14 Facts About Richard Tangye

Sir Richard Trevithick Tangye was a British manufacturer of engines and other heavy equipment.

Richard Tangye was born at Illogan, near Redruth, Cornwall, the fifth son in a family of six sons and three daughters of Joseph Tangye, a Quaker miner of Redruth, later a small shopkeeper and farmer, and Ann, nee Bullock.

In 1856, Richard Tangye started business in a small way in Birmingham as a hardware factor and commission agent.

Richard Tangye acquired the patent of the differential pulley-block in 1861, and in 1862 James Tangye invented the Tangye Patent Hydraulic Jack.

Richard Tangye was commissioned to design the hydraulic systems for the UK's first funicular cliff railway in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, in 1869.

Richard Tangye travelled extensively, visiting Australia more than once and New Zealand and America.

Richard Tangye sought to restore his health on the ocean voyages but his main purpose in going to these countries was to expand his business.

Richard Tangye was a noted collector of Oliver Cromwell manuscripts and memorabilia.

Richard Tangye's collection included many rare manuscripts and printed books, medals, paintings, objets d'art and a bizarre assemblage of 'relics'.

Items from the Richard Tangye Collection are to be found at the Cromwell Museum.

Richard Tangye was under five feet tall, short even by the standards of the time.

Married, Richard Tangye lived in Birmingham, and latterly London, but often returned to his cliff-edge house in Newquay, Cornwall.

Richard Tangye has been described by his biographer as a man of great resolve with considerable talents for promoting his business, but very much valuing his privacy and never wishing to hold public office in Birmingham.

Richard Tangye was the grandfather of the authors Derek Tangye and Nigel Tangye.