Inventor. He is most remembered for inventing the combine harvester, which is the universal harvesting machine known world-wide. This machine is one of the few, if not the only, machines that has a Scottish origin, which has impacted the major industry, the supply of food, and had a lasting effect on the economy and society. Like his father, James, Meikle was the country millwright. His inventive genius was apparently inherited from his father. After being to Holland to learn about pearl barley mills in 1710, his father had promoted a fanner or winnower in the early 1700's. Several other inventors had attempted to build a harvester but failed: Menzies, Stirling of Dunblane, Leckie and Smarts to name a few. In 1787, he had found a way of exasperating the grain from the stalk. Originally, the head of the grain was fed into the cylinder of his machine, but later the whole crop went through giving a by-product. Cattle and pigs were being fattened on the by-products. Using his machine decreased the number of men to bring in a wheat harvest, thus cause an increase in unemployment with a riot of protest by farm hands in 1830. His machine or those based on his design began to be installed throughout Scotland and England and were called the "Scotch Thresher." Meikle's machines could be driven by horses, water power or wind power; he is also credited with improving the windmill design. He filed for a patent in 1788, but his designs had already been copied by others because he had failed to file his patent in a timely matter. He is a member of the Scottish Hall of Fame for Engineers.
Inventor. He is most remembered for inventing the combine harvester, which is the universal harvesting machine known world-wide. This machine is one of the few, if not the only, machines that has a Scottish origin, which has impacted the major industry, the supply of food, and had a lasting effect on the economy and society. Like his father, James, Meikle was the country millwright. His inventive genius was apparently inherited from his father. After being to Holland to learn about pearl barley mills in 1710, his father had promoted a fanner or winnower in the early 1700's. Several other inventors had attempted to build a harvester but failed: Menzies, Stirling of Dunblane, Leckie and Smarts to name a few. In 1787, he had found a way of exasperating the grain from the stalk. Originally, the head of the grain was fed into the cylinder of his machine, but later the whole crop went through giving a by-product. Cattle and pigs were being fattened on the by-products. Using his machine decreased the number of men to bring in a wheat harvest, thus cause an increase in unemployment with a riot of protest by farm hands in 1830. His machine or those based on his design began to be installed throughout Scotland and England and were called the "Scotch Thresher." Meikle's machines could be driven by horses, water power or wind power; he is also credited with improving the windmill design. He filed for a patent in 1788, but his designs had already been copied by others because he had failed to file his patent in a timely matter. He is a member of the Scottish Hall of Fame for Engineers.
Bio by: Linda Davis
Inscription
Beneath this stone are deposited
The Mortal Remains of the late ANDREW MEIKLE
Civil Engineer at Houston Mill,
Who died in the year 1811:
Aged 92 years
·
Descended from a race of Ingenious Mechanics,
To whom the country, for ages, had been greatly indebted,
He steadily followed the Example of his Ancestors,
And,
By Inventing and bringing to Perfection
A MACHINE
For Separating Corn from the Straw,
(Constructed upon the Principles of Velocity
and furnished with fixed Beaters or Skutchers,)
Rendered, to the Agriculturists of Britain,
And of other Nations,
A more Beneficial Service, than any hitherto
Recorded in the Annals of Ancient or Modern Science.
Advertisement
See more Meikle memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
