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, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England from 1828 until 1918. The company was a pioneer in the manufacture of the Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine, oil engine develop ...

in the early 1900s. His invention, the

caterpillar track Continuous track or tracked treads are 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 w ...

, was demonstrated to the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

in 1907.

Chester

He grew up in Great Boughton in the east of Chester, the son of David Roberts and his wife Anne, being trained as a

hydraulic Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

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 Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

from 1888, staying for eight years. For two and a half years he was manager of their Italian works at

Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Antiquity Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia ...

, in the

Province of Naples The province of Naples (; ) was a province in the Campania region of Italy. In 2014/2015, the reform of local authorities (Law 142/1990 and Law 56/2014), replaced the province of Naples with the Metropolitan City of Naples. Demographics The p ...

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 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 A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-generat ...

The Caterpillar Tractor

In 1903, the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

offered a prize of £1000 to produce a tractor that could haul a load of 25

ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...

s for without stopping for fuel or water. Hornsbys entered an 12-ton

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

, 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 The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

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 rotation, rotating wheel and axle, 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 ...

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 Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...

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 ...

'' was first used to describe the machine (by British soldiers). In May 1908, this vehicle was demonstrated to

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

and the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

, who were introduced to David Roberts. Hornsbys bought a Rochet-Schneider car, powered by a

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends ...

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 town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...

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 car and fitted it with chained tracks with wooden wheels to test a desert environment. Tests with this vehicle on

Skegness Skegness ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey District of Lincolnshire, England. On the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, the town is east of Lincoln and north-east of Boston. With a population of 21,128 as of 2021 ...

beach in 1908–09 achieved speeds of ; such speeds with a caterpillar-tracked vehicle would not be surpassed until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

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

ordered 442 of Holt's caterpillar tracked vehicles made under licence by Ruston in Lincoln.

Family

He married Elizabeth Gertrude Anderson (born 1860 in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

) 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 Gosforth is an area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, situated north of the Newcastle City Centre, City Centre. It constituted a separate Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland), urban district of Northumberland from 1895 until 1974 before of ...

, 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 ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

, 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