Sir Richard Tangye

Born near Redruth, Cornwall, in 1833, Richard Trevithick Tangye grew up in a large family and spent part of his childhood working on the land. After moving to Birmingham with his brothers, he helped build the engineering firm Tangye Brothers into a major manufacturer of engines, hydraulic machinery, and other heavy equipment.

Tangye became closely associated with the industrial growth of the Midlands, and his company earned an international reputation. He was also known for writing about his own early life and business career, giving readers a firsthand glimpse of how a boy from rural Cornwall found his way into Victorian industry.

Alongside business success, he was remembered for public generosity and civic involvement. He was knighted, and his reputation endured not just because of the machinery his firm produced, but because he came to be seen as a classic example of energy, determination, and self-made success in 19th-century Britain.