All photos courtesy of Unsplash
Often innovators and visionaries are derided and mocked in their lifetime and it can take years before people see them in a different and more positive light. There is a commemorative stone on the promenade in the town of Newcastle in County Down, Northern Ireland dedicated to the memory of a creative and determined character by the name of Harry Ferguson. The name ‘Ferguson’ is for many agricultural workers and farmers associated with tractors and Harry Ferguson was the inventor of the “Little Grey Fergie” tractor. Yet the engraved stone on the sea front at Newcastle says nothing about his tractors.
It was in 1909 that Harry Ferguson became the first person in Ireland to fly a plane. It had never been done in that country before and he was to achieve fame for paving the way for others. In Belfast he had spent time designing a monoplane and then devoted his energy and creative ability to building the plane and making sure that all parts worked. Eventually when it was all assembled to his satisfaction it was towed to the estate of Lord Downshire in Hillsborough Park during December 1909.
