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David Roberts (1859, Chester – 22 April 1928, Grantham) was the Chief Engineer and managing...

David Roberts (1859, Chester – 22 April 1928, Grantham) was the Chief Engineer and managing director of Richard Hornsby & Sons in the early 1900s. His invention, the caterpillar track, was demonstrated to the army in 1907. He grew up in Great Boughton in the east of Chester, the son of David Roberts and his wife Anne, being trained as a hydraulic engineer, starting work for Hydraulic Engineering Company Ltd in 1873, staying with them for fifteen years, living in England and overseas. He worked for Sir WG Armstrong Mitchell & Company Ltd in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne from 1888, staying for eight years. For two and a half years he was manager of their Italian works at Pozzuoli, in the Province of Naples. He joined Hornsbys in 1895 as Chief Engineer, and Works Manager, having been knowledgeable of Hornsbys development of the compression-ignition heavy oil engine and the worldwide engineering potential of it. He became General Manager, then Managing Director in 1904 (until 1918). Whilst at Hornsbys, their manufacturing area grew from 16 acres (65,000 m) to 80 acres (320,000 m). From 1918–20, he was Joint Managing Director of Ruston & Hornsby Ltd, retiring in 1920. He was