William Heath Robinson

William Heath Robinson was an English cartoonist, illustrator and artist, best known for drawings of absurdly complicated machines doing simple jobs, which made his name a byword for a makeshift contraption. Born into a family of illustrators in north London, he first made his living illustrating books, including Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rabelais and Kipling, with fine pen drawings and colour plates. During the First World War his humorous drawings of the war effort became hugely popular. He lived for some years in Pinner, and the Heath Robinson Museum in Pinner Memorial Park now looks after his work.