Published Resources Details

Conference Paper

Author
Jones, L. J.
Title
Engineering Considerations in an Historical Argument - the Ridley-Bull 'Stripper' Controversy
In
Second National Conference on Engineering Heritage ‘The Value of Engineering Heritage': Preprints of Papers
Imprint
Institution of Engineers, Australia, Barton, Australian Capital Territory, 1985, pp. 79-84
ISBN/ISSN
0858252503
Url
https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.724766089777709
Abstract

For more than 140 years an argument has continued, off and on (and sometimes acrimoniously) over the invention of the South Australian wheat "stripper". Some, such as G. L. Sutton (1937), have claimed that the real inventor was a farmer, John Wrathall Bull (1804?-1886), and that Bull's idea was stolen and then commercially exploited by the Hindmarsh flour-miller John Ridley (1806-1887). Indeed, following Sutton, most modern Australian agricultural and general historians have accepted this view without question, and incorporated it into their own works. Ridley and his supporters, however, always staunchly denied the charge (which was originally laid by J.W. Bull in 1845), insisting that Ridley himself was the sole and unaided inventor. It will be shown that certain purely engineering considerations can significantly assist in settling this matter; these have not been taken into account previously. Further, these engineering factors, taken together with some additional historical evidence recently brought forward, now enable us to see that Ridley was unjustly accused, and that in fact he is fully entitled to the credit for the "stripper's" invention as well as for its introduction.

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