'He was a farming genius': Northern Ireland tractor enthusiast launches campaign for Harry Ferguson Museum to mark centenary milestone

A Northern Ireland man is calling for the creation of a dedicated museum to honour one of the country’s greatest innovators – Harry Ferguson, the Co Down engineer who revolutionised global farming with the modern tractor.

Stevan Patterson, a Castlederg author, historian and proud owner of an 81-year-old Ford-Ferguson, has launched a campaign and petition urging the Minister for Communities to fund a Harry Ferguson Museum of Innovation.

The call comes as 2025 marks the centenary of Ferguson’s seminal 1925 patent, filed in Belfast, titled "Apparatus for Coupling Agricultural Implements to Tractors and Automatically Regulating the Depth of Work". Known today as the Ferguson Master Patent, this blueprint laid the foundation for modern mechanised agriculture.

“As the 156th Balmoral Show shines a spotlight on farming in Northern Ireland, it's the perfect moment to reflect on our agricultural legacy,” Stevan said.

"This year in particular is a very important year in the history of world farming as it marks the centenary of the invention of the modern tractor by Harry Ferguson.

"On the 12th February, 1925 at Belfast, Harry Ferguson filed a patent tiled “Apparatus for Coupling Agricultural Implements to Tractors and Automatically Regulating the Depth of Work”.

"This document now known as the Ferguson Master Patent is the invention of the modern tractor on paper and points to the brilliance of the man who without doubt was a farming genius. The idea of a tractor and quickly interchangeable implements acting as a single unit may seem common sense now, but Harry Ferguson was the first person in history to have that vision."

To commemorate the centenary, Stevan unveiled a special plaque in February at Kirlish Orange Hall in Coleraine. Now, he’s hoping for another permanent museum tribute.

His vision includes a space that not only honours Ferguson’s life but also tells the stories of other Northern Irish inventors and pioneers. With physical and virtual exhibitions, rotating displays and educational programming, the museum would serve as a hub of education, innovation and inspiration.

"Thanks to his 1925 Ferguson Master Patent, Northern Ireland can say it is the country that gifted the modern tractor to the world, giving farmers the tools today to produce the food we need to live and prosper,” Stevan explained.

“That invention enabled farmers to produce food more efficiently and at a scale that has helped to reduce hunger and poverty globally. Ferguson’s ideas remain central to farming even today.”

To drum up support, Stevan has launched a petition on Change.org, asking the local community to back the proposal and call on the Minister to assign funding for the project. So far, it has nearly 200 signatures.

A passionate tractor enthusiast himself, Stevan owns a 1944 Ford-Ferguson, one of the machines that brought Ferguson’s revolutionary ideas to life.

“I had it out working on the potatoes recently,” he continued. “For a tractor that’s 81 years old, it’s incredible what it can still do. The Ford-Ferguson was introduced in 1939 after the Gentleman’s Agreement between Harry Ferguson and Henry Ford. It was the first mass-produced tractor based on Ferguson’s patent, and it brought modern farming technology within reach of even the poorest farmers.”

Ferguson, who returned to Northern Ireland after spending the war years in the United States, had hoped to manufacture tractors in his homeland. Unfortunately that ambition never materialised and production moved to Coventry through the Standard Motor Company.

“What he achieved here in Northern Ireland has benefited people around the world,” Stevan added. “For me, the centenary of Ferguson’s patent is a moment to reflect and to act. That’s why I have been campaigning for a Harry Ferguson Museum to honour him and all the great innovators and achievers Northern Ireland has produced over the years.

“We have an opportunity to recognise one of our own, a man whose vision and ingenuity helped feed the world. A museum would not only honour his legacy but inspire generations to come.”

The petition is available at https://chng.it/jtxyrGXbt4.

Ferguson’s legacy has been recognised locally in several ways over the years. In 2004, the University of Ulster named its Engineering Village at the Jordanstown campus after him. Four years later, the Harry Ferguson Memorial Gardens were opened near his former home outside Dromara, featuring a life-size bronze sculpture by John Sherlock.