Edwin Beard Budding

Edwin Beard Budding (1795 to 1846), of Brimscombe Mills near Stroud, was an inventor and engineer who invented and patented the first lawn mower in 1830. He worked for John Ferrabee and Sons of the Phoenix ironworks and took the idea for a grass cutting machine from the existing machines used to cut cloth in the textile industry. With the local engineer John Ferrabee he began making the first machines in a factory in Stroud, and the manufacturing rights were later taken up by J. R. and A. Ransome. He also invented a pepperbox revolver and in 1843 registered a screw-adjustable spanner. He died at Dursley on 25 September 1846.