born April 22, 1789, Carreghova, Montgomeryshire, Wales
died March 16, 1864, Manchester, Eng.
British inventor.
He was an uneducated Welsh quarryman before he took a position with planer , and he made important improvements to the lathe . His automatic spinning mule marked an important advance in spinning technology. He developed a screw-cutting lathe and built gear-cutting and slotting machines, railway locomotives with interchangeable parts , automatic machinery for punching holes in plate, and the first successful gas meter. Though he was said to have improved everything he touched, he was not a shrewd businessman, and he died in poverty.