Ridley, John (1806 - 1887)

Summary

John Ridley developed a stripper harvester in 1843. It worked by sweeping off the heads of wheat with combs and beaters. He is commemorated by the Ridley memorial scholarship at Roseworthy Agricultural College, memorial gates to the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society's showground at Wayville, South Australia and the electoral district of Ridley.

Published resources

Book Sections

• Finnis, H.J., 'Ridley, John (1806-1887), miller, inventor and preacher' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 2: 1788 - 1850 I-Z, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1967), p. 379. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ridley-john-2590. Details

Conference Papers

• Venus, Richard, 'One of our plaques is missing: A surprising conclusion to an old controversy about the invention of the mechanical grain harvester', in Transactions of the 5th South Australian Engineering Heritage Conference, Adelaide, 13 May 2016 (Adelaide: Engineers Australia, South Australia Division, 2016), pp. 59-96.. Details

Journal Articles

• Jones; L. J., 'John Ridley and the South Australian "stripper"', History of Technology, 5 (1980), 55-101. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6254901. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/96118545. Details
• 'Ridley, John (18060526-18871125)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1468582. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_r.html. Details
• Engineers Australia ed., Wonders never cease: 100 Australian engineering achievements (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 236 pp, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2025-08/EA1_Wonders%20never%20cease.pdf. "A brilliant idea, by design", pp.142-3. Details
• Ingpen, Robert, Australian inventions and innovations (Rigby Publishers Limited, 1982), 80 pp. "The Famous Ridley-Bull Stripper" pp.26-29, 36. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia. Sydney Division. Engineering Heritage Committee, The Historic Engineering Plaques of Australia (Milsons Point, New South Wales: The Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1994), 38 pp. p.3. Bull and Ridley Grain Harvesting Machines, Roseworthy Agricultural College, Adelaide, S.A. Details
• Quick, G.R., 'Two hundred years of grain harvesting', in Conference on agricultural engineering 1988: an Australasian conference to celebrate the Australian Bicentennial, (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1988), pp. 14-16., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.660258743747482. Details
• Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details