Vignette 149: John Ridley's Candelabrum

South Australia gifted John Ridley (1806–1887) a silver candelabrum for his achievements in invention and altruism. Our state was the early granary of Australia, but without Ridley’s innovation, and his stripper, many crops might have gone to waste.

Originally from England, Ridley emigrated to South Australia in 1839 where he made significant contributions to the flour milling industry and advancements in wheat harvesting technology. Ridley invented the world’s first mechanical grain harvester in the 1840’s, known as Ridley’s Stripper. Harvesting became more efficient by using combs and beaters to sweep off the heads of wheat.

The timing was perfect. South Australia had an expanding wheat crop in 1842, but it also had a labour shortage. Meeting harvest demands would be impossible using old hand methods. Ridley’s Stripper overcame this problem and in doing so it helped to ameliorate the settler communities’ poor financial standing. Ridley declined to patent his  invention, allowing the settlers to receive its financial benefits and prosper. 

In 1930, Ridley’s daughter, Jane Taylor Ridley, donated her father’s candelabrum to the University to honour his memory. It is displayed in the University’s Mitchell Building.

Ridley’s legacy lives on in the John Ridley Memorial Scholarship, established in 1913, for Honours students in Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences or Bachelor of Science (Animal Science).

The University of Adelaide: 150 Years of Making History.  Preserving a legacy.  p.198