John William Earnshaw (1900–1982) was a self-taught

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, and

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

. He also researched and wrote about

Australian history The history of Australia is the history of the land and peoples which comprise the Commonwealth of Australia. The modern nation came into existence on 1 January 1901 as a federation of former British colonies. The human history of Australia, ...

Life and career

Earnshaw was born on 23 June 1900 in

Randwick, New South Wales Randwick is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government ar ...

, the son of a noted

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...

and dual

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...

winner Isaac Earnshaw (known as Ike). He served with the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the war, Earnshaw undertook many dangerous travels in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. He married Evelyn Hall in Sydney in 1929. The couple had four daughters. Earnshaw set up a business, Reilax Engineering, which specialised in

production-line A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory where components are assembled to make a finished article or where materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward c ...

problems. The business prospered for over 30 years in

North Sydney, New South Wales North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore (Sydney), Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the Local government in Australia, local government area of North ...

, until he retired in 1969. He invented a number of machines for filling metal and glass containers for the food,

cosmetics Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either Natural product, natural source ...

, chemical and

pharmaceutical Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

manufacturing industries. For the Red Cross Blood Bank, Earnshaw devised an

oscillator Oscillation is the repetitive or periodic variation, typically in time, of some measure about a central value (often a point of equilibrium) or between two or more different states. Familiar examples of oscillation include a swinging pendulum ...

for separating plasma from blood. He was a pioneer of industrial

chromium plating Chrome plating (less commonly chromium plating) is a technique of electroplating a thin layer of chromium onto a metal object. A chrome plated part is called ''chrome'', or is said to have been ''chromed''. The chromium layer can be decorativ ...

in Sydney. His oil-free compressor was widely used on tractors,

grader A grader, also commonly referred to as a road grader, motor grader, or simply blade, is a form of heavy equipment with a long blade used to create a flat surface during Grading (engineering), grading. Although the earliest models were towed b ...

road roller A road roller (sometimes called a roller-compactor, or just roller) is a compactor-type engineering vehicle used to compact soil, gravel, concrete, or asphalt in the construction of roads and foundations. Similar rollers are used also at lan ...

s and similar

earthmoving equipment Heavy equipment, heavy machinery, earthmovers, construction vehicles, or construction equipment, refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large con ...

. Earnshaw's spare time was filled with research into forgotten aspects of Australian history, uncovering new information about the

Scottish Martyrs The Political Martyrs Monument, located in the Old Calton Burial Ground on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, commemorates five political reformists from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Designed by Thomas Hamilton and erected in 1844, it is a tal ...

, judge-advocate

David Collins David Collins may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * David Collins (''Dark Shadows''), character in the television series ''Dark Shadows'' * David Collins (''EastEnders''), character in the television series ''EastEnders'' P ...

, early Sydney

cabinetmaker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...

s, and John George Lang – the first Australian

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer. He authored several biographies for the

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

. In 1944, Earnshaw was a co-founder of the

Book Collectors Society of Australia The Book Collectors' Society of Australia (BCSA) has been a focus for Australian book collectors to share their enthusiasm for books of all kinds, Australian and foreign, including antiquarian books. It was founded in Sydney in 1944, and its journa ...

, and a lifelong supporter of the society. He owned a large collection of books specialising in Australian history and literature. Most were sold at auction in 1979. He was also very active in, and a Fellow of, the

Society of Australian Genealogists The Society of Australian Genealogists (SAG) is an Australian-based non-profit organisation whose principal objective is the advancement of genealogical education. /sup> The SAG is the oldest family history society in Australia and holds the larges ...

. Earnshaw died on 11 October 1982.Edmonds, p.102

References

Publications

Earnshaw, John (1959). Thomas Muir: Scottish martyr tudies in Australian and Pacific History, no 1 (W. W. Stone, editor) Cremorne, NSW: Stone Copying Company. Earnshaw, John (1971). Early Sydney cabinetmakers 1804 – 1870: A directory with an introductory survey. Sydney: Wentworth Books. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Earnshaw, John 1900 births 1982 deaths 20th-century Australian engineers 20th-century Australian historians Australian biographers Australian book and manuscript collectors