John Wynn Baker

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John Wynn Baker (died 1775) was an Irish agricultural and rural economist who helped advance farming in Ireland. From 1764 until his death he was officially connected with the Dublin Society, after having been an honorary member. His agricultural schemes received strong support from the society, and, with its patronage, he established at Laughlinstown in County Kildare a factory to make farming tools, to train apprentices, and to offer practical instruction in agriculture. His Experiments in Agriculture, published between 1766 and 1773, earned him wide renown. He also published Considerations upon the Exportation of Corn (1771) at the Dublin Society’s request, and A Short Description and List, with the Prices, of the Instruments of Husbandry made in the Laughlinstown factory (1767). He died at Wynn's Field, County Kildare, on 24 August 1775. In his relatively short life he probably did more to advance Irish agriculture than most earlier figures. The Royal Society elected him a fellow in 1771. The walls of his Laughlinstown factory still remain as a reminder of his work.