George Eliab Pamplin & the Pamplin Family - Cherry Hinton People profiles
George Eliab Pamplin & the Pamplin Family
Pioneers of Steam Engineering and Cherry Hinton Community Leaders
George Eliab Pamplin c.1923
The Pamplin family were central figures in the industrial and civic development of Cherry Hinton from the late 19th to early 20th centuries.
Eliab Wright Pamplin, born in Shelford, began his career running a pub before moving to Fulbourn, where he became a grocer. By the 1870s, he had moved to Teversham and established an agricultural machinery business, inventing and patenting new farming equipment. His sons, Eliab George Pamplin (later also known as George Eliab) and Walter Charles Pamplin, were born during this period and grew up surrounded by innovation and mechanical enterprise.
By the 1880s, the family had relocated to Cherry Hinton High Street, where Eliab Wright founded the now-famous Pamplin Steam Plough Works. This business quickly became renowned for its traction engines - mobile steam engines used to plough fields and haul heavy loads.
After their father’s death in 1892, George Eliab and Walter continued the business, expanding its scope and influence. They made agreements with the vicar of Cherry Hinton to acquire land for their operations and officially formed Pamplin Brothers, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineers and Machinists by 1900. Their works were located at the junction of High Street and Coldham’s Lane and later expanded into Essex. Their business soon became the largest local employer operating around 100 engines and employing many local residents.
The Pamplin’s were not only engineers but also community leaders. George Eliab served as Chair of the Cherry Hinton Parish Council from 1897 and was a district councillor by his early twenties. Walter also became a parish councillor and later served as Chairman for many years. The brothers supported village improvements, housing workers in cottages they built (now Railway Street), and contributing to infrastructure and charitable initiatives.
In 1919, George Eliab purchased a field known as Gibraltar Close on the High Street and placed it in trust for the people of Cherry Hinton to create a World War One Memorial Recreation Ground. Thanks to village fundraising, this space, still in use today, was secured for public use.
The brothers lived with their mother, Martha Maria Pamplin, at The Battlements (now Pamplin House), a grand residence still standing off Fernlea Close. Martha passed away in 1917, and both sons married in 1915, each wedding a daughter of Mr. C. Wilkinson of Madingley.
In 1924, they donated money to support the construction of the Parish Room (later known as the Tin Hut/Green Hut), which once stood near the railway line on the High Street - today, this is the site of the Cherry Hinton Community Garden.
Beyond engineering, the Pamplin’s were also prominent farmers, working over 2,500 acres across Cambridgeshire, including farms in Elsworth, Papworth, and Eltisley.
George Eliab Pamplin passed away in 1929. Walter sold the business in 1934 and retired into Cambridge, passing away in 1940. The legacy of the Pamplin family lives on in the history, infrastructure, and community spirit of Cherry Hinton.
We have named the medium meeting room in the newly built Cherry Hinton Hub after George Eliab Pamplin and the Pamplin Family. You will be able to see a framed profile about him on the door to this room.
You can read more about the Cherry Hinton Hub HERE
Here are a few Pamplin pictures for now - a more detailed history is forthcoming.
