Budding Patent No 1623

Budding Patent, No 1623 is the oldest lawnmower known to exist. It was made in about 1840. 

The year of manufacture is an estimate. This is based on a report in the Polytechnic Review Magazine dated 9 December 1843 that says nearly 2000 mowers had been sold and various advertisements in The Gardener's Chronicle during 1848 claiming 3000 had been built to that point by John Ferrabee. Assuming that serial numbers started at one (1) and the first mower was produced in 1830 it is possible to extrapolate that 1623 would have been produced sometime around 1840.

The first mowers were offered in 16in and 22in cutting widths, with a 19in model added a few years after. All three models seem to have been offered with the same size of rear roller. This may have been to save costs or for some other, as yet unknown, reason. It is possible that the 22in model, in particular, could have suffered from poor adhesion to the lawn.

The mower was discovered at Thornham Hall, Suffolk in around 1932 when it was acquired by Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies, which is now known as Ransomes-Jacobsen. During the 1830s and 40s, Thornham Hall was owned by John Henniker-Major, the fourth Barron Henniker (1801-70).

Press articles in the 1930s incorrectly attributed the machine as having been manufactured by J. R. & A. Ransome, as they were known when the mower was made. Subsequent research shows that Ransomes were only wholesale and retail agents at this time and the sole manufacturer in England and Wales was John Ferrabee. It is still owned by the company and has been displayed at Ipswich Transport Museum for some years, although in 2025 was loaned to the Garden Museum at the South Downs Heritage Centre, where this photograph was taken.

The cutting cylinder (see bottom right photo) shows ample depth on the blades but it is not known whether this is the original or a replacement. The front tie-bar is missing as the casting on the opposite side of the mower is broken, as can be seen in the photographs.

View more photographs of this mower.