Richard Lovell Edgeworth (31 May 1744 – 13 June 1817) was an Anglo-Irish, politician writer and inventor. Edgeworth was born in Pierrepont Street, Bath, England, grandson of Sir Salathiel Lovell through his daughter, Jane Lovell. He was the father of Maria Edgeworth and 21 other children (by his four wives), and grandfather to Francis Ysidro Edgeworth. A Trinity College, Dublin and Oxford alumnus, he is credited for creating, among other inventions, a machine to measure the size of a plot of land. He also made strides in the developing educational methods. He invented the caterpillar track in 1770. He lived in Ireland at his estate at Edgeworthstown, County Longford where he reclaimed bogs and improved roads. He sat in Grattan's Parliament for St Johnstown (County Longford) from 1798 until the Act of Union in 1801 and advocated Catholic Emancipation and parliamentary reform. He was a founder-member of the Royal Irish Academy. He died in Edgworthstown on 13 June 1817.