Bramah

Bramah, Joseph, inventor, was born in 1748 at Stainborough, a village near Barnsley, Yorkshire. After serving his apprenticeship as a carpenter, he obtained employment in London as a cabinet maker, and was soon enabled, through his ingenious inventions, to start in business for himself. His inventions referred to safety-locks, water-closets, pumps, fire-engines, paper-making, etc., and in 1806 he patented a printing machine for numbering bank notes, which was adopted by the Bank of England. His main achievement was his Hydraulic Press (q.v.), which he patented in 1795. He died in 1814 at Pimlico.