Richard Bowyer Smith

Richard Bowyer Smith (2 September 1837 in London, England – 4 February 1919 in Subiaco, Western Australia) was an Australian inventor.

Richard Bowyer Smith
Born(1837-09-02)2 September 1837
London, England
Died4 February 1919(1919-02-04) (aged 81)
Subiaco, Western Australia
Resting placeKarrakatta Cemetery[1]
NationalityAustralian
SpouseMargaret Hunter Smith (nee Smith) (1843–1915)
Parent(s)Smith Owen Smith (1807–1890) and Mary Ann Smith (nee Lee)
Plan of the original single-furrow plough.

Career

Smith migrated from London to South Australia with his parents Owen and Mary Ann Smith (née Lee), arriving on 15 May 1838.

He is reported as serving an apprenticeship as a wheelwright with J. G. Ramsay & Co. of Strathalbyn, South Australia.[2]

Under Smith's direction, his brother Clarence Herbert Smith created the first stump-jump plough, entitled the Vixen, in 1876. The South Australian government had offered a reward of £200 to anyone who could develop an effective mechanical stump puller, due to the difficulties farmers encountered on newly cleared land.

The plough consisted of a number (originally three) of hinged shares: when any blade encountered an underground obstacle, it would rise out of the ground. Attached weights forced the blade back into the ground after the root was passed, allowing as much of the ground to be furrowed as possible. Although a little unorthodox, it proved remarkably effective, and was dubbed the "stump-jump" plough.

Smith took out a patent in 1877 for the design, but allowed it to lapse, though one report has him selling the patent rights to Mellor Brothers.[3] R. B. Smith was later credited as the inventor of the design by the Parliament of South Australia in 1882, despite controversy over the claim, and was awarded £500. He relocated to Western Australia in 1884, where he demonstrated and marketed the plough with little sales success and minimal profits. His brother made parts for the plough in South Australia.

R. B., dubbed "Stump Jump" Smith, was manager of the Freemasons Hotel[4] in Beverley, Western Australia from 1893 to 1895, and the Railway Refreshment Rooms between 1895 and 1899. He then leased 181.5 acres (0.735 km2) of farmland at Beverley, where he resumed his passion for creating agricultural tools. He opened a workshop in the Perth suburb of Highgate in 1912, having relinquished his lease of the land.

Tributes

On 2 September 2008, Google celebrated the Birthday of Richard B. Smith with a doodle.[5]

References
  1. "Australia Deaths and Burials, 1816–1980", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTHV-VZC : 12 December 2014), Richard Boyer Smith in entry for Margaret Hunter Smith, 5 Feb 1915; citing reference I12 P7; FHL microfilm 1,669,302.
  2. "Stump-Jumping Plough". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 5 March 1934. p. 18. Retrieved 22 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Concerning People". The Register. Vol. LXXXI, no. 21, 631. Adelaide. 8 March 1916. p. 4. Retrieved 29 September 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "The Frank Lodge Journal". The Beverley Times. Vol. 57, no. 36. Western Australia. 7 September 1962. p. 9. Retrieved 2 January 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Desk, OV Digital (31 August 2023). "2 September: Remembering Richard B. Smith on Birthday". Observer Voice. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
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