstanding contribution to the development and perfection of th ...

. He remained active in the metal mining and smelting industries in Cornwall and is noted as an investor in the Tamar Tin Smelting Company in 1863.D.B. Barton ''A History of Tin Mining and Smelting in Cornwall''; 2nd edn (1969, reprinted 1989); Cornwall Books Man engine animation

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Portrait of Michael Loam, at the Science Museum
1797 births 1871 deaths Inventors from Cornwall Engineers from Cornwall British mining engineers People from Ludgvan, Cornwall {{UK-engineer-stub