Editing James Small (inventor)

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'''James Small''' (1740, [[Dalkeith]], [[Midlothian]] – 1793) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[inventor]] instrumental in the invention of the modern-style [[iron]] swing [[plough]] in 1779–80.<ref>{{cite ODNB|first=Jonathan|last=Brown|title=Small, James (bap. 1740, d. 1793)|year=2004|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/51709|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/51709}} . Date also given as 1763 ({{cite book|authorlink=Christopher Smout|first=T. C.|last=Smout|title=A History of the Scottish People 1560-1830|publisher=Collins|location=London|year=1969|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofscottis0000smou/page/235 235]|isbn=978-0-00-686027-3|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofscottis0000smou/page/235}}) or 1784 ({{cite web|url=http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst294.html|title=James Small|work=Gazetteer for Scotland}})</ref>

Born the son of a farmer at [[Upsettlington]] (now Ladykirk) he travelled to [[Doncaster]] in 1758, where he found work as an 'operative mechanic'. Returning to Scotland around 1764, Small was set up in business by wealthy farmer John Renton and began work on prototypes for a new design of plough. Although he never patented or made any money from his design - dying in poverty in 1793 - the invention revolutionised farming techniques in Britain and eventually spread to North America.<ref>{{cite book|authorlink=Alistair Moffat|first=Alistair|last=Moffat|title=Between Britain: Walking the History of England and Scotland|publisher=Canongate|location=Edinburgh|year=2024|page=98-99|ISBN=978-1-83885-441-6}}</ref>

==References==
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==External links==
* [http://www.dunsehistorysociety.co.uk/small.shtml Dunse History Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812043935/http://www.dunsehistorysociety.co.uk/small.shtml |date=12 August 2011 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Small, James}}
[[Category:1740 births]]
[[Category:1793 deaths]]
[[Category:Scottish inventors]]
[[Category:People from Dalkeith]]
[[Category:18th-century Scottish people]]


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