William Heath Robinson became a national catchphrase

William Heath Robinson lived in Cranleigh from 1918 for 11 years, where he developed the whimsical machine drawings that led the phrase "a bit Heath Robinson" to enter British vocabulary by the 1920s.

William Heath Robinson moved from London to Cranleigh in 1918 and lived there for 11 years. The village's tranquillity is reported to have helped refine the visual style that defined his work. He began with illustrated editions such as The Arabian Nights and Hans Christian Andersen. During the First World War he developed the distinctive cartoons of improbable machines that brought him wider recognition. Key points: - Robinson relocated to Cranleigh in 1918 and built a garden studio to work undisturbed. - His early commissions included illustrated editions of The Arabian Nights and Hans Christian Andersen. - During World War One he drew whimsical, complicated machines of pulleys, pipes and teetering platforms used in satirical military cartoons. - By the 1920s the phrase "a bit Heath Robinson" was reported to have entered national vocabulary to describe something charmingly improvised or unnecessarily complicated. - A historian interviewed for the Secret Surrey series noted Robinson's house in Cranleigh still stands and described features of his studio, including a "speaking stube." - The Heath Robinson Museum opened in Pinner in 2016, and the article reports his influence continued after his reported death in 1944. Summary: Robinson's cartoons offered a gentle satirical counterpoint to wartime realities and helped turn his name into everyday speech. Undetermined at this time.