William Playfair
(1759 - 11 February 1823)
Date this page was last edited=25 Jan 2014
William Playfair was born in 1759. He was the son of James Playfair and Margaret Young.
He was apprentice to Andrew Miekle who invented the threshing machine. He was also mechanical engineer to James Watt. He was a prolific inventor in both London and Paris but was in trouble at one point over patents. He was also in trouble over the Scioto (Ohio) land scandal in which worthless land was sold to emigres fleeing the French revolution. However he was a statistical writer of note and is famous for inventing the pie chart, the bar chart, and the statistical graph.
William Playfair died on 11 February 1823 in Covent Garden, London, England.1
This information about William Playfair is from the histories of the Troup and Robertson families compiled in 2001 and 2003 by Margaret Elizabeth Troupe of Stockton-on-Tees, England, unless otherwise noted.
He was apprentice to Andrew Miekle who invented the threshing machine. He was also mechanical engineer to James Watt. He was a prolific inventor in both London and Paris but was in trouble at one point over patents. He was also in trouble over the Scioto (Ohio) land scandal in which worthless land was sold to emigres fleeing the French revolution. However he was a statistical writer of note and is famous for inventing the pie chart, the bar chart, and the statistical graph.
William Playfair died on 11 February 1823 in Covent Garden, London, England.1
This information about William Playfair is from the histories of the Troup and Robertson families compiled in 2001 and 2003 by Margaret Elizabeth Troupe of Stockton-on-Tees, England, unless otherwise noted.
Citations
- [S163] James Playfair, Architect 1755-1793, online at http://members.aol.com/cairness98/index.html
This family history is a work in progress. If you know of any errors or omissions, please contact me through the e-mail link at the bottom of the page.
