James Wimshurst

James Wimshurst was an English inventor, engineer and shipwright. Though Wimshurst did not patent his machines and the various improvements that he made to them, his refinements to the electrostatic generator led to its becoming widely known as the Wimshurst machine.

Wimshurst was born in Poplar, England, and was the son of Henry Wimshurst, a shipbuilder of Ratcliffe Cross Dock. Wimshurst was educated at Steabonheath House in London and became an apprentice at the Thames Ironworks until 1853 with James Mare. In 1865, he married Clara Tribble. In 1865, after Wimshurst was transferred to Liverpool, he worked at the Liverpool Underwriters Registry. In 1874, he joined the Board of Trade as a chief shipwright surveyor at Lloyds. Later, in 1890, he became the Board of Trades representative at an international conference in Washington.

Source: Wikipedia