Tunnel-boring machine of Colonel Beaumont in the tunnel under Channel, 1883, engraving

Perforateur machine of colonel Beaumont at tunnel under Channel, 1883. Frederick Edward Blackett Beaumont (1833–99) was an English-born British officer of the Royal Engineers who produced several inventions, including a tunneling machine which bore his name, and the Beaumont–Adams revolver. Captain Thomas English of Dartford, Kent patented a far superior rotary boring machine in 1880 capable of cutting nearly half a mile a month and it was this not Beaumont's machine that was used on this first attempt at tunnelling under the channel. The tunnel was credited to Beaumont in 'The Engineer' magazine and despite letters of protest from English the editor refused to correct the mistake and Beaumont did nothing to clarify the situation. Even to this day this early Channel Tunnel trial is often credited to the Beaumont machine.