[1][2] Wimshurst was educated at Steabonheath House in London and became an apprentice at the Thames Ironworks until 1853 with James Mare.

His house in Clapham, England, had a versatile workshop which had a wide variety of tools and devices for electric illumination.

Wimshurst constructed several of the known types of electrostatic generators, such as those created by W. Nicholson, F. P. Carré and W. T. B. Holtz.

Compared to its predecessors, this machine was less sensitive to atmospheric conditions and did not require an electric power supply.

In 1885, one of the largest Wimshurst machines was built in England (and is now at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry).