John Gamgee

John Gamgee (1831–1894) was a British veterinarian and inventor.

Gamgee was born in Florence, the son of Joseph Gamgee (1801-1895), a Scottish veterinarian, and his wife, Mary Ann West (1799-1873). He was a sibling of Arthur Gamgee a biochemist and Dr Sampson Gamgee a surgeon and pioneer of aseptic surgery. Gamgee was educated at a number of institutions across Italy, Germany and Switzerland before graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in London.

Appointed by the Privy Council to study a problem in cattle, he identified the threat of rinderpest from imported Baltic cows.

He was the developer of the Glaciarium, the world's first mechanically frozen ice rink.

He later became involved promoting refrigeration technology. He developed what was purported to be a perpetual motion machine known as the Zeromoter. The Zeromoter was intended to use ammonia within a refrigeration system to power ships. The technology gained the support of US President James Garfield, before being debunked.

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