He is chiefly remembered for his steam-powered road vehicles, but also received a patent for preparing and cutting natural rubber into sheets.

In 1827 he patented a steam boiler constructed with separate chambers of thin metal which could split rather than explode, a safety measure for operators and passengers.

[2] His were not the first road locomotives: experiments by Richard Trevithick occurred a generation earlier with his Puffing Devil and London Steam Carriage; but they were the most successful.

[3] In 1829 he built a small 10 seat bus called the Infant, with which in 1831 he began a regular service between Stratford and central London.

This vehicle was later made famous by its revenue earning journeys between London and Brighton, which were a British first, and also demonstrated its usability by successfully ascending a frozen slope of 5 degrees where horse-drawn coaches were struggling.

During this vehicle's construction in 1832, a negligent engineer died of fright when a boiler component tore, expelling high-pressure steam in his direction.