Person
Richardson, Mervyn Victor (1893 - 1972)
- Born
- 11 November 1893
Yarramalong, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 31 December 1972
Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Inventor
Summary
Mervyn Richardson was the inventor of the Victa lawn mower. Despite having no formal education beyond primary school, he showed considerable flair in mechanical design. His venture into car design and sales did not survive the economic conditions of the depression. Inspired to help his son with his lawn mowing business, in the late 1940s Richardson invented a petrol-driven mower with rotary blades that proved highly successful. By 1997 over seven million Victa mowers had been sold to the domestic and international markets. Other inventions included the Victa Airtourer, a light aircraft. Prototypes of the Victa lawnmower and other of Richardson's inventions are in the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.
Related entries
Published resources
Book Sections
- Wood, Richard V., 'Richardson, Mervyn Victor (1893-1972), Inventor' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 16: 1940 - 1980 Pik-Z, John Ritchie and Diane Langmore, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002), pp. 84-85. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160099b.htm. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21536729. Details
- 'Richardson, Mervyn Victor (18931111-19721231)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1467548. Details
Helen Cohn
Last modified: 3 July 2018