an English author and inventor. He designed an apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks and also the first modern form of fire extinguisher. He married in 1793 and inherited his wife's family's estates, but left her in 1801 after being shot by her lover and moved to Clifton, Bristol. There, he published several books. He also invented the Manby Mortar, later developed into the breeches buoy, that fired a thin rope from shore into the rigging of a ship in distress. A strong rope, attached to the thin one, could be pulled aboard the ship. In 1813 Manby invented the "Extincteur", the first portable pressurised fire extinguisher.
