Local Personalities > outstanding legacies //

Michael Loam Inventor of the Man Engine

Michael Loam, ca 1860s, Tresavean Mine Engineer and inventor or developer of the Man Engine, was born on the 1st November 1797 at Ludgvan, Cornwall. He died on the 14th July 1871 and was buried in Gwennap churchyard.

He built the first Cornish Man Engine at the Tresavean mine in Gwennap Parish in 1842, adapted from a German design, to win a competition sponsored by the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. After a successful trial period, the Tresavean Mine's Directors gave the go ahead to extend down to the 248 fathom level, the first of 16 such engines to be built in Cornwall.

John Burton

John Burton (1839-1907) was born on 10 November at Lostwithiel. At the age of 22 he left home and came to Falmouth where he founded the world-famous Old Curiosity Shop at 27 Market Street (now Boots opticians and hearingcare). H.R.H. the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) made some purchases by commission, being unable to ‘call upon him’, during his visit to Falmouth in 1887. Always the entrepreneur, he offered £500 for Smeaton’s Lighthouse when it was replaced by the new Eddystone Lighthouse. His bid was unsuccessful, and the lighthouse was given to Plymouth on the condition that the town paid the cost of removing it and re-erecting it on the Hoe, where it stands to this day.

Edward John Jackett

Edward John Jackett (4 July 1878 – 11 November 1935) was born in Falmouth and played rugby for Falmouth RFC. 

He represented the England national rugby union team, the British Lions, and competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics for Great Britain.