John Boyd Dunlop
Scottish inventor and veterinary surgeon
Cite this page
“John Boyd Dunlop.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/john-boyd-dunlop/. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.
John Boyd Dunlop. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 23, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/john-boyd-dunlop/
“John Boyd Dunlop.” thisDay. Accessed October 23, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/john-boyd-dunlop/.
Who was John Boyd Dunlop?
John Boyd Dunlop (5 February 1840 – 23 October 1921) was a Scottish inventor and veterinary surgeon who spent most of his career in Ireland. He was born on a farm in Dreghorn, North Ayrshire, and studied to be a veterinary surgeon at the Dick Vet, University of Edinburgh, moving to Downpatrick, Ireland in 1867. Quite early in his life he was told he had been a premature birth, two months before his mother had expected. Familiar with making rubber devices, he invented the practical pneumatic tyres for his child's tricycle and developed them for use in cycle racing. He sold his rights to the pneumatic tyres to a company he formed with the president of the Irish Cyclists' Association, Harvey du Cros, for a small cash sum and a small shareholding in their pneumatic tyre business.
Historical significance
The company that bore his name, Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company, was not incorporated until later and, despite its name, was Du Cros's creation. He convinced himself his health was delicate and throughout his life acted accordingly, but he had no serious illness until he contracted a chill in October 1921 aged 81 and died unexpectedly.
Cite this page
“John Boyd Dunlop.” thisDay, thisday.info/people/john-boyd-dunlop/. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.
John Boyd Dunlop. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 23, 2026, from https://thisday.info/people/john-boyd-dunlop/
“John Boyd Dunlop.” thisDay. Accessed October 23, 2026. https://thisday.info/people/john-boyd-dunlop/.