Bennet Woodcroft, English clerk to the commisioners of patents, c 1840s.

Oil painting by Sibley of Bennet Woodcroft (1803-1879). Woodcroft was originally a manufacturer of silk and muslin in Manchester and Salford, England, and in 1846 he started up a busines as a consulting engineer and patent agent in London. He was Profesor of Machinery at University College, London from 1847 until 1851. Woodcroft also published various works relating to inventions and inventors.