James Starley was an English inventor and father of the bicycle industry. He was one of the most innovative and successful builders of bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

s and tricycle

Tricycle

A tricycle is a three-wheeled vehicle. While tricycles are often associated with the small three-wheeled vehicles used by pre-school-age children, they are also used by adults for a variety of purposes. In the United States and Canada, adult-sized tricycles are used primarily by older persons for...

s. His inventions include the differential gear and the perfection of chain-driven bicycles.
Starley was born in 1831 at Albourne

Albourne

Albourne is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies just off the A23 road three miles east of Henfield. The parish has a land area of 772.9 hectares...

, Sussex, the son of Daniel Starley, a farmer. He began working on the farm at nine, showing early talent as an inventor by making a rat trap from an umbrella rib and the branch of a willow tree.