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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

BUDDING Edwin Beard

Pattern maker and inventor (1795-1846) who designed the world's first lawn mower in 1830. His patent 5990 (1830) describes the machine as "a new combination and application of machinery for the purpose of cropping or shearing the vegetable surface of lawns, grass plats, and pleasure grounds, constituting a machine which may be used with advantage instead of a scythe." He then went into partnership with John Ferrabee. From 1832 Ransomes of Ipswich obtained a licence to produce and sell Budding mowers also, thereby establishing a network for the sale of Budding & Ferrabee machines. By 1840 over 1,000 machines had been sold.