John Henry Knight (inventor)
John Henry Knight, from Farnham, was a wealthy engineer, landowner and inventor. With the help of the engineer George Parfitt he built one of Britain's first petrol-powered motor vehicles, Frederick Bremer of Walthamstow having built the first in 1892. On 17 October 1895, with his assistant James Pullinger, they drove through Farnham, Surrey, whereupon he was prosecuted for using a locomotive with neither a licence nor a man walking in front with a red flag. This is sometimes misreported as the first person to be convicted of speeding in the UK, but that sobriquet subsequently fell to Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, in January 1896.
Knight driving "The first petroleum carriage for two people made in England"
The former Elliot Works on Farnham's West Street where Knight's petrol driven vehicle was built in 1895
The grave of John Henry Knight at Hale, Surrey
Weybourne is a small village in Surrey, England. It lies on the outskirts of Farnham, Surrey and borders onto Aldershot, Hampshire.
Weybourne House Farnham
John Henry Knight driving his own creation "The first petroleum carriage for two people made in England"