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James Wimshurst

English inventor, engineer and shipwright
Person human Q1670628
James Wimshurst

Facts

17 properties
Instance of
human
Sex or gender
male[15]
Date of birth
April 13, 1832
Date of death
January 3, 1903
Place of birth
Poplar
Place of death
Clapham
Country of citizenship
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland[11]
Occupation
inventor, engineer, ship-owner, physicist
Award received
Fellow of the Royal Society[13]
Notable work
Wimshurst machine[12]
Father
Henry Wimshurst[10]
Languages spoken, written or signed
English[19]
Described by source
Dictionary of National Biography, second supplement[18]
Family name
Wimshurst[16]
Given name
James[17]
Member of
Royal Society[14]
Place of burial
West Norwood Cemetery[9]
🏷️ Also known as
en James Wimshurst ar جيمس ويمشورست ja ジェームズ・ウィムズハースト ru Джеймс Уимсхёрст ru Уимсхёрст, Джеймс
🔖 Identifiers · 19
ISNI
0000000076428821
VIAF cluster ID
106836901
Library of Congress authority ID
no2010000517
Find a Grave memorial ID
65623205
Freebase ID
/m/0c88y0
Grace's Guide ID
James_Wimshurst
Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana ID
james-wimshurst
Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana ID (former scheme)
0072266
ICCD agent ID
2c44d6f0ec0674d14aa0e19009af0760
Museo Galileo authority ID
80113
Museo Galileo biography ID
JamesWimshurst
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ID
36974
Show all 19 identifiers +7
Past Fellow of the Royal Society ID
NA5911
Prabook ID
2193030
Science Museum people ID
cp37773
Treccani ID
james-wimshurst
Wellcome Collection concept ID
he2rdtdd
WorldCat Entities ID
E39PBJmHG3JPYvVm6Kc89wfcyd
Yale LUX ID
person/4f4d5009-9ac8-4a7c-8b5d-89646ebb33a8

Report an error or request removal Lineage (PROV-JSON)

🔗 Connections
Occupation 4
engineer, physicist, inventor, ship-owner
Award received 1
Fellow of the Royal Society
Country of citizenship 1
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Given name 1
James
Instance of 1
human
Member of 1
Royal Society
Notable work 1
Wimshurst machine
Place of birth 1
Poplar
Place of burial 1
West Norwood Cemetery
Place of death 1
Clapham
Sex or gender 1
male
← Discoverer or inventor 1
Wimshurst machine
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Summary

James Wimshurst was born on April 13, 1832[1], in Poplar[2]. He died on January 3, 1903[3], in Clapham[4]. He worked as an inventor[5], engineer[6], ship-owner[7], and physicist[8].

Why It Matters

He is credited with the discovery of Wimshurst machine[20], an electrostatic generator[21].

FAQs

Where was James Wimshurst born?

James Wimshurst was born in Poplar[2].

Where did James Wimshurst die?

James Wimshurst passed away in Clapham[4].

Who were James Wimshurst's parents?

James Wimshurst's father was Henry Wimshurst[10].

What did James Wimshurst do for work?

James Wimshurst worked as an inventor[5], engineer[6], ship-owner[7], and physicist[8].

What awards did James Wimshurst receive?

Honors received include Fellow of the Royal Society[13].

What did James Wimshurst discover?

James Wimshurst is credited as discoverer of Wimshurst machine[20].

Related Entities

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [2] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [15] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [8] ↑ . Retrieved . wikidata.org.
  10. [9] ↑ . Find a Grave. fr.findagrave.com. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  11. [13] ↑ . catalogues.royalsociety.org. catalogues.royalsociety.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  12. [14] ↑ . catalogues.royalsociety.org. catalogues.royalsociety.org. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  13. [1] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  14. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  15. [16] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  16. [17] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  17. [12] ↑ . museedesconfluences.fr. museedesconfluences.fr. Provenance: wikidata.org.
  18. [18] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  19. [19] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Inverse relationships (entities pointing at this one)

  1. [20] ↑ . wikidata.org. → on this site

Inline context (facts about related entities)

  1. [21] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org. → on this site

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Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

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Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 13w ago · Epìdosis · 2026-08-05 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Notable work → —
    Occupation → —
    Place of birth → Poplar
    Award received → Fellow of the Royal Society
    + 18 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ Languages spoken, written or signed: English, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/263717|batch #263717]]"
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