Richard Hornsby & Sons

The company was a pioneer in the manufacture of the oil engine developed by Herbert Akroyd Stuart, which was marketed under the Hornsby-Akroyd name.

The company developed an early track system for vehicles, selling the patent to Holt & Co. (predecessor to Caterpillar Inc.) in America.

Richard Hornsby & Sons grew into a major manufacturer of agricultural machinery at their Spittle Gate Works.

Work with Herbert Akroyd Stuart in the 1890s led to the world's first commercial heavy oil engines being made in Grantham (from 8 July 1892).

They would provide electricity for lighting the Taj Mahal, the Rock of Gibraltar, the Statue of Liberty (chosen after Hornsby won the oil engine prize at the Chicago World's Fair of 1893), many lighthouses, and for powering Guglielmo Marconi's first trans-Atlantic radio broadcast.

In 1903 the military held a competition with £1000 first prize for a tractor that must weigh under 13 tons ready for the road, could haul 25 tons for 40 miles at 3 mph average speed including gradients of 1 in 18, and should be capable of 8 mph with half load and be able to climb 1 in 6 slopes towing that half load.

Not only did it win the £1000 prize for meeting the criteria laid down, but it received a bonus of £180 for completing 58 miles towing its 25-ton load before requiring fuel or water.

It had been developed by Hornsby's chief engineer and managing director, David Roberts: the track was patented in July 1904.

The tractor and trailer with dummy gun in place are considered to have performed impressively, crossing various types of obstacles and ground, and the demonstration became national news.

An attempt was made to remedy the problem by converting it to run on petrol, a move that increased the brake horsepower to 105.

The Mechanical Transport Committee remained convinced of the tractor's possibilities, provided it was used in careful conjunction with horse teams.

The Director of Artillery, Brigadier General Stanley Brenton von Donop, emphasized the tractor's shortcomings and was unenthusiastic.

The War Office was uninterested, and refused the Mechanical Transport Committee permission to buy a Holt Tractor for evaluation, and Von Donop's opinion was the same.

Roberts had spent five years on the project, barely covering his development costs with the fees received from the Army, and had secured no orders, either military or civilian.

When the First World War broke out, Britain had to purchase caterpillar tractors from Holt to tow the Army's heavy guns, and the designers of the tank had to start from scratch, basing their ideas on imported American machines.

In the event, the first British tanks had no sprung suspension, and the track plates were an improved version of those of another American vehicle, the Bullock tractor.

Central to British tank development was William Foster & Co., agricultural machinery manufacturers, based at Lincoln, only about 25 miles from Hornsby's.

[citation needed] Trials featuring the Hornsby Tractor and the Rochet-Schneider were the subject of a film that was used in an attempt to promote sales and also shown in cinemas.