Британдық өнертапқыш және автомобиль жасаушы Джон Генри Найт

British inventor and automotive pioneer

John Henry Knight (21 January 1847 – 22 September 1917), from Farnham, was a wealthy engineer, landowner and inventor. With the help of the engineer George Parfitt he built one of Britain's first petrol powered motor vehicles, Frederick Bremer of Walthamstow having built the first in 1892. On 17 October 1895, with his assistant James Pullinger, they drove through Farnham, Surrey, whereupon he was prosecuted for using a locomotive with neither a licence nor a man walking in front with a red flag. This is sometimes misreported as the first person to be convicted of speeding in the UK, but that sobriquet subsequently fell to Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, in January 1896. Knight was both an inventor and pioneer, having created a (failed) steam powered road vehicle; a renowned steam powered hop digger; a heat saving radiator; a brick laying machine; a grenade thrower, a speedometer, wooden vehicle tyres, and a patent 'dish lever' for tilting plates when carving meat. Knight was a founder member of the Automobile Association and politically active in the repeal of the Red Flag Act, he was also a pioneer of colour photography, plus writing various factual and practical books.

John Henry Knight was born in 1847 to John Knight, a banker and brewer of Farnham, who died in 1856 when John Henry was 9 years old. His mother was Mary Knight. His father's will bequeathed him title to, among other things, 'The Anchor Inn, Normandy' when he was 21 years old. He was born and raised at Weybourne House, Weybourne, Farnham, Surrey, which still stands today. He then moved to Barfield in Runfold, just outside Farnham, which is now a Preparatory school (whose alumni include Mike Hawthorn). He was inspired by The Great Exhibition of 1851 and went on to train as an engineer, developing an early enthusiasm for steam powered road going transport. He owned an engineering works on West Street, Farnham.

Although best remembered for his car and his driving, he had, for many years, been an inventor and a designer of steam powered machines, which he used for agricultural work and early road transport.

In 1868 he built a steam powered road vehicle, although it was not a practical proposition due to inefficiency.

In 1872 Knight developed a steam powered hop digging machine. A rival designer, Frank Proctor, stated in an 1890 edition of the weekly magazine "Engineering" that "Mr Knight has undoubtedly earned the distinction of being one of the early pioneers in the system of steam digging". He had begun developing his first digging machine in 1872, specifically for working in hopfields, which are difficult to cultivate due to the incidence of the hop poles which support the strings up which the plants climb. "Digging by Steam" by Colin Tyler (published in 1977 by Argus Books Ltd) devotes a chapter to hop digging machines, many of which were designed and built by Knight, and which are illustrated with drawings or photos.

He was a keen photographer and pioneer of early colour photography, photographing Farnham and the surrounding countryside in the early years of the 20th century.

Knight died in September 1917 and is buried in St John's churchyard in Hale, north east of Farnham in Surrey. A black plaque on the wall of the old works at West Street, Farnham commemorates John Henry Knight's achievement. It says