Edward Purkis Frost
Edward Purkis Frost (1842 – 1922) was a British aviation pioneer.
Frost lived at West Wratting Hall in Cambridgeshire and became a Justice of the Peace.
Frost began studying flight in 1868 and built a large steam-powered flying machine with both fixed and flapping wings. Frost had intended to have a 20-25 hp steam engine but the actual engine with 5 hp was not powerful enough to lift the ornithopter from the ground.
In 1902 in collaboration with several colleagues he started work on another large craft with a petrol engine. It lifted from the ground in 1904. The flapping mechanism, with its single-cylinder Antoinette engine is on display at the London Science Museum, along with a wing from this craft (photo here).
Frost had been a member of the Aeronautical Society since 1875 and became its president from 1908 to 1911.
The above information is condensed from the Wikipedia entry, accessed 28 Feb 2020.