John Lofting
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
John Lofting (1659 – 15 June 1742, London), originally Jan Loftingh, was an engineer and entrepreneur from the Netherlands. His parents were Herman and Johanna. He moved to London, England, before 1686.[1] He patented two inventions being the "sucking worm engine" (a fire engine)[2] and a horse-powered thimble knurling machine.[1] His mill was set up in Islington, where Lofting Road is named after him.[3] However, in or about 1700, he moved his main operation to Great Marlow in Buckinghamshire to take advantage of the River Thames' ability to turn a water wheel which improved productivity, enabling the production of over 2 million thimbles per year.[1]
