John Barber

John Barber (1734–1793) was an English coal viewer and inventor. He was born in Nottinghamshire, but moved to Warwickshire in the 1760s to manage collieries in the Nuneaton area. For a time he lived in Camp Hill House, between Hartshill and Nuneaton, and later lived in Attleborough. He patented several inventions between 1766 and 1792, of which the most remarkable was one for a gas turbine. Although nothing practical came out of this patent, Barber was the first man to describe in detail the principle of the gas turbine, and in recent years a working model based on Barber's specification has been built.