1807 - settled at Horning as a millwright. 1812 - moved to the firm of Ransomes of Ipswich, makers of agricultural implements, becoming first chief engineer, where he invented the treadmill as a method of employing human labour to grind corn, in the same way as animal power was used at the time. 1819 - his treadmill first adopted in the prison at Bury St Edmunds and thereafter throughout UK prisons. 1823 - joined the Institution of Civil Engineers. 1826 - moved to London where he became well known as an expert witness at parliamentary inquiries. 1830 - elected a fellow of the Royal Society. 1834 - following a shift to canal engineering, he was Telford's successor on the Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal. 1850 - served as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 1851 - was an ex officio member of the Royal Commission for the Great Exhibition following which he was knighted. 1858 - retired from business.