1. Henry George Ferguson was a British mechanic and inventor who is noted for his role in the development of the modern agricultural tractor and its three point linkage system, for being the first person in Ireland to build and fly his own aeroplane, and for developing the first four-wheel drive Formula One car, the Ferguson P99.
Harry Ferguson was born at Growell, near Dromore, in County Down, Ireland, the son of a farmer.
In 1902, Harry Ferguson went to work with his older brother, Joe, in his bicycle and car repair business.
Harry Ferguson began to develop a keen interest in the mechanics of flying and travelled to several air shows, including exhibitions in 1909 at Blackpool and Rheims where he took notes of the design of early aircraft.
Harry Ferguson became the first Irishman to fly and the first Irishman to build and fly his own aeroplane.
In 1917 Ferguson met Charles E Sorensen while Sorensen was in England scouting production sites for the Fordson tractor.
In 1920 and 1921 Harry Ferguson demonstrated early versions of his three-point linkage on Fordsons at Cork and at Dearborn.
On 12 February 1925, at Belfast, Northern Ireland, Harry Ferguson filed a patent titled "Apparatus for Coupling Agricultural Implements to Tractors and Automatically Regulating the Depth of Work" which is today known as the Harry Ferguson Master Patent.
The new enterprise manufactured the Harry Ferguson plough incorporating the patented "Duplex" hitch system mainly intended for the Fordson "F" tractor.
Harry Ferguson's interests were merged with those of David Brown junior to create the Harry Ferguson-Brown Company.
In October 1938, Harry Ferguson demonstrated his latest tractor to Henry Ford at Dearborn, and they made the famous "handshake agreement".
Harry Ferguson's reaction was a lawsuit demanding compensation for damage to his business and for Ford's illegal use of his designs.
Harry Ferguson's investment enabled the company to produce a series of research vehicles with a system that allowed the car to be run with four-wheel drive permanently engaged and automatically controlled whenever traction was lost and wheels began to slip, unlike such vehicles like Land Rover, the system of which could not be used on hard roads.
Harry Ferguson intended these cars to be license-built by a major motor manufacturer, as his tractors had been.
However, the industry proved impossible to convince and when Harry Ferguson died in 1960, his son-in-law, Tony Sheldon took over the chairmanship and changed the company's approach, developing instead four-wheel drive systems that manufacturers could fit in their standard production vehicles.
The only motor company to adopt the Harry Ferguson Principle was Jensen Motors and when it was fitted to the Jensen FF, the system's name was changed to the Harry Ferguson Formula.
Harry Ferguson died at his home at Lower Swell in 1960, as the result of a barbiturate overdose; the inquest was unable to conclude whether this had been accidental or not.
Harry Ferguson was commemorated in 1981 when he appeared on stamps issued by the Irish Post Office in the Republic of Ireland.