Roberts, Richard (1789-1864)

Welsh engineer and inventor of such machinery as a screw-cutting lathe and a metal-planing machine. In 1845 he developed a new electromagnet. He also designed a steam brake and a system of standard gauges to which all his work was constructed.

Roberts was born in Montgomeryshire and became a toolmaker. Moving to London, he worked as an apprentice to English engineer Henry Maudslay. In 1814 Roberts set up in business in Manchester. From 1828 to 1842 he was a partner in the firm of Sharpe, Thomas and Company, which manufactured machines to his design. When the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened 1830, the firm began building locomotives. Their products were bought by railway companies throughout Europe. When the firm split up, Roberts retained the part of the company known as the Globe Works.

In 1825, at the request of some manufacturers, Roberts built a self-acting spinning mule which was a vast improvement on that devised by Samuel Crompton in 1779. In 1848 he invented a machine for punching holes in steel plates. Incorporating the Jacquard method, he devised a machine for punching holes of any pitch or pattern in bridge plates and boiler plates.